Radhika Menon is a freelance journalist, with a general focus on TV and film. Her cultural criticism, reporting, and commentary can be found on Vulture, ELLE, Teen Vogue, Bustle, and more. You can find her across all socials at @menonrad.
The 'Black Rabbit' Ending Is Full of Twists and Tests of Loyalty—Breaking Down the Netflix Crime Drama's Dramatic FinaleWe're Returning to Hawkins One Last Time This Year. Here's What We Know About the Final Season of 'Stranger Things'play two Canadian teens who arrive at the school unhappily and are immediately searching for an escape route.
As Alex starts putting the pieces together about the strange goings on in town, he teams up with the teens to try to help them escape Evelyn’s clutches. The final episodes not only cover the fate of our characters but also provide a few answers about what exactly is happening in Tall Pines. Ahead is a breakdown of the ending ofMeet the 'Wayward' Cast of"Troubled Teens" and Small-Town Cops Who Star Opposite Toni Collette in the Netflix Thrillerreveals Evelyn’s origin. She reveals that she ran away from home after being a pregnant teenager, and her parents took the child away from her, landing in Tall Pines and in the orbit of a charismatic, older man named Weldon . In partnership with Weldon, Evelyn becomes a major player in the Tall Pines, which focuses on erasing generational trauma. Part of the cult’s lore is centered on Weldon’s father, who envisioned a green door that he “leaped” through while in a coma—the same door that Evelyn invites members to fixate on to address their trauma. But when she begins to disagree with Weldon’s quest for power, she murders him in front of the entire community. As he’s dying, she recites, “You’re lying on your back, crying out for your mother. She is standing facing the wall. She has her back to you. A bell rings. Your mother turns to face you. She is silent, but her mouth is open wide. In her mouth is a door,” the mantra that she uses during the “leap” rituals at the school.is the image of toads. They’re seen in framed photos, heard croaking in the background, and even in the flesh by many of our characters. It’s revealed that their venom is administered during the hallucination trip treatment that Evelyn guides students through. While thedoesn’t provide a concrete answer behind the symbolism, it likely ties into how it’s called the “leap” treatment. Aspointed out, the presence of a toad can also “represent inner reflection and unresolved issues” in some cultures, speaking directly toWhile both girls plan to leave and go back to their families in Canada, only Abbie makes it out of Vermont. Leila succumbs to Evelyn’s invitation to stay at the school, and it’s suggested that Leila will stay and eventually take on an administrative role, similar to Rabbit .Get exclusive access to fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more.Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors How did this happen? Before the best friends concoct their plan, Leila admits to Abbie that she’s responsible for the death of her sister Jess —a trauma she hasn’t fully processed. Abbie doesn’t flinch at her admission and reinforces Leila’s importance in her life. Together with Rory , they put their plan to get out of Tall Pines in motion. First, they trick staff member Mule into heading into town by writing a fake note from her French fiancé inviting her for lunch. They stow themselves onto the bus she drives past the locked gates, and make a run for it once the Mule is settled at a cafe. But their disappearance has already set off alarm bells across the town, and they get cornered in an empty home. It’s here that Leila makes her decision to stay, telling Abbie that she doesn’t want to keep running and that she believes Tall Pines might actually help her. Abbie and Rory carry on, but soon they’re surrounded. Rory asks Abbie for a kiss and then promptly sacrifices himself for her escape, and she steals away, without being noticed, towards Alex’s car, which is stashed in the woods as a getaway car.Alex gets a first-hand taste of the Evelyn treatment when he’s taken into custody and subjected to her “leap” treatment. Evelyn informs Alex that Laura is in labor and tries to convince him that he doesn’t really know Laura, that Laura won’t love their baby fully, and that he just wants to be with her to fulfill his fantasy of a nuclear family. Evelyn also claims that Laura killed her parents, which is why they disappeared without a trace, but doesn’t provide an explanation for her actions. As Evelyn’s indictment of their relationship is getting personal, Rabbit attacks Evelyn, and she collapses into the water. Sensing an opportunity, Alex stabs Evelyn with the remaining venom to finish the job and runs for the exit. It’s not a clean getaway, though: His police partner Dwyane is waiting outside, seemingly assigned to stop Alex from escaping. But Alex is prepared to fight and smashes a large rock on Dwyane’s face, killing him immediately. Alex arrives home for the birth of his child, but soon finds out that parenting this child in Tall Pines will be anything but normal. Laura announces that they should do skin-to-skin contact with the baby, seemingly directed at Alex. But soon the whole town, who were present for the birth of the first baby in this town for generations, strips naked to cuddle with the child, each establishing a connection with this miracle baby. As Abbie is escaping in Alex’s station wagon, there’s a dream sequence in which Alex arrives with the baby, ready to run away and raise the child in a healthier environment elsewhere. But when reality sets in, Alex is stuck in the house with Laura, convincing himself he’s staying to be the protector, all the while knowing that Laura really holds the power., saying, “Laura is really in danger of going the same route as Evelyn, drunk on power…But, like all cult leaders, Laura truly believes that she would do it differently. That she has empathy and wants the best for this community that she loves so much.”After Rabbit and Alex inject her with her own toad poison, Evelyn is transported into a dream-like state, seemingly connecting with Laura and sharing her physical and emotional experiences. After Laura gives birth to a healthy baby, Evelyn hallucinates the very words she’s been chanting to the students at Tall Pines, finally confronting her own trauma once and for all. She sees a vision of herself and a door at the back of her imagined self’s throat. When she reaches to open the door, the number of doors and versions of herself has multiplied. Rabbit continues to recite the mantra to Evelyn as her body lies limp in the water, and it is assumed that she dies at the end ofWhat happens to the rest of the students at Tall Pines at the end of 'Wayward?' We don’t get to check in with every single student that is introduced at the school, but we do see Stacey get adopted by an interracial family. She looks giddy as she gets into the car, which is the opposite emotion to Rabbit, who had put in a bid to become Stacey’s guardian and is crestfallen watching her drive away in someone else’s car. Radhika Menon is a freelance journalist, with a general focus on TV and film. Her cultural criticism, reporting, and commentary can be found on Vulture, ELLE, Teen Vogue, Bustle, and more. You can find her across all socials at
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