Yellowjackets - 2.04 - Old Wounds - Review

This week’s episode of Yellowjackets was a little light in content, despite being enjoyable overall. One would wish that in a nine (9! not even 10!) episode season, none of the episodes be filler, alas this isn’t even the first time this has been the case in season two. Most of the plot is still an extension of season one, and we’re almost halfway done already. And yes, sure, we got two reveals during this episode but one was from already known casting announcements, and the other, well… remains to be unpacked. Still, let’s get into it!

Adult Shauna goes from vengeful fury to awkward jokester in the space of minutes it seems, as she nonchalantly reveals to Callie what happened to Adam, creating an unexpected bonding moment with her daughter. Especially when you realize that Callie has been texting and meeting up with « Jay » all along, which… I understand why he initially sought her ought, since it proved her mother was having an affair. However, I’m less sure about why he’d still be playing that role. Jeff isn’t as delighted by this new development as Shauna is, because in his mind he still wants to protect Callie, their « one kid ». Now, this strikes me as strange too, he read Shauna’s journals and she definitely talked about being pregnant since that’s how Jackie found out about her and Jeff! So unless the child is stillborn, or more likely turns into the spawn of Satan upon birth, that was a weird throwaway line.

Back in 1996, Teen Shauna is mad because someone has been stealing their dwindling bear meat! Mari, who is quickly becoming girl most likely to end up dead in a pit thanks to how annoying she is, promptly accuses Ben, who immediately shuts her down by pointing out he’d have a hard time being stealthy in the snow with his crutch.

« What are you gonna do, eat me too? »

This, in turn, becomes a full on trial about how Natalie and Travis aren’t bringing in any game. Mari remains Lottie’s most fervent supporter, and she designs a hunting showdown for Natalie and Lottie since her stance is that Lottie manages to make food fall from the sky (quite literally, with those birds). Whoever brings meat to the team, without assistance, wins. And may the odds be ever in your favor. This seems dumb on several levels since aside fom Natalie and Travis, none of the other girls are able to provide for the group, so it feels rather unfair that they’re being blamed when it’s winter and the game they’re chasing is struggling to survive too.

Still, both Lottie and Nat set off (Nat gets the gun because as Mari puts it « Lottie doesn’t need one ». Lottie looks understandably worried at this point), and quickly enough Natalie stumbles upon the lake again. Frozen in the middle of said lake, is the white moose she hallucinated when she brought Jackie’s remains back to the plane. Finally, some source of food that come hold them till spring! I was a little concerned about how the moose came to be frozen and whether the meat would have gone bad depending on when (or how) it actually died, but a moose is a moose and Natalie recruits the remaining girls from the cabin to help her pull it out of the water. Mari (there’s a recurring theme here of her being the absolute worst) feels like this is cheating (no assistance!) forgetting that the ultimate goal is them surviving, not Lottie winning, but Misty isn’t having any of it and barrels off to the lake.

While I thought Lottie was immediately going to cut herself in order to activate whatever supernatural entity responds to blood offerings, she takes a while to cotton on and almost freezes to death in the process. Yet another weird hallucination highlights the impact Laura Lee’s death had on her, but ultimately these scenes don’t really bring anything to the plot since they’re, well… fake. There have been quite a few since season 2 started, so less of that, please and thank you. At least the scene between Natalie and Lottie bonding, « good game » style, was sweet and somewhat explains their rapport in present day.

While Adult Natalie is making friends with Fork Face Lisa, kidnapping goldfish (that scene was priceless), alienating mothers and overall not being as quick to quit the cult as one would have thought, Adult Lottie is unraveling. Beneath that calm exterior lie deep concerns about her visions returning, to the point where she heads to her therapist to up her dosage. Naively, I thought she’d embraced those « visions » after the wilderness, but it seems like she’s still trying to suppress them and it’s not working anymore. She’s recreated the wilderness with key locations such as the lake, and the moss, and is still, apparently, paying, because nothing seems to be enough to finally give her peace.

Adult Misty is still fumbling around, trying to find Natalie because she doesn’t actually know that Natalie’s fine. See, this is what I mean, we’re four episodes in and Misty’s entire storyline is pointless. Do I love seeing her and Walter’s partnership because they’re basically the same person? Sure. Do I wish their talents were directed towards something that actually needs solving? Absolutely.

Someone else who doesn’t need to be found (despite her dire car situation), is Taissa. Somehow, Misty has convinced herself that when her « friends » don’t answer, it’s because they’ve been kidnapped, not that they’re ignoring her calls. Taissa is on her way to find Van, because she’s at a loss as how to deal with Bad Taissa, who seems to be taking over more and more. It’s obvious they haven’t seen each other in a while, since Van does a double take when Taissa appears in her shop.

But Van isn’t the only one Taissa « finds » because back in 1996, Van has been studiously mapping the locations of each symbol Taissa’s night wanderings lead them to. (There’s a lot of mapping going on in this show now, not all of it fruitful). Which is when they suddenly stumble upon no other than… Javi! At least, it looks like Javi. But he barely seems to recognize anyone, or talk. Now, that may be because the last time we saw him he’d been drugged and watched the girls almost kill his brother, and since he hasn’t been far from the cabin, he also probably knows they ate Jackie. Which, all in all, doesn’t make a return to the group appealing. The question of how he survived alone in the cold remains however, but the moss will have something to do with that. Still, is it really Javi or some kind of soulless version of him? Nat making herself scarce as Travis embraced his long lost brother doesn’t bode well for their relationship. Nat is so good-hearted, but it always comes back to bite her.

Let’s hope next week’s episode makes more progress. What did you guys think of the episode now that we’re almost halway done with the season? As usual, sound off in the comments!