With the return of Wayward Pines for season two, audiences are anticipating an exciting season filled with new psychological dilemmas for the town such as the iron-fisted rule of the First Generation as well as an exploration of the “monsters” of the series, the abbies.

But originally, Wayward Pines was written as a 10-episode show, with no expectation of a second season. To continue the show, writer and author Blake Crouch and Executive Producer M. Night Shyamalan wanted to make sure they were fully prepared. The team wanted to create something legitimate for viewers - a season that seemed fully developed. This commitment shows how much Crouch and Shyamalan care about Wayward Pines and its characters, ensuring the story-telling makes sense in TV’s serialized format.

This dedication is a direct result of the opportunities that television offers as a medium. Wayward Pines was Shyamalan’s first television project and it helped him discover that it’s a format he enjoys.

“I really enjoy telling stories about characters. In a two-hour format, you’re always crushed for time. Our burden as filmmakers is that as you run out of a burning building, you want to convey character. But that’s what’s great about TV is that its all about character. Something that’s reduced to a line or moment in a movie, you can do a whole episode about. I just really loved it,” said Shyamalan.

Before Wayward Pines, Shyamalan regularly worked in film, creating a new movie every few years.

“Making films in Philadelphia once every few years is very lonely. This (TV) is an amazingly collaborative medium and it’s an honor to work with different directors and writers,” said Shyamalan.

With television’s collaborative experience, Shyamalan finds that the show benefits in ways not seen in film. Television provides more time to develop a character’s story and the crew has more time to plan how the scene will be framed. Television can also better feature the intimacy of a scene as well as the acting, says Shyamalan. In comparison, when filming a large action scene in a movie, it’s mayhem - and that’s all you’re able to capture.

With season two on the horizon, the Wayward Pines team has gotten excited about where the show’s story is headed and, thanks to the show being shot for TV, is able to have important conversations to make sure the plot doesn’t feel “general” in any way.

This collaborative environment is what sets Wayward Pines apart. As a group, the Wayward Pines cast and crew films the show for television, but they create Wayward Pines with the aspiration of filming an independent film, explains Shyamalan.

Wayward Pines returns to Fox on May 25 at 9 pm.

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