If last week’s episode ended on an already horrifying note, this one confirmed what we knew all along. Not that the Yellowjackets
would devolve into cannibalism, because that was obvious from the first minutes of the first season’s premiere, but that it was only a matter of time.
But before we cover that gruesome feast, let’s delve into the rest of the episode, which builds up to it and presents its own horror-filled moments. I think my favorite part so far has to be Misty’s deep dives into the message boards and the subsequent situationship with ‘I put the sick in forensics’ Walter. So relatable, so hilarious (
Oh, so cute, so revival, so alone. Just kidding but the tune is constantly in my head!). Who hasn’t hastily written a reply only to edit it to death once you realize you’ve made a typo? It seems Misty has finally found her match though, since Walter not only infiltrates the retirement home in which she works, under the guise of looking for care for his mother, but he leaves her a note one can only read with a black light! I hadn’t realized psychos needed their meet-cutes too, but this one works superbly. After all, Walter’s request is simple: he’ll help Misty find out what happened to Natalie if she’ll stop downvoting his Adam Martin theories. Which, fair. He can’t know that she’s involved in that, but methinks it won’t last long. Now that he has her name, the link to the Yellowjackets will follow, and surely he’ll be able to dig out that Adam’s mistery, lingerie-wearing girlfriend, is Shauna. Neither of those storylines are as interesting as what Misty and Walter might end up doing once they combine their powers though (the world imploding, probably), so hopefully they get ditched for unadulterated citizen detective shenanigans, involving Caligula as a trusty sidekick.
If Misty’s quest (Quigley Quests would be a cool name for what Misty does, if she ever cared to monetize them by becoming a legit detective) doesn’t feel particularly urgent to us, it’s because we know Nat isn’t lost, suicidal (much), or even really captive. She’s just the newest, unwilling, member of Lottie’s croc-wearing not-a-cult. I’m never using the word purple again by the way, it’s only heliotrope for me from now on! Adult Lottie, on the other hand, may seem benevolent but underneath all that, well, bullshit, she actually seems quite sinister. As a wise man once said (hi Sirius), "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." and the way Lottie treated fork-girl when her smoothie wasn’t exactly how she wanted it, says a lot. So logically, her explanation about Travis’ death felt…off. He wanted to « talk to the darkness that haunted him » and could only achieve that by almost dying and yet he still left her his bank account information? And somehow Lottie was the one who had (terrifying) visions of Laura Lee, while the mecanism got stuck and Travis died in a freak accident? Maybe I’m the skeptic here, but this just doesn’t feel right to me. I’ll admit I’m also not a fan of the supernatural aspect implied here, I’d much rather they were all going insane from mercury poisoning than there be truth to the fact that the dirt gods don’t want them to escape or whatever.
Speaking of Lottie and Travis, their relationship also takes a turn in 1996. Natalie decides to take matters into her own hands after Lottie tried to persuade Travis that his brother was, indeed, still alive, and essentially fakes Javi’s (still probable) death by stealing an old pair of his shorts and spilling her own blood onto it. I get where she’s coming from, because she cares a lot about Travis and watching him suffer every single day since Javi disappeared can’t be easy. However, I’m also worried this is going to come back and bite her in some way. First if/when Travis realizes what she did (and he almost did when her bandaged leg made an appearance later on), but mainly if, by some miracle, Lottie’s right. From a reality-check point, there’s no way Javi survived. From a storytelling one, it would make no sense to insist this much, and have him actually be dead. I’m not saying they’ll find him intact, maybe his memory’s gone or maybe it’s just his animated corpse or something, we’ll see. What I do doubt is that he’s alive in the current-day timeline, because when Travis died there was no mention of letting Javi know or whatever. Then again, at the high school reunion, there was no mention of Van or Lottie being alive either. Anyway, while I understand why Natalie wanted to give him closure, I’m actually surprised it worked. Travis didn’t wonder why it happened right after Lottie assured him Javi was alive? He didn’t remember his brother wasn’t wearing those clothes the last time he saw him? They’ve been combing the woods for two months and never found any sign of Javi, but suddenly they split up and Natalie stumbles upon pretty damning evidence? She can’t take off her pants during sex and he doesn’t notice?
Also, remember how when Lottie calmed down his panic attack, Travis started feeling, well… a little
too much? Having accepted that he likely won’t find Javi alive, he and Natalie finally reconnect and have sex, but Travis keeps having visions of Lottie every time Natalie touches him, especially when she puts her hand on his chest like Lottie did. Which, um, awkward much? Is this the beginning of their toxic relationship that we learn about in the present day timeline? He’s having a weird emotional connection to Lottie, Natalie’s planting evidence of his brother’s death, it seems they’ll find more ways to ruin each other, which is unfortunate because they make a cute couple.
Still, at least he isn’t « vaping himself into oblivion » like Callie is. She probably didn’t pick him on purpose (at least not consciously) but Kyle is going to become a Jeff in the making, I can already tell. « My mom wants to know if we want pancakes » could have become the new « There’s no book club?! » had Callie not promptly broken up with him. This is just one of Callie’s not-great choices during the episode. On one hand, she unexpectedly helps out Shauna during Kevyn’s polite interrogation by pretending they do have plans to go to the mall (plans she rudely rejected minutes before), on the other, she immediately erases any good she could have done by falling hook, line, and sinker for Kevyn’s colleague’s bar approach, which lets them both know Shauna cheated on Jeff. Now, everyone keeps banging on about Shauna’s alleged smartness, even Kevyn. However, she can’t lie to save her life, dispatches evidence left, right, and center, doesn’t think texts echanges between her and Adam will be incriminating (surely if the police knows they exist, they can also access their content?), the list goes on. Basically, the police will only have to follow the giant bread crumbs and Miss Shauna will end up cooking for her fellow inmates. With some luck, they’ll be wearing stripy uniforms, buzz buzz!
Taissa might not end up in jail (although, poor Biscuit…) but she is going to get sent to that « loony bin » Lottie attended if she doesn’t start to get a handle on things. Resisting sleep in order to avoid Bad Taissa appearing doesn’t seem to be working, since Taissa starts hallucinating Sammy being home, which leads to yet another argument with Simone. I am very worried about Steve, but even more worried about Taissa’s ominous reflection moving of its own accord in that mirror. As is turns out though, teen Taissa didn’t have all the answers either since her foolproof method of tying herself to Van during the night doesn’t turn out quite how they wanted it to. Taissa breaks away and almost falls off a cliff as she follows the eyeless man into the frozen forest, with Van in hot pursuit.Even more dire, is Adult Taissa and Simone getting into a car accident en route to picking up Sammy. I assume nothing will happen to Taik but Simone...? Time will tell.
Still, even that vision pales in comparison to the episode’s last few scenes. We knew that once Shauna popped that ear into her mouth, it was all over for, well, dead-ass Jackie. Reddit has taken to calling her
Snackie, which never fails to crack me up. It doesn’t happen all at once of course, Shauna keeps on playing house in the meat shed with her frozen friend. And now that we’re done playing M.A.S.H, Jackie wants her hair braided, Jackie wants her makeup done, and this would likely have gone on
ad vitam eternam if Taissa hadn’t realized what was going on.
Far from Shauna’s lively hallucinations of her ex best friend, Taissa (for once) sees the truth: a grotesque, doll-like version of Jackie with one less ear and Ross’s version of a makeover. While the group often defers to Lottie despite Taissa being the voice of reason, even she can’t defend Shauna’s way of grieving any longer, and it’s decided: Jackie’s funeral pyre is built, and Shauna gives her a tearful sendoff. The Pit Girl mistery remains, since the heart necklace has once again moved from Jackie, to Shauna. The entire cast is fantastic, but it’s a credit to Sophie Nelisse, how even when her character is acting batshit crazy, she can still make the audience feel for her and understand how she went this far. Unfortunately, Jackie doesn’t follow the cremation path, as an inopportune mound of snow falls directly on her (which seems to somehow be linked to Travis’ visions of Lottie when he and Natalie are together), which turn the pyre into an oven, and allow her to slowly become perfectly cooked. As the starving team wakes up to the alluring smell of food, Shauna walks barefoot in the snow until she reaches Jackie, seemingly in a transe reminiscient of the ill-fated Doomcoming ceremony.
« She wants us to. »
From then on, the scene cuts to a Grecian feast in which the Yellowjackets are all dressed up, savoring wine and fruit, only to switch back to Jackie’s quasi-mummified corpse. It’s horrifying, yet beautifully shot, it’s…
Yellowjackets. Sidenote: in this new, lawless society, the place where they decide to draw a line is… a choice. Devour their friend? Sure. Use her jacket for dire-needed insulation? NO WAY, JOSE. That is Jackie’s jacket and she will wear it as a shrine! Not to mention, bits of melted polyester can’t have added to the taste.
This episode felt truer to the show than the premiere, and I can’t wait to see more theories pop up and overanalyze even the smallest details, as we wait for the next episode to drop. What did you all think of this episode? Are Teen Natalie and Taissa going to be able to hold off Lottie and her beliefs? Will Coach survive the season, if his shock and refusal to use Jackie as jerky are anything to go by? Is Steve OK?!
If last week’s episode ended on an already horrifying note, this one confirmed what we knew all along. Not that the Yellowjackets would devolve into cannibalism, because that was obvious from the first minutes of the first season’s premiere, but that it was only a matter of time.
