Yellowjackets

Yellowjackets, an ongoing Showtime original series, is like a teen drama mixed with cannibalism and the supernatural. It begins with all the trappings of a modern day high school drama with all the who’s sleeping with whom, pregnancies, who’s secretly gay, and infighting. It transplants all of that into the wilderness via a plane crash, then sits back to watch it all descend into insanity. This series tells the story in two separate timelines: before and during their time in the woods, and the survivors years later still damaged by what they went through. This sort of multifaceted narrative can be a boon as well as a hindrance to the overall story as it forces the writers to intentionally mislead and hide certain bits of information to avoid spoiling one storyline to serve the other. It also means that audiences have to not only keep track of a large cast of characters, they also have to put two faces to each one, one for the teenagers and one for the middle-aged adults they grew into. As this is an ongoing series it is impossible to speak for the show as a whole, especially with so much still yet to be revealed and as of this writing the first two seasons are available with a third slated for sometime next year. 

The story follows a New Jersey high school girls’ soccor team that is traveling to Seattle for a national tournament. While over Canada the plane crashes deep in the woods and the survivors are left stranded for nineteen months, presumed dead. During the course of their time in the woods some with turn to cannibalism, some will die in an attempt to escape the woods, an abandoned cabin will be found by a lake, and winter will soon be here. One of the girls, Lottie Matthews (Simone Kessell/Courtney Eaton) is on anti-psychotic medications and when those run out begins to experience haunting visions and superstitions that are gradually adopted by the rest of the group. Misty Quigley (Christina Ricci/Samantha Hanratty) sees this situation as a new life for her as she was the unpopular one at the school, relegated to equipment manager by the girls. Here in the wilderness her survival skills prove useful and, when she comes across the plane’s location transponder, she destroys it in an attempt to prevent them from ever being rescued. Shauna Shipman (Melanie Lynskey/Sophie Nélisse) is pregnant with Jackie’s (Ella Purnell) boyfriend’s child. Taissa Turner (Tawny Cypress/Jasmin Savoy Brown) is a closeted lesbian dating fellow Yellowjacket Vanessa “Van” Palmer (Lauren Ambrose/Liv Hewson). This relationship continues after the crash. Van takes care of Taissa after the crash when Taissa begins sleepwalking which debilitates into psychogenic fugues which can turn violent. Natalie “Nat” Scatoroccio (Juliette Lewis/Sophie Thatcher) had issues with drugs and alcohol abuse, something her teammates harassed her for. As an adult she still struggles with substance abuse as well as suicidal thoughts.

This eclectic group of girls, as well as several others including three men, are thrust into an extreme survival scenario with little to no food, no shelter and no means of escape. One, Ben Scott (Steven Krueger), loses his leg in the crash when it gets trapped under debris and Misty has to amputate it. Together they will weather out everything from starvation to exposure and their own petty bickering. Early on we get a flash forward to the girls hunting one of their own but as of season two this hasn’t played out just yet. Thus far when they have turned to cannibalism to survive it has been with someone who has died through no act of their own with one exception and that one was through their inaction instead. That will eventually change as this teaser has already indicated but when and how it gets to that point has not yet been revealed.

Surprisingly, the modern day drama twenty five years later is equally as interesting as the survival stuff. Someone has sent out cards to the survivors attempting to blackmail them with details of what happened out there. This person knows stuff that should never see the light of day and, at first, fingers get pointed at each other assuming someone blabbed. A private investigator masquerading as a reporter has been snooping around asking questions ostensibly to write a book about the ordeal and has gotten in contact with most of the survivors but apparently hasn’t gotten anywhere with any of them. The blackmailer has, unintentionally, set off a new series of events that will escalate to kidnapping, murder, and a reawakening of something dark that has laid dormant since the Yellowjackets’ were finally rescued, something that demands another sacrifice.

A lot happens over the course of the nineteen episodes that make up seasons 1 and 2 and it would be a disservice to examine all of it here. This is a show that needs to be experienced with as little spoiled as possible. Season 1 is a taught, if occasionally melodramatic, look at what might really happen if a group of teenaged girls and a few guys found themselves stranded in the woods like this. It’s well paced and hits all the right beats while teasing something bigger is coming. Season 2, on the other hand, delves too deeply into mysticism and magic and loses some of the suspense that worked so well in the first season. That’s not to say season 2 is bad; it’s not. It’s just a step down from the previous season. The narrative also slows down in the second season, especially in the present day once Nat and Lottie are reunited. Lottie is running a wellness commune called Camp Green Pine but her visions have recently been coming back. Eventually Taissa, Shauna, Van and Misty will also show up at the commune and the series slows down to a crawl during those scenes.

With a third season coming it is impossible to properly examine the series as a whole but there are some things that do stand out thus far. The casting is nearly perfect. Makeup and other effects have been utilized to blend the difference between the actresses playing the older and younger versions of their characters but mostly it’s just the actresses doing a superb job emulating each other convincingly. There is not a weak link in this cast and that includes those who don’t survive long enough to be rescued. Christina Ricci is especially good playing the offbeat, kind of crazy Misty who has no reservations when called by her old Yellowjackets “friends” to dispose of a body or who kidnaps and kills a woman for snooping around her past. Yet, when the life of her pet bird is threatened, only then is she shaken. Her counterpart, Samantha Hanratty, is equally good selling the slightly off kilter character who would intentionally sabotage rescue just to avoid going back to a life where she wasn’t important to the group. These two are the standouts but are amongst some really great costars. 

Each season ends on a bit of a cliffhanger with the second season being the more dynamic. Season two also opens with a quick shot of the girls being rescued, giving us just a brief glimpse of those we already know survived while not giving away any real surprises. There are still mysteries left to be revealed for however many seasons this story can play out but, ideally, this show should wrap up with just one more season before it goes on too long and ends up like Lost, its premise stretched too thin. Ideally, with a premise this juicy and a cast this good the show will be allowed to run its course and get a proper finale to wrap it all up. Ideally.

Release Date: November 14, 2021-present

Running Time: Ongoing

Rated: TV-M

Starring: Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell, Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Samantha Hanratty, Steven Krueger, Warren Kole, Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, Courtney Eaton, Liv Hewson, Kevin Alves, Simone Kessell and Lauren Ambrose

Directed By: Karyn Kusama, Jamie Travis, Eva Sørhaug, Deepa Mehta, Billie Woodruff, Ariel Kleiman, Daisy von Scherler Meyer, Eduardo Sánchez, Ben Semanoff, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Scott Winant, Liz Garbus, and Anya Adams