I wasn’t going to review Mae Martin’s new series Wayward for a number of reasons. Firstly it is not a comedy, it’s a thriller. Secondly it had me so on the edge of my seat I didn’t know how I could review it without giving away spoilers. And thirdly I was so hooked I wanted to watch the whole thing before I even thought about writing something. It’s that good.

Anyway I’ve now seen all eight episodes and I’m clearly not the only one. As I write it’s currently number one in the Netflix chart so I’m guessing that it is being watched by a lot of Mae Martin fans who know Martin through their comedy – either stand-up or the hit series Feel Good, which has a number of autobiographical elements to it.

Wayward on the other hand isn’t autobiographical at all from what I can tell, athough Martin has posted that a very close friend did go through a similar experience (to a point) which Martin thought about when writing this script. Wayward is all about “troubled teens” who get taken away to an institution called Tall Pines, run by a superficially compassionate but secretly sinister leader Evelyn played by Toni Collette. Evelyn turns around young lives, but not necessarily in a way you might approve of.

Martin pays transgender male cop Alex who moves to the area with his pregnant wife. It is not long before Alex become embroiled in the mystery. nothing is quite as it seems as the plot takes numerous twists and turns - some you can see coming but a lot come out of the blue and stop you in your tracks. 

While Martin feels slightly miscast at first - not as a man but as a gun-carrying cop with looks about 13 (which they surely know, hence an early Macaulay Culkin gag) – gradually you buy into Wayward. Martin’s comic roots come through in the script, adding some light between the darkness. When one teen's parents say their daughter wants to be a stand-up comedian their dinner party friends commisserate with “I’m so sorry,” as if it’s the worst career choice imaginable.

Elsewhere there are moments that recall other eerie previous small town cult series, such as Twin Peaks. There’s a running theme here featuring toads. I won’t say too much again, but one unlucky toad meets a particularly sticky end. For some reason Wayward also reminded me of Rosemary’s Baby, but that might just be me.

Anyway, do watch this. There aren’t many laughs but at times this gets so dark that when there are laughs you will be very grateful for them.

Wayward is streaming on Netflix now.

Picture of Toni Collette in Wayward. Netflix.