Day Twenty-Three

**Day Twenty-Three** is the tenth episode of Season 1 of *The Wilds*, and the tenth episode overall.

## Premise

On the island, Leah feels closer than ever to proving that someone's behind their predicament. Post-rescue, fed up with the tight-lipped authorities, Leah goes searching for her own answers.

## Summary

Toni and Shelby wake up near the lychee tree after spending the night together. Shelby wants them to get their stories straight about they were last night. She isn't ashamed but... Toni says that whatever Shelby says, she'll cosign.

Gretchen tells Nora to keep Leah silent by any means necessary. Nora picks up a pillow while Leah sleeps off the drugs, and it appears that she is going to try to smother her to death. Nora ultimately doesn't.

Nora tricks Leah into falling into a deep pit, trapping her. Nora tells her that she'll be safe there.

Fatin advises Shelby that if she's worried about how Toni's feeling, she should go ask her herself. *Please, I know sexual tension when I see it.* Fatin mimics locking her lips up with a key, indicating that she won't tell anyone.

Shelby goes to talk to Toni, expressing her fear that what happened between her and Toni didn't matter to Toni. Toni says that no, she hasn't said anything because she trusts Shelby. Shelby is worried that their relationship won't end well and that she'll hurt Toni. Toni reassures her that the worst has already happened and tells her that she doesn't have it in her to be scared about something that could be good. They kiss.

In the present, Leah convinces Young to take her out of her room so she can get some fresh air. He shows her a photo of his kids, which he doesn't see often anymore since he got divorced. Using a napkin, Leah blocks the door to her room from closing properly.

On the island, Rachel tells Nora that she's going for a swim, seeming to have gotten over her fear of the ocean. Leah finally manages to get out of the pit. She is bloody as she comes back to the beach, screaming Nora's name. The other girls are confused about what's going on, but are quickly distracted by Martha screaming "Shark!" Rachel goes under the surface .

Leah runs down a hallways and hides in a room with a red door.

Young and Gretchen respond to a Code Purple. Shelby has gone into anaphylactic shock.

The lights turn on in the room Leah has hidden herself in. At the far end of the room are screen with security footage. A folder is labeled "The Twilight of Adam" and the screens show footage of teenage boys around a fire. Leah breaks the fourth wall to look into the camera, saying "What the fuck?"

## Cast

### Starring

* Sophia Ali as Fatin Jadmani
* Shannon Berry as Dot Campbell
* Jenna Clause as Martha Blackburn
* Reign Edwards as Rachel Reid
* Mia Healey as Shelby Goodkind
* Helena Howard as Nora Reid
* Erana James as Toni Shalifoe
* Sarah Pidgeon as Leah Rilke
* David Sullivan as Daniel Faber
* Troy Winbush as Dean Young
* Rachel Griffiths as Gretchen Klein

### Guest Starring

* Johnny Berchtold as Quinn
* Barbara Eve Harris as Audrey

### Co-Starring

* Finn Blackwell ... Zuckerberg-esque Student
* Hetty Gaskell-Hahn ... Woman in Scrubs
* Otis Herring ... Reception Officer
* Jen Huang as Susan
* Jacob Masters ... Pretentious Student
* Kenneth Ransom ... Professor
* Shan Reis-Boekholt ... Type-A Girl
* Joe Witkowski as Thom

## Quotes

* Leah: *I was just thinking, it might be close to the fourth, and here we are, having a barbecue. It's like, if you squint your eyes and you forget 95% of our reality it's almost like you can convince yourself everything's normal.*
* Shelby: *Are we in the actual Bermuda Triangle?*
	+ Shelby, reading: *"Obviously, you dipshit."*
* Fatin, to Shelby: *You know, if you’re so worried about how she’s feeling, maybe you should go ask her yourself. Please, I know sexual tension when I see it.*
* Shelby: *Okay, but what if it all blows up? What if we end up making each other freaking miserable, you know? What if I hurt you? I've hurt people before... very badly.*
	+ Toni: *What if our plane crashes and what if we nosedive into the ocean, and you know, end up stranded, and what if we wind up lost and starving? All of that already happened. The worst has already fucking happened. I don't think I've got it in me to get that scared about something that could be good.*
* Gretchen: *I want you to ask yourself, Nora, "Am I thriving?" And your sister, is she thriving? Are my fellow young women thriving? Thriving, in this culture created by men? Aren't we all suffering? Pushing ourselves to perfection, taking on too much, losing ourselves to things that cannot be, and then breaking at the seams?*
* Nora: *I want to tell you what I want. I want to help my sister. I don't want to be afraid anymore. I don't want to be afraid to be in love, or to love who I want. Freely, fully, without reservation. I want to find my people, whoever they are. I want to find my strength. I want to make a life where we're not always doing and trying and fighting. I want a life where we can just be.*

## References

1. ↑ This was actually foreshadowed by Fatin saying, "Uh oh, shark week for Rachel!" in Day Sixteen.