A slower, more brutal Yellowjackets proves to be a fine thing
The casting continues to be a strong suit in an episode that has peaks of sweetness and brutality.
TV Reviews Yellowjackets
It’s easy to want a show like Yellowjackets to get a move on and solve some of its mysteries. Who is wearing the antlers and veil? What happened to Jackie? What is Adam hiding? But strangely, it’s the slowest sequences of this week’s episode, “No Compass,” that prove the best.
We start with a particularly devastating one. Taissa awakens in the tree with a bleeding bite in her hand, a mouth full of dirt, and no memory of how she got there. It’s a sad and lonely walk to the bathroom, to wordlessly wash the the dirt between her teeth and wrap a bandage around her hand, clouded in confusion and holding back tears. It’s a stunning bit of performance from Tawny Cypress The earlier half of the season held back so much about Taissa, giving her endless one-note scenes about the political campaign going badly, that it makes it all the more exciting to have opened up this whole new dimension, and Cypress seems more than up to the challenge.
Having scrubbed away the shame, Taissa has to meet up with Shauna and Nat to drop off the money with the blackmailer. Things take a turn for the lighter where Shauna is disappointed in the size of $50,000 in bills as it renders the bag she has brought way too big and makes it harder to conceal the tracker she got off Amazon. It is made all the funnier that the bag Shauna chose was a father’s day gift from Callie. The gentle mocking and banter between Nat, Shauna, and Taissa feels very natural and real; the actors have an easy chemistry that makes the characters long shared history ring true. And even though the blackmailer gets away with the cash after a frantic chase through the warehouse, the most engrossing moments are the ones where the women are sat talking in the car.
There is an intense conversation between Taissa and Shauna about Nat’s addiction, with Shauna taking a far less sympathetic position. It is a raw and complicated moment that speaks to the toxicity around childless women. Taissa says they have families and support networks and asks, “Did we do something to deserve that? It’s just fate that gave us that. Who does Natalie have?” As much as that purports to be sympathy, it comes with a large pinch of superiority which seems particularly rich from a woman with an open bite wound in her hand. Later, when Nat confronts them and yells, “You guys are just as fucked up as I am, you are just better at lying to yourselves!,” she’s not wrong. Actually, when contrasted with killing bunnies to feed to your family and eating dirt and terrorizing your child from a tree, Nat is probably the most tethered to reality even with the generous helpings of booze. She crawls into bed with the extremely heavy sleeping Detective Kevin, and for a moment it seems she might have it kinda figured out.
Unfortunately, that hope is short-lived. Upon waking, Kevin notices his gun has been tampered with. In trying not to incriminate herself and her friends, Natt blows up her budding romance in spectacular fashion. Juliette Lewis really sells the viciousness, the way the cracks in Nat’s hard shell quickly seal up. But it’s still significantly less fucked up than the end of Shauna’s evening. Yellowjackets has had so much fun with Shauna being a heightened take of the dissatisfied suburban housewife, so having sex with her young lover in her marital bed seems like the next step down this narrative path. When Adam narrowly escapes detection by Jeff, the writers acknowledge the corniness of the of plot-line by having him remark “I’ve never been in a French farce before.”
Meanwhile Misty, continuing to be one of the best cast roles on television, is embracing her inner sociopath, and Ricci plays it with just the right level of camp. Her back and forth with Jessica (Rekha Sharma, coming into her own) is deliciously Machiavellian, with both women trying to get the upper hand. One of the best moments of Yellowjackets so far involves Misty cooly injecting chocolates with fentanyl to send to Jessica’s elderly father, a phenomenally dark threat that you never doubt Misty is capable of executing.
But best of all is the plot-line in the wilderness, where young Taissa assembles a crew to attempt to find civilization. Taissa, with an extremely chic cropped haircut, gets a couple of young Yellowjackets on board with her plan to head south. Van decides to come with her and Liv Hewson delivers a stunning monologue about how her one trip to New York City involved the musical Cats instead of the soft pretzel and carriage ride she hoped for. She wants to join Taissa because, despite the danger, she feels she must do everything in her power to take her for a soft pretzel and a carriage ride in a speech that is heartbreakingly beautiful in its understatement. That moment again, where the show slows down and reminds us of the very human stakes, proves one of its strongest.
When the wolves attack the rescue mission and Taissa, who was supposed to be standing guard, finds herself coming to up a tree with no recollection of how she got there, it is as brutal a moment as the show has ever had. She scrambles down to find three wolves being held off with sticks, while another is sinking its fangs into the girl she adores. Taissa sinks the axe into the wolf again and again and again. Clearly wanting to be sinking its blade into herself for not heeding Lottie’s warning and letting down her friends. It is almost unbearable to see when she flips Van over and sees her, seemingly dead, with a chunk taken out of the side of her face, exposing teeth, sinew and bone. It is also a welcome reminder of the show’s horror credentials and willingness to delve into the unrelenting brutality.
Stray observations
- Jackie finds out Shauna is pregnant and makes it about her. Speaks true to the toxic dynamic so many teenage girls find themselves in where one is allocated the role of sidekick.
- Nat convincing Travis to not go on the rescue mission proves utterly adorable.
- They are hinting so hard at Travis’ younger brother being Adam that I no longer believe it. Having him do art is way too on the nose.
- One of the best bits of comedy the show has done is the Coach’s barely concealed delight at Misty going on the rescue mission.
- I have never felt more seen than when Van felt the most entertaining way to spend the evening was to dissect the batshittery of the 1995 romantic comedy While You Were Sleeping. If Van exists in 2021, I hope she is a prominent film critic.
110 Comments
I would not have recognized Jasmin Savoy Brown as Evangeline from Season 2 of The Leftovers without some fortuitous IMDbing to see if I recognized her in the background of another movie I watched right after this episode, but color me extra impressed!I know she’s also several years older, but it’s kind of crazy how much those round glasses change her look.
She is almost 30 and is playing around 16/17. She definitely does not look like a teen on the show.
Um…that’s not really what I was talking about?
Who are you asking?
This filmed in 2019 and she would’ve been about 25 at the time.
I mean, according to IMDb, all of the “teen version” actresses are in their 20s. Sophia Thatcher (Natalie) and Sophie Nelisse (Shauna) are the youngest at 21, while Samantha Hawley (Misty) and Ella Purnell (Jackie) are also in their mid-20s.They even have a few actresses playing both the teen and adult version of a character. (I guess we’re going to see a “Teen Simone”? Maybe she’s from Canada and Taissa meets her when she makes it to civilization or something?)Anyway, having actors in their 20s portray high schoolers is a time-honored Hollywood tradition—not least of which because it allows them to include more sex and keeps them on the right side of child labor laws.
I believe only the pilot was shot in 2019 and the rest was shot in 2021.
I’m shocked that actress is 30. The makeup they put on her to give her zits is super convincing.
Well, she is 27 — so pushing 30. I do think she has a mature face. But the zits help make her look more teen-ish (although you can definitely still have zitty skin in your 20s).
her character is also again toxically self-righteous
Jasmin is one of the first things I noticed about this show, because of her intense performance on The Leftovers. I just knew this show would be good because Jasmin is in it.
There is an intense conversation between Taissa and Shauna about Nat’s
addiction, with Shauna taking a far less sympathetic position.taissa also says, “we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her so i do what i can. not just for her, for me.” the show keeps telling us that natalie was a big part of their survival. i’m excited for when they finally show us.
Misty cooly injecting chocolates with fentanyl to send to Jessica’s elderly fatherit would obviously lead to misty but then again i’m sure misty has it all planned out to a t. i loved this scene. i love every misty scene.when she flips Van over and sees her, seemingly deadi was so sad that they buried a gay. sure, she could be alive but how do you recover from that without any medical care? she somehow better have gotten superpowers from that wolf stayed alive.
They are hinting so hard at Travis’ younger brother being Adamlet’s not do this yj writers.One of the best bits of comedy the show has done is the Coach’s barely concealed delight at Misty going on the rescue mission. i was so secondhand embarrassed for him. he had to kinda reveal their “inappropriate relationship.”taissa not believing that she could be the woman in the tree terrorizing her own son when she’s had these blackouts for decades okay.jackie reading shauna’s diary!
They’ve already shown Nat hunting and providing for the survivors.
We’ve already repeatedly seen Nat bring back deer and feed everyone. She’s one of two hunters? I kinda thought that would be enough to justify the “she’s the reason we’re here” loyalty but you’re right, there’s probably an event.
I wouldn’t write off Van’s demise so quickly. Look very closely in the 2nd trailer for the series…
oooh…just checked it out. you are right!
You have a good eye!
Turns out this show has a real thing about The Phantom of the Opera. Beyond the music references, you have a character whose face is now badly scarred, and there is a song about Little Lottie who hears angels…
i was so sad that they buried a gay. sure,..I don’t think they are going to bury her. Gonna go Alfie Packer on her.
We have seen two fugue moments. I’m not convinced that they are recurrent throughout Tai’s life. The fact that Sammie blocking the window and his behavior is recently changed indicates they are new. I suspect that (no paranormal) these are due to intense stress like the crash or a failing campaign, or (paranormal) the intervention of the forest and whatever the forest agent is sending the cards.
So if Van has the bone necklace, she’s able to poke the wolf in the eye and not get chewed? Am I reading too much into Taissa taking the two things that might have helped with the wolves? Like she had no reason to take the necklace. So maybe she’s not mentally ill but rather being possessed?
I think it’s the clear implication that she helped the wolves, and that she was not aware of this until she woke up. Don’t know what Taissa’s light at the end of the tunnel is (for that matter, what is it for any of them :/ – can barely watch yet can’t look away!)
Taissa could also have climbed the tree just to be safe from the wolves?
I think it for sure has to be possession or something similar to that. Way too much has happened way too soon to assume everything on this show could be attributed to mental illness. Also I can’t think of a condition that would make people black out and eat dirt and climb trees which she does in the past and present.
I’m assuming it’s some sort of wolf deity that possesses her.
Pica – eating things that are not food, like dirt. Its also associated with mental illness like depression, schizophrenia and OCD. Its possible that she blacks out with traumatic stress. Like seeing wolves approaching your campsite then just grabbing the bone and flare gun and climbing the nearest tree in some kind of fugue state. Of course how did she get the bone? Van had it last and was found away from the camp. Did she abandon Van? It appears her son also seems to have blackouts and there is some indication that her grandmother also suffered delusions and hallucinated. They hid it behind her bed ridden illness but it was still there. A family history?
Yeah last week I was thinking Pica, but as I said taking the two things meant to protect them from the wolves is too much of a coincidence for me. Especially because I don’t think Taissa even really knew that the bone necklace was meant to allow Van to save herself. I was one of the “I hope it’s not actually supernatural” people but now I’m quite sure it is. I really think the ….woods or ghost or whatever it is possessed her in order to make sure Lottie’s vision of disaster came true and thus they’d have to turn back and couldn’t leave.
eating dirt = pica chew?
Late reply, but as Richard Chase disgustingly proved, schizophrenia can make you want to eat some pretty gross things.
It seems to me that when she gets triggered into her dissociative fugues she’s operating on pure survival instinct. Taissa up in a tree with a talisman meant to protect, and NOT meant for her, is pure id.
Think Jackie also found out abt Jeff and Shauna there at the end?Definitely embracing the brutality, yeesh! This is kind of the Flight 93 experience – a mercy that it’s another week before more…because you can’t stop watching. Top next death suspect for me is Laura Lee; the God-leaves-picture-before-the-descent thing.
I fell like it is impossible for Adam to be Travis’s brother, he is way too young for that. Their age difference seems big when they’re kids 25 years ago but really he’s only about 3 years younger than the rest of them so would be about 40 in present day.Not gonna lie the compass and the woods wanting them to stay give me Lost vibes and not in a good way.
The actor playing Adam is in his mid 30s. I’d believe him as a 40 year old.
Yes, I am also not getting the Adam is Travis’ brother thing. I think he reminds her of him, and maybe that is why she fell for him because of revisiting some trauma that occurred to him, but there is no way she would not recognize Javi and that would be almost lubricous for him to try to pull that off and hope she would not recognize her
The actor who plays Adam is 35 — he could easily play 40. He doesn’t look very young at all. But I think that it would be a really dumb storyline for multiple reasons.
I’m still 50/50 on this show. I’m very intrigued by the mystery, what happens to the characters we haven’t seen adult versions of yet, and the acting and twists have been great. I’m not entirely in love with the dialogue (it gets a little too cliché at times), and I actually find the confirmation that supernatural forces are involved to be a little disappointing. To me, it would be way more horrifying if these girls just became cannibals on their own without supernatural involvement. At this point, Lottie being the Antler Queen seems to obvious. I’m leaning more towards the blonde Christian girl, or even it being Jackie would be a nice twist. It definitely seems like the show is leading to Javi being Adam, but I can’t believe Shauna wouldn’t recognize someone she went through such a significant experience with, despite him being older. Taissa seems to be possessed by “the forest”, and is using her to mess with the girls. It’s significant she took the flare and the necklace while possessed and left the girls to the wolves, and as an adult I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s doing something bad each night as well.
I am bummed about where this show has gone — the first couple of episodes were STELLAR, and they seemed to be setting up a very dark show about the depths of where humanity can take you when in a desperate situation. A tale about a bunch of very TYPICAL teen girls who somehow, over 19 months, morph into feral cannibal gang members. As soon as the storyline started taking the supernatural route (which some say is subject to interpretation but honestly seems rather clear at this point) and hinting at the girls having “special powers” or “textbook madness” long before the plane even crashed (now both Tai AND Lottie might be “mentally ill?”), the quality of the episodes took a MASSIVE nosedive. Now the show just feels downright silly — instead of a sophisticated look into the limits of our “civilized selves,” a la Lord of the Flies but darker, it feels like a YA/Freeform kind of show. And the stakes also seem a lot lower if all of these girls are already “haunted” or what have you. The slide into feral madness seems more predictable if the kids are already kinda crazy, or “touched” by spirits of whatever. I mean, Tai is already eating dirt, Lottie is predicting “rivers of blood,” that ridiculous seance scene, etc? DUMB. I don’t think we needed ANY of this.Sad, because it really seemed like this show might be something special at first, and something far more adult. But maybe that’s now what audiences even want anymore. YA-level bullshit is more easily digested, and so the creators have taken a great concept and dumbed it down for the masses.
I completely agree, though I’m holding out hope that it’ll shy away from the supernatural nonsense … but it’s certainly becoming less and less likely. Such a shame.
Nah, they are fully leaning into it. Ultimately, it’s not a show for adults but for young teen girls. It didn’t seem that way at first, and the adult cast is amazing, but — yeah, the show is silly, not smart, at this point.
Yeah, the show is just not for you. It can’t even be confirmed if Lottie is clairvoyant or if Laura Lee is just sinking her faith into the next best thing to Jesus. Lottie’s dream of “river of blood” and “red smoke” only means anything because she told someone about it, followed by a very logical example of confirmation bias. The show is more about what people resort to mentally, emotionally, physically when they are in a hopeless survival situation, and the trauma that comes with that. Lottie’s dreams/visions are not the Lost smoke monster.
It is not nearly as smart as you are painting it. It could be doing all of this in a FAR more sophisticated manner, with characters who aren’t cliches. Whether it “means” to be supernatural or not, the show is purely YA at this point. And actually, the show The Wilds on Amazon, with a similar theme and also a YA show, is a lot better.
Honestly, I see very little about this show that is supernatural at all, and much that is about trauma and how we can look for order in chaos, even if that order is itself insane. These are scared kids looking for the supernatural.
The silly, silly seance scene? The visions (man with no eyes, river of blood, red smoke, etc.)? The “Lottie has ESP and predicted this car crash” flashback scene? Even if it’s some kind of mind f**k, this show is already in Stephen King territory. Also, the characters are not complex — they are total cliches. Nat is “trailer trash.” Tai had a “magical negro” grandma. Lottie is “poor little rich girl.” Etc., etc., etc. After the first couple of episodes, I have been very disappointed in the writing. It’s weak, cliche-ridden and unsophisticated. It feels like a very different show from the setup.
I thought a magical negro was a black person with mysterious spirituality who existed to help a white person? Iirc, Tai just has a religious grandmother who was dying. Which I guess is also a cliche but…also pretty easy to find irl?
Welcome to kid-based culture, a.k.a. the complete downfall of humanity across various metrics. [Sources: ALL social media apps, “influencers,” the precipitous spike in people not wanting to procreate, teacher shortages, etc.]
-Interesting when Jackie confronted Shauna about what’s up with her, she tells her to “spill”.- Misty’s VHS collection includes (along with While You Were Sleeping) Misery and Primal Fear. Subtle.- Malibu and … milk?! Gooood loooord. That’s more horrifying then getting half your face torn off.
– Red smoke.. flare gun.. okay soooo ugh maybe Lottie is an x-man after all. Disappointing.- I like how they chased and took down the blackmailer in the store, almost like they were experienced at hunting prey…- ew, Adam you creepo. Also, don’t grab her arm like that. Getting kind of aggressive.
My ex wife drank malibu and milk. It was the 80s.
I loved that chase bit. In fact, I think they could’ve almost gone farther. How creepy/cool would that have been to see them go almost feral trying to chase after the blackmailer like a wolfpack.
To survive they will become as feral as those wolves. It’s a very deliberate move on the show runners to have the physical wolves.
They were already a team who worked great together, so transitioning to chasing down prey makes sense. I really wanted them to catch him, to have those skills kick back in for them when they were desparate again.
So Adam is working with Jeff to do the blackmail, then? He’s definitely involved in it, way too suspicious of him to turn up at Shauna’s house just then.RIP Van, pour one out for all of the “_____ would be a great adult version of Van” posts. We’ll just have to imagine Sarah Snook’s adult Van living her life live-tweeting NWSL matches and Netflix rom coms.
I kept waiting for Shauna to either discover glitter in the bed or on her husband’s clothes.
That for sure is going to happen
Ugh, what a world that would’ve been
Regarding Adam, one theory I’ve heard that is rather interesting, is that he’s in partnership with Callie, who has been shown to be a snoop, and may have been the one who intercepted Shauna’s postcard. Maybe there is an icky lover situation going on, and she’s hoping to get the money to run off with Adam to the city. As for Van, don’t write her off just yet. Rewatch the second trailer for the series, and look very closely, and you’ll see what i mean.
Adam’s working with someone, but I don’t think it’s Callie. I think the season ending twist will be that Caligula does know how to use the phone, and he’s been behind the whole thing.
That’s absurd. Caligula is the Antler Queen.
Allison Tolman would be a good grown-up eye-patch wearing Van
I haven’t had time to re-watch the episode yet, but I woke up this morning thinking about a flash of Jackie crying and reading what appeared to be Shauna’s diary. I can’t actually remember when that happened. Was it in the little part right before Taissa wakes up in the tree? Was it in next week’s preview? Did I just imagine it?
I think it’s the last scene before the credits and previews I think.
It definitely happened, at the end of this episode.
In the preview for next week, there was a clip of Shauna finding glitter on clothes in what I took for a laundry room. So I guess suddenly Jeff is number one suspect with all his mysterious late night inventory software issues? Could the blonde woman Shauna saw with him at the hotel be a survivor she didn’t recognize?
I thought she saw the glitter at Adam’s place, or on his clothes? I’ll have to watch again.
I initially thought Adam, but wondered why she’d be fooling around in the laundry room at his place, if that’s even what it was? 6 days to wait for the answer!
She finds the glitter next to her safe in the closet she had Adam hide in.
Ah ok, thanks! I watched it again last night and I still couldn’t tell.
The preview was cut to suggest she suspects/accuses Adam, but I think the whole point of having it in the closet (and having a plot point where Adam is in the closet she shares with her husband) is to leave both Adam and Jeff on the board as possible suspects.
Could it be LL?
The blonde woman Shauna saw Jeff with could be their daughter who Shauna gave up long ago
The blonde woman Shauna saw Jeff with could be their daughter who Shauna gave up long ago
Random Thoughts:
That scene with Tai at the beginning just broke my heart. It felt almost like we were seeing the aftermath of a rape, which in a sense it is, with Tai being invaded against her will by some kind of malevolence, be it supernatural, or a mental illness. Absolutely incredible how it was shot and acted.Speaking of which, one of the joys of Cypress, Linskey, Lewis and Ricci are all giving career best work, while their teenage counterparts are all going to be major stars coming out of this. The last time I’ve seen a show do this, break out so many veteran and new actors, was probably Mad Men, and I’d dare to even say this show may have the best ensemble I’ve ever seen. They SHOULD have looped Misty in. Say what you will about her, she would’ve known how to plant a tracking device.I know this series is chock full of ships, but was I the only one getting some D/s vibes from Misty and Jessica? I’d LOVE to see them team up.Between Misty’s love of Cats and Phantom, and Van’s hatred of the aforementioned, this show really doesn’t like Andrew Lloyd Webber. Which is fine by me.Personally I like the balance the show is maintaining when it comes to the supernatural elements. There is just enough wiggle room to leave you wondering if what we’re seeing really is supernatural, or if what we’re seeing is a combination of coincidence and self-fulfilling prophecy. I definitely think Jeff is the blackmailer. He has been shown to have money problems. He could’ve intercepted the postcard, which would explain both how Shauna didn’t get one, and how the blackmailer knows about the symbol. His leaving the house right before the drop text was sent is also curious, and he probably has access to Shauna’s Amazon account, which would explain how he knew to look for a tracking device. Conversely, I do NOT think Adam is Javi, despite all the clues the show likes to drop. Rather, I think Adam reminds Shauna of Javi. The two definitely seem to have a moment when he asks to borrow the hunting knife, and maybe they eventually have a relationship.Long term theory: I wonder if Nat steals the rifle at some point in the future, and leads a group out of the wilderness (hence Tai’s comment about their indebtedness to her), and (one of) the dark secrets is that they left some of the others behind, effectively abandoning them. I wonder if the postcard sender/Travis’s killer (who I do NOT think is the blackmailer) is one of those survivors out for revenge. I still think Jackie could well be alive, and maybe was one of those abandoned, could be the vengeful pursuer. Much was made last week (myself included) of Jackie’s journal, with the titles of movies from 1998-2000, implying Jackie DID make it out. I’m starting to get on board the fan theory that this is a red herring, and that Shauna may have made those entries. Post rescue, she has seemingly lived Jackie’s life, by marrying Jeff and settling down as a homemaker in her home town (all things Jackie wanted), and Shauna IS the devoted journal keeper of the bunch. Those entries could, perhaps, be a continuation of Shauna’s efforts to keep Jackie alive somehow. What I’m saying is, nothing is what it seems in this show.There’s some fan speculation as to whether those wolves were real, or if we were seeing Tai’s hallucination. I don’t know about that, but I DO wonder if in her frantic state, she didn’t cause some of Van’s wounds with that axe.I’m really not looking forward to Laura Lee trying to fly Chekov’s plane out of there. She’s one of my favorite characters, but it’s not looking good for her, especially since Lottie had that vision of Laura going dark and seemingly surrounded by light. On the subject of survival, I know they are teenagers, but man this show is proving to be a masterclass in how NOT to survive in the wilderness. Sure, they seem to be doing well, but they’ve managed to deplete the area of wildlife, and have failed to cache food for the winter, stockpile wood, or do other things to ensure their long term survival. They need to construct some kind of SOS on that big open beach, and have regular signal fires. And they started way too late to attempt to hike out. A hike to safety is not something you pursue out of desperation when supplies run low, because you’re already in a weakened state. They should have, once recovered from the crash, and up to full strength after eating, have sent out parties to map the area as best as they can. Send a group out to one of those high mountain peaks, to get a bigger picture of where they are, and based upon what they see, they can then decide to as a group leave or stay. If, for example, they were to spot another lake beyond the mountain range to the south, they now have a source of water to sustain them, and could begin to construct portable shelters from the bedding and materials in the cabin. They could move out en masse to the new location, where there would be more food and resources to sustain them. From there, they could then repeat the process. Because once it becomes clear rescue isn’t coming, they really need to become nomads, and the imperative is to keep moving south to seek better weather, and to follow the animals that can sustain them.
EVERYONE READ THE LAST PARAGRAPH OF THIS IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE.
I say all this having never once in my life slept outdoors. But I did watch “The Edge” a couple of times.
As I haven’t seen The Edge I’m gonna trust you on this one.
This show has a long way to go before anyone compares it to Mad Men, but glad you like it!I think Jackie is dead and the list of movies last episode was really maybe just a mess up. This show is not established enough to guarantee they are that detail oriented and think about people still framing things. If I am wrong, I will gladly take it back. Plus, really nothing shown s0 far would really make any sense if she lived. From her parents to Jeff to how the other yellowjackets talk, no one really has said anything that would make sense if she made it back with them.I agree with you Adam just reminds her of Javi. There is no way she would not recognize him and their ages do not line up.
I think it has more in common with Mad Men than most may realize: an incredible sense of time and place. An attention to detail. Incredible ensemble cast. So many storylines. I’d dare to call it the odd successor to that show.As for the diary, I firmly believe it was intentional. Which could mean one of two things: Jackie made it out, but died subsequently. Or, a more interesting theory I’ve heard come up, is that Jackie did die out there, but Shauna (who is a dedicated journal-keeper) may have updated the journal herself during her visits to Jackie’s parents, as a way of keeping Jackie alive. Shauna’s whole life is really Jackie’s, from marrying Jeff, to being a homemaker instead of an academic like she wanted. I get the sense that she acts like she owes something to Jackie, and is living vicariously through her, and maybe that journal reflects her wishful thinking of what Jackie would’ve been had they not crashed in the wilderness.
Mad Men was an adult show. This is a YA show (even the adult scenes are NOT very adult). There is zero comparison.
What makes it even more ridiculous is that there is an ADULT there. And he basically sits around and does nothing. Yes, he lost his leg, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be a real voice of reason and help the group make wiser decisions. They barely try to save themselves. No one has even sent up a smoke signal. They just hang around doing pretty much nothing all day.Oh, and it appears the “extra Yellowjackets” (there were around 19 survivors of the plan crash) have finally just disappeared into thin air.
Jackie could have escaped but died back home.
seriously – build a big fire and put green boughs into it – the smoke is visible for 100’s of miles – survival 101
I noticed something when I re-watched the episode where Lottie finds Taissa in the woods eating dirt. Before she goes out the door, she grabs an ax from the wall and turns around. When she turns around, the antlers are framing her head. I think this may be a hint that Lottie will be the leader that we see in the beginning of the first episode, when they are all dressed in animal fur and eating one of their own
I don’t know if I’m an outlier, but I’m less interested in the mystery/supernatural element (especially the latter: god help us if this goes the route of Lost) than in watching the relationships between the characters develop. The acting on this show is phenomenal.
I’m with you. Why can’t they all just not get along?
I feel the show is back on track after some shaky bits after the pilot, it works best when the girls are together even when they are adults. Lewis laying in bed after having to lie about shooting the gun broke heart my heart, those eyes were pure pain.Still think the supernatural elements will be up to the interpretation of the audience, but if I was starving, scared and needed direction, I’d start listening to Lottie too.
Sophie Thatcher is in The Book of Boba Fett.
So one thing I noticed is that Van is wearing that Coed Naked Soccer shirt in most of this episode. In the opening hunt scene of episode one the first person to walk up to the pit where the girl fell in is wearing that same shirt. And her mask is eerily similar looking to a bandage wrap
They need to tread carefully with Taissa’s characterisation from here onwards. She’s been possessed (or whatever you want to call her blackouts) for decades now and we’ve seen her acknowledge her episodes both in the past and present day, yet she continues to be sceptical of everything until today. In the woods, this caused the death of her girlfriend, in the now, she frequently diminishes her son’s experience despite knowing full well she’s been scaring him all this while.She’s the worst.
i think the blackmail for money and the person who murdered travis are different people. i have suspected jeff as the blackmailer, motivated purely by financial gain because maybe the store is failing and it’s worse than he has shared with shauna. it would explain the late nights (i’ve always thought the cheating was a red herring), and the fact that shauna (allegedly) did not receive a post card. he could have easily read her diary to get info or the symbols. but i think he’s now surprised that shauna is involved. they made it a point to showcase that she used his bag. if he did in fact pick up the money, he will now know shauna was involved when he sees the bag. she’s not exactly forthcoming with her late night activities so it’s likely he’s unaware she even still talks to tai and nat… so interested to see where they take that. he was clearly flustered when he got home, and i think it’s because of her involvement. i’m leaning toward jackie being the head honcho. now that she knows about shauna, i think she’s going to foster that anger. she was chosen as captain because she’s an influence on the girls… i think she will manipulate lottie and her gift. i really hope the supernatural element to this show is “mild” because as someone else pointed out, the acting and relationships are so good and intriguing, too much supernatural will take me out of it. (please no time travel!)
No way is Travis’s younger brother Adam. They don’t look a bit alike.
I do not think Jeff has anything to do with this. That is a red herring. First, he does not have to go through all this trouble if he really wanted to blackmail the other yellowjackets. Plus, I thought his speech to Shauna and defending her last episode was sincere. I cannot fathom them being together for 20 years if he truly knew, or suspected anything. I think Adam is definitely the blackmailer. How he ties in is yet to be determined.Tai’s problem is that she wants to be a leader, but is not good at it. That is her big weakness. She is alpha and wants to take charge, but all of her decisions are pretty terrible, even from the first episode.I thought Jackie finding the journal was the one contrived thing. Yes, Shauna’s story of how she is pregnant did not add up, but that journal was pretty well hid.There is clearly supernatural things going on. I thought the seance episode was pretty definitive. This episode further proved that. I do not get why some are so dead set against it, like they do not want to be people who like supernatural shows? Why not? What difference would it really make if they all went nuts instead? To me, that actually further backs up why they are so adamant about “keeping the secret” of what happened, as it is unexplainable and they know it. People think it is guilt (it is partly that though), but I do not think that would be enough for everyone to have never talked and take such drastic actions to protect the secret.
the “secret” is pretty obvious by now. It wasnt just a matter of cannibalism to prevent starvation. Lorrie said they woudlnt be allowed to leave untill blood was spilled. People started buying into Lorrie’s beliefs and they sacrificed some of their teammates to what i’ll call “The Operator” so they’d be allowed to leave.
This makes sense of How travis could hve gone along with it without believing. He might have faked it just so he didnt get killed bu thought they were all nuts.
Can we talk about Juliette Lewis.
One trick pony. How many times do we have to see her dysfunctional, drug and alcohol addled weirdo roles. Weirdo because she is a cult member.It is painful to watch her, and her handlers (COS), manipulate these dysfunctions into character-acting.So many other actors were deserving of this role, but we got stuck with her because of her cult’s status, despite her lack of talent.ETA: before any fanboys come in talking about how “hot” she is. You are part of the disgusting problem. There is nothing hot or sexy about dysfunction, unless you are even worse.
She’s an Oscar nominee who’s headed into her fourth decade of extremely consistent employment in the film industry. That means she’s a) very good at her job and b) well-liked even by non-Scientologists otherwise they wouldn’t work with her.
She’s still a one-trick pony, she’s just very good at that one-trick.
I dunno, she’s managed to continue to find work even when many actresses in her age range have been written off by hollywood. My favorite random Juliette Lewis performance was on My Name is Earl, as Earl’s ex GF who goes all Cape Fear on him.
She has a very powerful group in Hollywood behind her. And again, she’s good at the one character she plays.
I will say as a woman of her age, I do appreciate that she’s still getting good roles.
I actually normally think she’s a bit overrated but she’s winning me over in this one for the first time, which is odd. I can’t quite figure out why, since it’s very much her usual type.
She’s great in the role. Not sure who you’d rather castActors playing one type of character is also not unheard of
I would never call her hot at this point in her life, she hasn’t aged well at all. However, she does have a certain charisma that keeps her in the business. I think she is actually talented, or she wouldn’t keep getting hired at her age.
I thought she was supposed to look kind of haggard/older then the others because of her hard living.
in episode 3, shauna follows jeff on his way to meet the mysterious ‘bianca’ who had texted him the night before. jeff is driving the same car as the one that’s driving away in this episode during the warehouse scene. the blackmailer is totally jeff.
The promo photos, like the one you used with the girls + Coach Ben, have been cracking me up. The most used one has all of them, plus the adult women, and Jeff at the forefront. Why them and not Travis??? Every choice production makes is another pin on the Charlie Day corkboard.
I’m still very 50/50 on this show but it has enough for me to finish out the season. I kind of disagree about Juliette Lewis being great…I feel like she should have watched Sophie Thatcher’s incredible performance (which was much better before the show made her boykrazy) and tried to make it seem like the same person, even after severe trauma. The writing is also extremely spotty…Nat telling Kevin to fuck off was pretty awful writing. I’m sorry, I forgot, did Shauna’s journal just say “banged my bff’s bf today lol”? Wouldn’t somebody write that in code at the very least? Also: I wish people wouldn’t discuss the previews for the season or for the next episode on here but shrug.
Yes. Juliette Lewis is highly over-rated as an actress and some distant, self-serving award nomination is just about the worst defense of her so-called talent. Melanie Lynsky and Christina Ricci are acting circles around her.
As I stated in a comment above – Juliette Lewis is a one-trick pony. She may be good at that trick, but that doesn’t make her a good actor.
I’m not quite as down on her…I just don’t understand the heaps and heaps of praise. And why nobody seems to be pointing out that young Nat used to have a character, up until the hunting episode…now her character is wanting to bone Travis.
I think we call putting aside every personal aspect that makes a young woman interesting in exchange for the prospect of Travis prematurely ejaculating on/in her…FEMINISM!The world is a very strange place.
Is that what he did? I couldn’t even figure it out, if it was that or that he lost his erection. Neither was a particularly compelling development.
The scenes with Misty and the detective playing cat and mouse were almost too stressful and intense for me. They definitely are not underestimating each other now.I don’t think the coach is trying to hide anything from the other girls, they all know that he is desperate to keep Misty at bay & were rolling their eyes at her dramatics with him. Jackie displayed some impressive ability to read Shauna in figuring out something was up & then nailing down exactly what. I loved her telling Shauna that when she tried to cover up her parents’ divorce by saying her dad had moved away to become president of Hello Kitty, that was more convincing than her current (past) lies.
Incredible matching detail in both the present and past storylines in this episode: Misty tells the coach that she has to go on Taissa’s death march to help “her friends.” And she tells the fake journalist she is trying to protect “her friends.” She seems totally sincere both times & in both is putting herself at considerable risk. Is Misty really sort of a hero & maybe eventually “her friends” will appreciate her? I mean, other than for being a kind of horrible person. But she is loyal