Ethan Burke, his son Ben, and his wife Theresa drive into the woods after the death and disappearance of Sheriff Arnold Pope. Ben hyperventilates from the shock of having run over Sheriff Pope with the car only moments earlier. By doing so, Ben saved his father's life. Pope was going to kill Ethan. Ethan stops the car and takes Ben outside. He washes Ben's bloody hands with a nearby water hose. "Wayward Pines' Season 1 Episode 4 "One of Our Senior Realtors Has Chosen To Retire" aired on Thursday, June 4 on FOX.
"There's no covering this," says Theresa.
"They already know," says Ethan. "There's cameras and mics everywhere."
Ethan tells Theresa the real reason why he was sent to this town. Ethan and Theresa make a pact to keep their guard up and act like they are a happy family. Meanwhile, a delivery man drops off a school uniform and a letter to Ben. Ben is invited to attend Wayward Pines Academy the following day.
In the morning, Ethan goes to Sheriff Pope's old office. Arlene, the receptionist brings in a celebratory cake, congratulating Ethan. The town mayor and nurse Pam inform Ethan that he is now the new sheriff of Wayward Pines. When everyone leaves his office, Ethan tries to find answers.
Theresa drops Ben off at school. The school's principal Mrs. Fisher shows them around and after a while lets Theresa know that she can leave. Ben enters the principal's office and is interrogated by being asked a series of repeated questions. Towards the end of the questioning, Fisher starts to ask Ben questions on whether or not he can truly trust his own father. Seeds of doubt are planted in Ben's mind.
Ethan finds a secret compartment in a wooden panel underneath his desk. The compartment unlocks with his new set of keys. Inside is a large assortment of files. The first file he finds if of Brad Fisher, the town's mayor. Ethan realizes that the box contains a file of everyone in the town. The files hold key information to who the townspeople were before they came to Wayward Pines.
Ethan walks over to Arlene and hand her the file that belongs to her. Arlene is in tears, attempting to cope with the death of Sheriff Pope. Suddenly, Nurse Pam brings in a man under citizens arrest. She tells Ethan that he is on his third strike and demands a reckoning. The man is senior realtor Peter McCall. Peter was arrested for spray painting graffiti messages throughout the town. Ethan tells Nurse Pam that there will not be an execution in this town under his rule.
Peter tells Ethan that there are no calendars in Wayward Pines. Peter once tried to climb his way out of the town. The telephone rings. Nurse Pam orders a reckoning for Peter at 10 p.m sharp. "I stopped keeping track after four winters ago," says Peter. "It was 2001 and I was in Los Angeles for a conference" and "I went down for a quick drink at a bar." He tells Ethan that he met a woman there and spent the night with her in a hotel. The next morning, "the brunette form the bar was still there, but she was older and her name was not Denise," says Peter. "It was Pam."
Meanwhile, Theresa wanders around town until she sees Kate, Ethan's former CIA partner. Theresa follows Kate inside the town's toy store and confront her. Kate turns on a music box that covers up the conversation they have for 3 minutes. As soon as school ends, a girl named Amy introduces herself to Ben. Although Ben is supposed to wait for his mom to pick him up, he decides to walk home together with Amy. Theresa arrives at the school and does not find Ben and later catches up with him and Amy.
The mayor is Brad Fisher. His wife is Meghan Fisher, the school principle. Ethan finds out from her file that prior to coming to Wayward Pines, she used to be a hypnotherapist. Theresa invites the Fishers to dinner. The Burkes meet the Fishers for dinner at Biergarten with the intent to gather more information on the town from the mayor.
"The thing about this town is that they focus on the children," says Brad. "It's all about shaping the mind of the child."
At Biergarten, Nurse Pam makes a toast to Ethan. Ethan promises to bring the evil of the town to light and to punish the true criminals. Theresa and Ethan run into Dr. Jenkins the psychiatrist on their way back home. The following day, Mrs. Fisher asks Ben the same questions over and over again to Ben. When she receives a satisfactory answer, Ben receives a new guitar from his teacher.
Ethan gets Peter out of the jail cell that he is imprisoned in for his own protection. Ethan tries to hide Peter in the woods. Peter uses a staff to walk. Peter says that he wants to go to the wall. Peter quotes a few lines from Robert Frost's poem.
"There's only one way out," says Peter.
He falls into the electric fence, while making it appear as though Ethan pushed him. Peter knew that Ethan and his family would be endangered if he failed to do his job. Peter ensures Ethan's survival. Back at home, Theresa finds mail in her mailbox that read, "one of our senior realtors has chosen to retire." Theresa has a new job as a realtor. Nurse Pam sits down at the Sheriff's office. Amy throws rocks at Ben's window in the middle of the night. Ben asks Amy what's on the other side of the fence. Amy does not answer his question. Instead, she kisses his cheek.
Ethan packs up a few days worth of supplies and heads over to the edge of town. Recalling that Peter once nearly escaped by climbing a wall of rocks, Ethan plans on doing the same thing. He climbs a wall of steep rocks to get out of town. Meanwhile, a silhouette of a person is seen watching Ethan from the darkness.
"Wayward Pines' stars Matt Dillon as Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke, Carla Gugino as Kate Hewson, one of the missing agents and Ethan's former lover, Toby Jones as Dr. Jenkins, a psychiatrist at Wayward Pines Hospital, Shannyn Sossamon as Theresa Burke, Ethan's wife, Reed Diamond as Harold Ballinger, a toymaker, Tim Griffin as Adam Hassler, Ethan's boss, Charlie Tahan as Ben Burke, Ethan and Theresa's son, Juliette Lewis as Beverly, a bartender who bonds with Ethan, Melissa Leo as Pam, a nurse at Wayward Pines Hospital, Terrence Howard as Sheriff Arnold Pope, Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Arlene Moran, Sheriff Pope's secretary, Sarah Jeffery as Amy, Ben's friend, and Hope Davis as Megan Fisher.
Ep. 4 "One of Our Senior Realtors Has Chosen To Retire" was directed by Zal Batmanglij and written by Steven Levenson. According to TV By The Numbers, "One of Our Senior Realtors Has Chosen To Retire" was watched by 4.2 million households. Full episodes can be watched on the FOX website. Ep. 5 "The Truth" airs on Thursday, June 11. Each episode runs for 42-44 minutes. It features music by composer Charlie Clouser. M. Knight Shyamalan, Donald De Line, Chad Hodge, and Ashwin Rajan are the executive producers of the series. Rob French is the producer. Elizabeth Kling and Michael Ruscio are the editors. Amelia Vincent is the cinematographer. Blinding Edge Pictures, De Line Pictures, Storyland, and FX Productions are its production companies.