Wayward Episode 7 recap: Evelyn’s origin story unravels the truth while Laura’s ascent reshapes the town

Wayward Episode 7, Ascend, is the penultimate chapter in the Netflix miniseries, and it picks up right where Episode 6 left off.

Wayward is a limited Netflix series classified as a mystery and thriller, set in 2003 in the fictional town of Tall Pine, Vermont. The narrative revolves around two teenagers and a police officer from the neighborhood as they gradually reveal the dark secrets of the town.

The plot is specifically set in the Tall Pines Academy, a so-called “therapeutic” school for wayward youth, but in fact, it is a place where students get to undergo brutal psychological and physical abuse under the evil leadership of Evelyn Wade.

Wayward Episode 7 jumps straight back into the missing kids case, the tension between Leila and Abbie, and the growing unease about Tall Pines and the town itself.

The story switches between present-day drama at Tall Pines and flashbacks to the 1970s, where we finally see a young Evelyn caught up in a cult. This is the hour when everything comes together: Evelyn’s past comes into focus, secrets spill out, and the cracks between Alex, Laura, Abbie, and Leila get even deeper.

Everything points toward the big showdown waiting in the finale.

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Wayward Episode 7 recap – Ascend

Wayward Episode 7 opens with a glimpse into Evelyn’s childhood. It’s 1974, and she is just a kid, sitting with a crowd as Weldon, where a magnetic storyteller holds everyone’s attention. He shares a story about his father, who woke up from a coma and didn’t recognize his own family.

The man insisted he had gone through some “green door” and come back feeling brand new, like he had shed all his baggage. Most people in the room just hear an odd story. But not Evelyn. For her, it’s like she has found a map. That moment sticks with her, eventually shaping the whole philosophy behind her academy.

In the present, Evelyn keeps calling Laura, but Laura ignores her on purpose. Laura and Alex are throwing a birthday party, and Evelyn has been left off the guest list. Not one to give up, Evelyn sends Rabbit, hinting she will help with Stacey’s placement if Rabbit goes along.

When Rabbit shows up at the party, things get tense. She and Laura used to be close. Then Evelyn messed that up, and now things between them are awkward. It is kind of like what’s happening with Abbie and Leila at the academy. Laura wants Rabbit to help bring Evelyn down, but Rabbit has had enough. She is tired of being caught in the middle, always fighting someone else’s battles.

While this is all playing out in Wayward Episode 7, Alex finds out from Dwayne that Evelyn bugged their house. He pulls out the bugs and burns them, but the damage is done. Now, Alex can’t stop wondering what else he doesn’t know, including why Laura seems so cold when it comes to her missing parents.

Back at school, Evelyn pulls Leila in with a gentle, intentional warmth. She walks her past the gates, hands her cookies, and tells her Weldon’s story like it’s a secret worth protecting. Evelyn acts like she is here to save kids who have been hurt before.

Evelyn also suggests that she can stop old pain from passing down, just by keeping these kids away from the weight their parents carried. She describes Tall Pines almost like a safe bubble. No kids, no old wounds getting passed along. Just a place where all that hurt finally stops.

In Wayward Episode 7, we see that Evelyn’s past isn’t just a bunch of half-told stories; it’s rough. When she was seventeen, her parents took her baby, and she never dealt with the pain. She didn’t break the cycle. She built her whole world around it, making separation and loss just part of the deal. Emotional numbness is how you get by, according to her.

Leila starts to cling to Evelyn, while Abbie just feels left behind. Their friendship falls apart during a private “hot seat” session. Abbie points the finger at Leila for the drugs and all the bad choices. Leila can’t stand Abbie’s privilege: her family, her future, everything that’s out of reach now. But we know that Evelyn is the one pulling the strings, making sure these two can’t count on each other anymore.

Meanwhile, Abbie pleads with Alex to help her get out of the academy before she disappears like the others. She insists Daniel is already gone. Alex promises to scrape together whatever he can: money, a car, anything to help her escape.

On the other hand, Alex’s life keeps sliding out from under him. Down in their basement, Laura stands with a crowd of townspeople, talking about taking over the academy. She pitches her vision as warm and open, the opposite of Evelyn’s icy rules. Still, something about the group’s energy gives Alex chills. Their devotion to Laura bears a striking resemblance to the way everyone used to follow Evelyn at Tall Pines.

Alex can’t shake the feeling that he is losing his wife to something he doesn’t quite understand. He heads deep into the woods, following Abbie’s directions. That’s where he stumbles on Daniel’s rotting body, just before Dwayne catches him off guard and knocks him out cold.

Leila goes back to Evelyn, still looking for the real story. Evelyn tells her she just left Weldon and the group because they couldn’t agree on how to pull off the “leap.” But that’s not what really happened.

In a flashback in Wayward Episode 7, the truth comes out: Evelyn killed Weldon. He wasn’t just her mentor; he stood in her way. She thought she had figured out how to turn the idea of the door into something real, using psychedelics to push everyone into the “leap.” Dwayne backed her up. Together, they took over, and the rest of the group just went along, letting Evelyn lead.

Evelyn once stood at the center, surrounded by her followers. Now, it’s Laura in that spot. She is wrapped up in the same kind of crowd, becoming the new heart of the town’s faith. Evelyn wanted everyone to shut down their feelings and keep their distance, but Laura flips that.

She pushes people to open up, to let themselves feel and connect. Still, when you look closer, not much has changed. There is always a leader, a tight-knit group, a single idea pulling everyone together.

Cults split apart, then start up all over again.

By the end of Wayward Episode 7, Alex is incapacitated. Abbie has got escape on her mind. Leila is right at the edge, ready to make her move. Meanwhile, Laura is suddenly in charge, and she has no idea what she is doing. The finale is coming together, and the big questions are piling up.

Can Abbie get out before she disappears like everyone else? What’s Evelyn really planning for Leila? Is Laura about to save the town, or is she just rebranding Evelyn’s old system? And who is actually going to leap?

Wayward Episode 7 tears into how this place shapes people, messes with families, and how easy it is to get swept up by someone in charge. It’s all building toward a finale that is bound to drop some major revelations inside the academy.