This recap of Amazon Original series The Wilds season 1, episode 6, “Day Twelve” contains significant spoilers.

The opening

“Day Twelve” opens with Gretchen and her team opening the back of a car. There’s a body bag — it’s Jeanette. Gretchen is emotionally frustrated. The next scenes show Gretchen in a psychiatric unit getting assessed — she apparently has anxiety and has been suffering from self-harm. She learns she cannot leave the facility because the doctor isn’t present until the next day. Unfortunately, from an audience perspective, anything Gretchen says or does in this series cannot be trusted, as demonstrated later in the chapter.

Leah is growing impatient

“Day Twelve” then shows Leah after the events of the island. One of the investigators checks up on her as she’s struggling to sleep. Leah is frustrated that she’s still being held and wonders where her parents are. After she calms down, she raises how the island became a “passing of time”, and the women became a community and “clicked”. But she does note how the island felt off, and it got dark in her head. She mentions how Nora gave her a diary so Leah can discuss how she is feeling and to “let it all out”. Flashbacks then run a montage of scenes with Leah and Jeffrey spending time together. Leah was the focal point of the first episode, and now she’s the center of attention in the sixth — the same issue remains; she’s still obsessed with Jeffrey.

Leaving the friend zone

Flashbacks show Leah before the retreat; she’s camping with Ian. The pair spend time with each other in a tent and look at the stars together. Ian holds Leah’s hands, he’s clearly shooting his shot, and they kiss, crossing the friendship boundary. Leah ends up crying and breaks away from the kissing — Ian is angry for the way Jeffrey treated him and wants to hurt him; Leah gets upset with Ian’s words and leaves the tent.

Sexual mussels

On the island, Leah continues to use the diary Nora gave her. She notes that Shelby is acting weird. Rachel finds mussels and the women feast on them. Shelby refuses to eat the mussels because she’s apparently allergic to shellfish. Toni pretends that her mussel is a vagina and starts being sexual with it; Shelby gets irritated with her behavior and tells her to stop, stating she is a Christian. Toni believes Shelby doesn’t like gay people, and Shelby confirms she believes being gay is a sin. “Day Twelve” sees Shelby attempting to lay down her beliefs, but of course, it’s not widely accepted by her group.

A sickness

Martha is also upset with Shelby because of her beliefs. Shelby believes that she’s allowed her own opinion. Suddenly, Martha begins to throw up. And then the rest of the women begin to violently throw up, except Shelby — it must have been the mussels. Thom watches from his screens, and he’s concerned; he rings Gretchen at the psychiatric facility about the virus. Gretchen wants to leave the facility, but the medical team tells her she cannot leave as she’s signed documents that mean she is not allowed — they inject her, so she falls asleep.

Fighting the illness

The women on the island are trying their best to fight the illness, but they are struggling. Leah is assigned to get the medical supplies, but she’s still paranoid about Shelby and follows her in the woods. In the present day, Leah tells the investigator her theories about Shelby were wild and unwarranted; ranging from secret phones and guns. The investigator doesn’t believe that reasonable explanations interest her. The man is right; Leah does seem to reach far places in her head, making her a fascinating character.


Reaching conclusions

In a flashback, Leah accuses Ian of sending her birth certificate to Jeffrey. Ian is flabbergasted by her accusations, but Leah asks him to call Jeffrey. Ian is dismayed and states that he cannot help her.


Obsessive energy

Leah talks to the investigator and explains how she dropped the medical supplies while out in the woods. She evidently dropped them due to delirium. The investigator tries to identify patterns in her mistakes and asks about the time she tried calling Jeffrey with Jeannette’s phone. He tells her that the obsessive energy she holds clouds her judgment. A flashback shows Leah dancing in the streets after a house party as she reminisces her times with Jeffrey. The obsession is intoxicating her mind. As she’s not concentrating on the road, she’s hit by a car.

Shelby wants to help Toni

On the island, Leah gives medical supplies to Dot, but it’s not enough. They have to give meds to Toni first, who is severely sick and is losing consciousness. The group decides that Toni needs the meds the most. Shelby wants to help and forces Toni’s mouth open to swallow the pill. Toni tried to resist Shelby’s help due to pride. Later on, the women are slowly recovering, but Martha is still not okay as she walks aimlessly on the beach. She collapses, and the women run to her aid.

Parents were worried about Leah

In a flashback, Leah ends up in the hospital, and her mother tells her that “it can’t stay like this”. Her parents are clearly concerned. They want to offer her some therapy.

Feeling guilty

Toni asks Shelby why she used the last meds on her. Leah admits she dropped some meds in the forest. She apologizes to the group. Dot wants to know where she dropped it, and they head into the forest. In the present day, the investigator tells Leah that if she laid down the obsessive energy, she wouldn’t be feeling as guilty about the meds right now. Leah feels attacked and gets paranoid. Suddenly, a nurse walks into the room and injects her to calm Leah down and put her to sleep.


The ending

At the psychiatric facility, doctor Daniel tells Gretchen that she’s not honest with him — he feels she is deceitful. Gretchen laughs and suggests she’s done her research on the doctor and lists all his achievements and his career. She’s trying to recruit him for her project. It’s then revealed that Daniel is one of the “investigators”. The twist is, the men interviewing the women are working for Gretchen.



The series brings another Leah-centric chapter to the fold which explores her obsessiveness. The Wilds season 1, episode 6 intensifies the conspiracies surrounding the women and starts to unearth more truths. The series is growing in confidence as it steps over the halfway mark. With plenty of the story to go, there’s still plenty of questions.

We recapped every episode — check out the tag.