Toni Collette in 'Wayward.' Courtesy of Netflix Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text In the hit Netflix series Wayward, the thriller-drama revolving around the inner workings and dark secrets of a fictional school for troubled teenagers, the devil is in the details. The eight-episode limited series traces dual fictional narratives that overlap at a remote institution in a small Vermont town, vividly creating glimpses of the troubling abuse of the teenagers being "treated," within - and it's tantamount to torture in many instances. While its primary characters - two wayward high school besties who become trapped at the campus; the institution's intimidating and enigmatic leader; and a young married couple, one with secrets about the school and the other with ambitions to reveal them - mostly have the feel of composite versions of the young people sent to these schools or those dealing with the trauma they tend to instill. Yet the series, whether it's acknowledged officially or not, is filled with details of a very real, notorious institution, the people whose lives were impacted by what was endured and a missing persons case that remains cold after 22 years. Related Stories TV 'Wayward' Star Alyvia Alyn Lind Unpacks the Limited Series' Lingering Questions: "We All Want More" TV 'Wayward' Review: Toni Collette Plays the Founder of a Mysterious School for Troubled Teens in Mae Martin's Intriguing Netflix Tease Wayward creator Mae Martin, who portrays Officer Alex Dempsey in the show, revealed in a recent interview that Wayward's scripts were drawn from her own real-life experiences - a wayward teen herself, she saw a close friend shipped off to a troubled teen camp. While Martin has not indicated any direct connections, several of the details in her scripts - from the therapeutic tactics down to the Tall Pines Academy logo - either identically mirror or uncannily resemble the people who attended and events that occurred at CEDU, one of the most notorious troubled teen facilities in the nation's history. CEDU was shuttered decades ago amid a flurry of lawsuits, and like the Wayward's fictional institution, it was rampant with brutality, cruelty and had multiple residents disappear under strange circumstances in cases that local police have all but abandoned. For many, CEDU is considered ground zero for the now multi-billion dollar troubled teen industry but the organization and its institutions have a dark history of emotional, physical and psychological abuse. It operated at multiple locations from 1967 until its closure in 2005, leaving behind a legacy of abuse with impunity that occurred within a cult-like environment and was based on degradation and stripping the identity from teenagers, who'd been sent there for reasons extending from harmful drug addictions to everyday teenage depression. Desperate Escapes Wayward opens with a smashed window and a heart-pounding chase as a mysterious teenage boy desperately flees his Tall Pines Academy dorm, then the walls of the campus, and into the unforgiving woods. Meanwhile, the school's security team flips the floodlights on and comes after the runaway with all of the institution's power. That escape experience may be heightened for dramatic impact, but it's easy to presume that a similar terror was most certainly felt by hundreds of teenagers trying to escape the camps or institutions where many were kidnapped at their parents' instructions and forced to live there against their will. This was a consistent issue over the 40 years CEDU existed as a law-flouting, minor-endangering alternative for parents. The unknown levels of abuse were quite real for the hundreds who had attempted to flee, like the teen in Wayward's opening moments, out of total desperation. Close Ties With Local Police Wayward shows a close and corrupt relationship between law enforcement in Tall Pines - a town full of secrets - and the institution that brings money and young blood into the community. Tall Pines Academy's founder and cult-leader-like headmistress "likes to be involved," as Alex is told on day one at the local police force; he is also informed after a run-in with the desperate Tall Pines runaway (whose escape opens the series) that this happens all of the time and police often must bring them back to campus. CEDU's San Bernadeno campus had a similar relationship with the local sheriff's office. According to an investigation in Los Angeles Magazine, out of 415 reports of program-fleeing juveniles from CEDU's San Bernardino location over eight years, local law enforcement logged only 10 "attempts to locate" and four search and rescue missions. The L.A. Mag report also indicates that the sheriff's office consistently stonewalled their investigation into the death of a missing teenager, Daniel Yuen. Dan