Ethan Burke

Ethan Burke is an American Secret Service Agent. He is in Sayward Pines, a mysterious small Idaho town, investigating the disappearance of two federal agents. One of the best Secret Service agents in the Seattle office, he knew missing agent Kate Hewson better than anyone. They were more than partners; in fact, their relationship nearly destroyed Ethan's marriage to Theresa Burke. Everything changes when a truck slams into his car...and he wakes up in the Sayward Pines Hospital.

As the mysteries within the town pile up, Ethan starts to question his own sanity. Gaining both allies and enemies, Ethan tries to answer the most important question of all: What's wrong with Sayward Pines?

Where Paradise Is Home
Ethan is investigating the disappearance of two agents but awakens near a river after being in a car accident. He next walks to the local coffee shop and says to a waiter "where are we?", the waiter says "Wayward Pines". Next Ethan passes out. After that, Ethan wakes up in a hospital. The hospital appears to be empty, but Ethan finally spots a nurse named Pam who tells him that the driver of his vehicle did not survive and that the local sheriff has Ethan's possessions.

After waiting hours for a doctor who has still yet to arrive, Ethan yanks out his IV and leaves the hospital despite the nurse's objections. He walks to the sheriff's department, but the door is locked, so Ethan makes his way to a restaurant and is served by the bartender, Beverly. She kindly gives him her address in case he ever needs help. On his way to check into a hotel for the night, he discovers a note discreetly scribbled on the back of his check: "There are no crickets in Wayward Pines." Coincidentally, he hears loud chirps sounding from a bush. Upon further investigation, it turns out to be a small box with a glowing light emitting the automated cricket noises.

The next morning, Ethan is kicked out of his hotel because he is unable to pay for his room. With nothing else to do, he decides to follow the address that Beverly gave him. It leads to an old abandoned house with a horrifying discovery inside: one of the missing agents is bound to a bed, mutilated and rotted beyond recognition. Ethan hurries to the sheriff's department, where he is greeted by receptionist Arlene Moran and meets Sheriff Pope. As Sheriff Pope eats an ice cream cone, Ethan reports that his fellow agent is deceased in a house in Wayward Pines and offers to accompany Sheriff Pope to the house. Sheriff Pope rebukes Ethan's offer and Ethan leaves the sheriff's department.

Ethan returns to the bar to confront Beverly about the address, but instead finds a man who claims that she doesn't work there. Frustrated and confused, Ethan begins to attack the man, but is knocked out. Waking up in the hospital again, he is comforted by a psychiatrist named Dr. Jenkins.

As Ethan lays handcuffed to a gurney outside a room with scary surgical instruments, Beverly comes to rescue him. Together they manage to attack nurse Pam and escapes of the hospital, hiding in a cemetery vault. Before the sedative that Pam administered earlier completely knocks him out, Beverly tells him that the agent he found was killed for trying to escape. She tells Ethan that she came to Wayward Pines in 1999, strangely believing that she has only been there for a year.

Waking up alone in the cemetery vault, Ethan changes into clothing that Beverly has left for him and begins to wander back into town. While walking through a neighborhood, Ethan sees a woman who looks like the missing agent he is looking for his former partner Kate Hewson. When she sees Ethan, she hurries her husband Harold back to the house. Ethan follows them and talks to her and she attempts to keep up a front initially. When it becomes clear Ethan is not going to play along, she whispers, “They’re watching us…. They’re listening.” She tells him she’s lived there for 12 years and he objects, “That’s impossible. I was with you 5 weeks ago.” She doesn’t have answers for him and tells him that he’s putting her and her husband in danger. Before he leaves he asks her, “Is it happening again? Am I having a relapse?” She shakes her head “no” and goes back into the house.

Ethan tries to make a run out of the town by stealing a car. Yet, just when he thinks he’s made the town boundary, he finds himself driving back into town again. He leaves the car on the road and tries to find an exit in the woods. Much to his surprise, Ethan comes upon a huge concrete wall with an electrified fence on top. The sign on the fence warns, “Risk of death. Return to Wayward Pines. Beyond this point you will die.” When he returns to the car, Sheriff Pope arrives and observes aloud that Ethan didn't make it too far. Ethan asks how he gets out of town. Sheriff Pope tells Ethan that he doesn't.

Do Not Discuss Your Life Before
Ethan is intially put in lockup by Sheriff Pope Before he is brought back to his hotel. With nothing left to go on, Ethan returns to the abandoned house where he searches Evans remains for a clue to how he had planned to escape. Ethan manages to find a map of the town in Evan boot before he is confronted by Pope, who warns him to stay away from the crime scene from now on and to return to his hotel room.

Season 1

 * 101. "Where Paradise Is Home"