Wilderness Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Well, that did not go how I expected.

As predictable as this series has been in certain ways, Wilderness Season 1 Episode 5 was anything but, as Liv fought for her life.

And just like that, she had another body to her name.

Considering everything going on, Liv kept it together as best she could. And all Caryl’s arrival did was up her anxiety.

Will’s desire to move on like nothing happened was tiring to both Liv and myself because it was pathetic and annoying. This need to portray themselves as being in this still perfect marriage for Caryl was one thing, but his incessant need to talk about how he would change was too much.

Maybe it worked on Liv at one time, but as the depths of his lies came out, Liv shrank further and further away from him.

I can’t quite figure out why Will is so obsessed with his marriage and Liv, but my guess is that much like Liv wasn’t prepared to deal with her mother’s smugness about being right, Will wasn’t ready to admit that his marriage failed.

We’ve gotten enough nightmare childhood stories and passing comments to understand that Will’s relationship with his father is complicated at best. And that idea of family, putting on a united front with your devoted wife suddenly falling apart, wasn’t something he was ready to accept.

But the poisonousness with which these two have existed for weeks was so unhealthy. And the last thing they needed to contemplate was bringing a child into the world.

It’s clear that Will, despite being scared to disappoint his father any more than he already had, is delusional as hell and used to getting everything he wants.

So, in his warped mind, it’s almost as if he refuses to listen to what Liv says. He doesn’t believe it because it’s not what he wants; therefore, it’s not reality.

He sat across from Liv at dinner and told her they were having a baby with a straight face. He’s lucky she didn’t spit her wine out in his face.

Everything Will said went in one ear and out the other with Liv at this point, yet she still agreed to what he said, perhaps to keep the peace while Caryl was in town.

It’s not wholly clear why Liv does many of the things she does.

Speaking of Caryl, she came to New York on a mission to expose her daughter’s marriage, and it was so cringy to watch, even though she was right and has been totally right about a lot of things.

She saw what Liv could never see, which was basically that Will was too good to be true because, in her experience, men cheat and lie. And the second you allow yourself to feel safe with them, they’ll exploit that power for all its worth.

Liv was shutting her mother out, so there wasn’t much she could do to get Liv to open up, but it was still sad to see her spend almost all her time trying to find dirt on Will. And when she did, she and Liv finally had a conversation that had been years in the making.

Lic has carried around the pain from her childhood her entire life. Ten years old and being shunned by your mother will do quite a number on your self-worth.

As Caryl’s life came crashing down at her husband’s betrayal, she took that pain out on Liv, a child trying to protect her mother, certainly not ruin her life.

Caryl is human, and she made a mistake in how she handled that situation, but what’s saddest of all is that even after years of thinking about it and sitting there and having her daughter detail all the many ways her words and actions broke her apart, she was still unwilling to apologize or take responsibility.

To think that all those years later, she still believed that this man who didn’t respect her or their family would have stayed had Liv kept her mouth shut was naive at best.

Caryl was never coming from just a place of wanting to protect her daughter. How could she be? She’s still wound up about a failed marriage from twenty-plus years ago that she allowed to infiltrate the way she parented. I’m supposed to believe no part of her whatsoever wanted to revel in her daughter’s inability to get the happy ending she never got?

I don’t think so.

One thing about Wilderness is that it sometimes feels like everyone is trying to out-despicable everyone else.

Liv will sprint ahead, and then Will will throw his hat into the race.

And while it certainly wasn’t murder or anything, Caryl choosing to blackmail her own daughter to force her hand was a very low moment.

Does Caryl love her daughter? Sure. But Liv is an adult, and her refusal to listen to her is why their relationship is as fractured as it is.

Liv should have left long ago, but Liv has to make her own choices.

Everyone on this show is an extra shade of deranged because Caryl looked happy as can be that forcing her daughter’s hand in the most terrible of ways was going to get her what she wanted: Liv right up under her again.

But Liv hasn’t been the meek girl some people like she is for a long time now, and she played her role in getting those pictures back and then got her mother away by admitting her sins.

Caryl reacted to Liv’s confession exactly as you’d expect, blaming Will. She didn’t even need any details before she was lobbying for Liv to understand that it couldn’t possibly be her fault.

Will did this. Do you hear me? There is no badness in you.

Caryl [to Will]

Liv may have a complicated history with her mother, for good reason, but damn if she truly isn’t her mother’s daughter.

I had an inkling that Will cheated again because he was far too shady to have only had one affair, and it being Marissa was the icing on the cake for Liv. There’s no way she should still be shocked by anything she learns about Will now.

When people show you who they are, believe them.

We’d seen a variation of this same fight multiple times over by now, but when Liv left that front door open, believing it to be their takeout, I was preparing for a plot twist, though I imagined it being the police. Not Garth.

I’ve stuck up for Garth probably more than I should have because, throughout this whole saga, he’s been the most innocent. He loved Cara, and that was his biggest crime.

Even while being investigated and put under the microscope, the most dirt they got on him was that he wanted to marry Cara and relapsed after she broke his heart.

You push people too far, and they push back, right? Garth had been accused of killing the love of his life and learned that Liv wasn’t helping to refute that narrative. And in his inebriated state, he went nuclear.

It’s crazy to think that Liv killed both Cara and Garth, considering where things started when this series began.

Liv was on top of the world, and now she’s a murderer twice over. Even if the second time was in self-defense.

Since Garth was free, the investigation into Cara’s death will still be ongoing, and there’s negative way Rawlins and Wiseman will be done figuring out how the Taylor’s may figure into everything.

Liv has managed to stay one step ahead of everyone, but will that last forever?

Odds and Ends

• 
  So, I’ve accepted that Ash really isn’t a fully-formed character and exists to be Liv’s outlet so she can feel better about the monster she’s become. And I don’t feel great about it.

• 
  I’m shocked Rawlins isn’t doing more with that footage of Liv following behind Cara into the gym. There are just too many coincidences here for them to ignore.

• 
  Why was Will keeping so many mementos from his mistresses? Because he’s a narcissist, that’s why.

• 
  Cara was ready to leave Garth at a moment’s notice if Will gave her the go-ahead. And that man was NEVER going to leave his wife.

• 
  The irony of Liv’s wedding gift saving her life wasn’t lost on me.

One hour left to see how this all gets wrapped up, and I don’t have a clue how it’s going to go.

Does Garth’s death open the floodgates to Liv and Rawlins and Wiseman put things together?

Or is Liv poised to get away with murder?

Before we find out, comment below and tell me what you predict!  

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Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.