Netflix’s Wayward is filled with recurring motifs such as the Green Door and the toads, which have a deeper meaning to them. In the show, both these visual metaphors represented the leap, that is, the process of cutting ties with one’s former self and transforming into a completely different being. In a spiritual sense, it can also be described as a rebirth or an ego death. Speaking of the toads, these mystical, amphibious creatures have long been a topic of discussion among various cultures. They represent a transformative journey as an individual makes the leap from adolescence to adulthood. This symbolization fits perfectly in the case of the troubled teenagers of the show, who were on the verge of becoming adults yet hadn’t lost touch with their innocence. If you have noticed, there’s a toad symbol or an actual toad present in the scene every time there’s a discussion about the leap. For example, the visual metaphor first appears in the first episode, when Leila’s teacher, Mr. Turner, informs Leila that he’s sending her to Tall Pines Academy, which means she is going to make the physical leap from Toronto, Canada, to Vermont, USA. The second time it appears is when Alex Dempsey and his partner, Laura Redman, relocate to Tall Pines, which once again is a big leap for the unmarried couple. Honestly, from here on out, I lost track of these toads every time they appeared on screen or heard their croaking off screen. However, you will find them nearby whenever someone, especially Evelyn Wade, mentions the leap. For example, you can hear a toad croaking when Evelyn asked Leila to make the leap so she would no longer have to live with the painful memories of her dead sister or seek the validation of her mother. In some cultures, these creatures also represent inner reflection and unresolved issues, which, if you view it in the show’s context, points to the underlying trauma these troubled kids have been dealing with but cannot share with anyone, because the cause of such pain is the ones closest to them, their parents.
Spoiler Alert
Evelyn Used Drugs on the Kids
The toads don’t just have a philosophical or symbolic significance in Netflix’s Wayward, they also represent the dark side of Evelyn Wade’s healing process. A flashback sequence in episode 7 reveals that Evelyn wanted to use psychedelic medicines to make the leap more permanent, but after a bit of research, I found out that there’s actually a hallucinogen called toad venom, which is extracted by milking the toxic venom glands of the Bufo Alvarius, also known as the Colorado River toad. This is an extremely rare species of toad native to the Sonoran Desert. As per the research, this psychedelic drug is 4-6 times more powerful than a normal dose of DMT (dimethyltryptamine). So you can understand the effect it had on the kids in the show. However, the effect of this real-world drug is temporary, and the trip lasts for about an hour, but in Netflix’s Wayward, the impact on the kids was permanent. They no longer had any recollection of their former selves. I guess this is one of the reasons why Evelyn didn’t want any of the graduates from her Tall Pine Academy to leave town, so she could monitor them and administer an additional dose if its effect started to wear off. But Laura left town, and this explains why she started remembering events from her past, especially the incident where she killed her own parents.
As mentioned earlier, the Colorado River toad is not native to Vermont, which suggests that Evelyn purposely imported these amphibians to Tall Pines so she could raise them in numbers and extract their venom to convert kids into her faithful followers and eventually grow her cult. If you have noticed, the toads were everywhere in the show. On the streets, in the fields, you can’t miss them. There was a toad inside Evelyn’s office, and then we had so many croaking in the septic tank where Evelyn performed the leap ceremony. But thankfully, she didn’t drug every teenager that transferred to her academy, and only chose a few for the process. I think Evelyn had had some bad experiences in the past. Maybe there was a tragic death at the academy, as not every kid was mentally strong enough to endure the effects of the drug, and therefore Evelyn had to be frugal with the process.
Laura Killed the Toad
Other than me, the person who seemed most irritated by these toads was Laura Redman. The moment she arrived in town, she started hearing the croaking sounds all around, because of which she couldn’t have a peaceful sleep. I guess Laura’s irritation with, or hatred of the toads is quite understandable. They reminded her of her traumatic past, especially the crimes she had committed. Remember when Laura woke up in the middle of the night and took a dive into the lake, where she saw her parent’s car? But you might be wondering, how do the toads come into this equation? Basically, the toads are creatures that can live both on land and in water. In a way, they connect these two realms. If we see these two realms in the context of Laura, the land represented her reformed family life, while the water, where her parents’ bodies were buried, was her traumatic past. So every time Laura heard the toads croaking, she was reminded of something she’d been cut off from. But I believe, over a period of time, the effect of the drugs wore off, and Laura remembered everything she had done. At first, she was quite uncomfortable with the truth, which could explain why she locked a toad inside a jar and later shoved it down a sink disposal. Alternatively, it could also be that the toads reminded Laura of the leap ceremony, the spiritual process that took away her ability to feel anything for her child. She likely blamed Evelyn for her misery, and these toads became a reminder of her defects.
However, in Wayward’s ending, we saw a sketch of a toad hung up in Laura’s bedroom, which could imply that she had finally embraced the creatures she once despised the most. But why? I think this has something to do with Laura’s transformation and metamorphosis. She was no longer a frightened individual. She had overcome her fears and moved past her trauma to become a better version of herself, and she wanted to tell Evelyn that she was able to make this leap without her help. And that was what she started to preach. She told her followers that they no longer needed memory-erasing drugs or leap ceremonies to help young people. So, the girl who once killed her parents in a fit of rage has now transformed into a spiritual leader who preaches about love. Ironic, but yes, that was Laura’s rebirth, and I think she herself acknowledged the fact that the toad symbolized her journey better than any other creature. And it wasn’t just a new beginning for her, but for the people of Tall Pines as well, as they were leaving behind the orthodox methods to adopt new doctrines laid down by Laura. In her community, people wouldn’t be barred from procreating. Laura pointed out that they need to raise kids and eventually grow their community. But you see, Laura isn’t doing anything new or special. She believes that she has some healing powers, but she is nothing but a fraud. She just broke one pattern to establish another. Evelyn’s soul left her body the moment Laura gave birth to her child, which visually represented the end of one cycle and the creation of another. And while Evelyn used the drugs to cure the teenagers, Laura wants to use her child as a means to bring the community together. Their methods might be different, but their intentions are the same. The reason Laura is manipulating people is because she wants to validate her motherhood. She doesn’t feel anything for her own child, but her faithful followers give her a sense of power. She doesn’t want peace and prosperity for anyone but wants to satiate her own desire for control. And no matter how she does it, or what she does, she will eventually face the same fate as Evelyn. She will be betrayed by someone closest to her, and if I dare take the name, then it will be her husband, who will bring the end of her reign.
