Yellowjackets embraces the supernatural and is all the better for it
Yellowjackets' season-two renewal is accompanied by an episode that is a microcosm of what makes the show so good.
TV Reviews Yellowjackets
It’s a beautiful thing when you feel a show fall into its rhythm, when it feels truly self-assured and confident enough to drop huge twists in one storyline and do slower paced, but equally engrossing character development in another. The news that Yellowjackets has been picked up for season two seems particularly perfect given that it is accompanied by an episode that is a microcosm of what makes the show so good.
Back in the wilderness, we’re focusing on Lottie and Taissa, and things aren’t going well for either. It turns out the pills Lottie was taking were given to her by her parents to suppress her ability to predict the future, which must be some residual biases from the satanic panic or something because I fail to see how having a precognitive child would be anything aside from extremely useful.
The pills have fully worn off in the wilderness and while scavenging for berries she foresees the rotting deer that Nat and Travis will bring the now starving girls. The bloody-antlered and maggot-ridden carcass is one of the show’s most disgusting images to date, but the most impressive thing in the flashbacks is still Courtney Eaton’s performance as Lottie. On most shows, the troubled girl with visions would be a glassy-eyed, one-note quivering presence but Eaton breathes full life into her, keeping her a fully realized teenage girl who can still land a snarky putdown. Her desperate search for hope that results in a baptism scene with Laura Lee is very moving.
Taissa also seems to have heard the screaming I’ve done at my television and decides the girls should try and do something to increase their chances of rescue. Though I’m disappointed that a fictional character in 1996 didn’t take my advice to build a raft and explore the lake, I still admire the proactive plan she’s putting together.
Having an even worse time in the wilderness is poor Shauna, whose unwanted pregnancy is a secret to everyone by Taissa. Confronted with the reality that they are unlikely to be rescued before her nine months of gestation are up, and too cowardly to tell Jackie that she slept with her boyfriend, she crumbles. In a brutal scene, made utterly terrifying by superb direction, she attempts to end the pregnancy with a hot metal wire. Taissa finds her and resolves to help but the pain is too unbearable. Both girls seem utterly devastated by the moment, and heartbreakingly, Shauna can’t express herself beyond a quiet “I don’t want to die.”
Shauna in the present has the unenviable task of brunch with Jackie’s parents on what would have been Jackie’s birthday. It’s the confirmation of what we’ve all suspected, that Jackie didn’t come back from the wilderness and, unless there is a major plot twist, is dead. Her mother is hilariously passive aggressive and lobs some deliciously cruel observations Shauna’s way, my favorite of which were “you can’t be remarkable and raise a family” and “Jeff works hard but he’s the only one who contributes.” Almost as surprising a twist as any is that Jeff is great now?! Warren Cole nails his defense of Shauna and drops the proverbial mic with, “Jackie was amazing but so is my damn wife.” In the car, he sweetly tells Shauna how much he values her while her phone fills with messages from Adam, the world’s most suspicious man.
Almost as suspicious as Adam is Misty, who delivers on her promise to the journalist/private investigator of being “someone you should be afraid of.” She jabs a needle fully of sedatives into the poor woman’s thigh and chains her up in her basement. Misty is so terrifying, I half-expected her to have a Buffalo Bill-style pit down there, and she probably would have if she’d had more time to plan.
Nat, tragically, has to sell her incredibly cool car (Forgive me, I don’t know car types beyond cool and uncool) to pay off the blackmailer. Luckily, Detective Kevin is there to give her a ride, albeit via his kid’s soccer game. Juliette Lewis continues to shine in the role, utterly badass as Nat but layering in her giant heart and paralyzing trauma. But in the present day, the MVP still goes to Tawny Cypress as Taissa. Everything from stress smoking, to rolling her eyes at child therapists, to arguing with the bank is compelling when she does it, particularly with the gorgeous costuming the show is throwing her way. And even though her wife Simone seems utterly sick of Taissa, every moment of her presence on our screens is welcome. So when the big twist comes, that Taissa in the past is possessed (?) and eating dirt, and that Taissa in the present is the woman in the tree who has been harassing her son, it is a gloriously well-earned and well-acted thrill. The sight of Taissa with her hand bleeding, out of her mind and animalistic was terrifying. No wonder poor Sammy needs therapy.
As much as I raised an eyebrow when I heard that Yellowjackets was planned to continue over multiple seasons and not wrap the whole thing up this season, I am now completely convinced they have enough to sustain this.
Stray Observations
- There has been much said about how well the casting of the older younger counterparts have been but particular praise has to be given to Sophie Thatcher who seems to have actually been possessed by Juliette Lewis.
- Taissa keeping her relationship with Van a secret is so sad. I suppose it was the ’90s and homophobia was rife, but Van deserved better than this.
- Honestly, good for the coach for encouraging Travis to practice safe sex. And good for him that he was planning to get laid so much in San Francisco.
- Misty saying ““I have a secret boyfriend too!” was bone-chilling.
- In Nat, Taissa, and Shauna’s conversation, they mentioned other Yellowjackets that are out there. I’m assuming we’ll meet some of them at one point. My dream casting for next season would be adding Drew Barrymore as adult Van.
100 Comments
I’ve been wondering if Shauna had the baby and named it after Jackie. Callie’s comment last week that Shauna and Jeff never talk about Jackie makes me think she is rescued with the baby and she died as a child when Callie was young.I too thought the car was cool but definitely not sell a used car for $50,000 cash cool. Maybe she stole it? Because how does she even have a car like that if she couldn’t afford rehab? Also not paying insurance on that would save her enough for a better apartment. Was hoping for more on the Travis murder this week though it like didn’t come up at all. Misty is going to Misery the reporter like she will probably also Misery the coach.
I kind of figured she bought the car with settlement money that I assume all the survivors would got? Also she doesn’t seem like the type to care about a nicer apartment. Any extra money she’d likely drink, snort, or spend in some reckless manner.
What would the settlement be from though? I could see a settlement maybe if it were a commercial flight but it was a private plane. I guess theoretically it could have been chartered from a major corporation but it seems unlikely to me that there would me much settlement money if any.
Regarding the baby; Shauna miscarries or the girls having gone feral and are not above being cannibals, eat it.
The base price for a Porsche Carrera is ~$100K. Nat was also wearing a Saint Laurent t-shirt which are priced at ~$295-$500, and Tom Ford sunglasses which are priced ~$295-$595 (I think her style would be ~$395). I have a feeling the funds for these purchases are from the settlement, but I like to imagine she was making good money as a photojournalist for emerging musicians and on the brink of fame when her addictions got the best of her.
It’s the confirmation of what we’ve all suspected, that Jackie didn’t
come back from the wilderness and, unless there is a major plot twist,
is dead.when shauna’s in jackie’s room, she looks through her journal which confirms that jackie was rescued. her journal contained her favorite songs and movies up to the year 2000.Adam, the world’s most suspicious man.the theory that he’s her forest baby could work but adam would have to be around 25 so it doesn’t work out. maybe he’s just as simple as a fling for present day shauna’s character development.She jabs a needle fully of sedatives into the poor woman’s thigh and chains her up in her basement.clearly with that basement setup, it’s not her first rodeo. poor jessica roberts and whatever happens to her is on taissa’s hands too. can’t leave out misty casually making a drug cocktail while watching natalie and kevin have sex through a secret camera, and her listening to the phantom of the opera as her kidnapping music.Misty saying ““I have a secret boyfriend too!” was bone-chilling.everything misty says and does is bone-chilling while everyone is all, “oh misty, you’re so odd lol. *eye roll*” and shrugs her off.In Nat, Taissa, and Shauna’s conversation, they mentioned other Yellowjackets that are out there.laura jean, yes. i’m forgetting who else.in this episode, we find out lottie is the cult leader/center and that
taissa is the woman in the tree. i thought taissa’s hand was more gross than
the deer maggots. i don’t understand how lottie having an odd feeling while seeing the deer turned into the deer being rotten inside. how does that relate to her precognitive ability? that was a real deer she saw at first and the deer was completely fine, she saw the same deer in her baptism vision, hours later nat and travis catch the same deer but it’s rotten inside. it doesn’t seem the same as her having an anxiety attack before the car crash. both resulted in death i guess? but why is the deer rotten only on the inside and how in a matter of hours?
The deer was rotten immediately by some supernatural force.
when shauna’s in jackie’s room, she looks through her journal which confirms that jackie was rescued. her journal contained her favorite songs and movies up to the year 2000.I guess I’m not the only one who noticed this (I paused every page to read them). But I assumed that listing Outkast was just a production mistake by some film crew guy born in the 90’s. Your theory sounds better.
Outkast had a hot ass album out in ‘94!
I had NO idea. I probably should’ve googled. I guess I was listening to vastly different music then and their music didn’t reach where I lived in the mid-90’s.
Well they were a lot more regional then. Mainly known in the Southeastern US.
I read that basement set up, well furnished with a kitchen, to indicate that perhaps one of her parents lived with her and she acted as a caretaker. There was also a wheelchair in the room, if memory serves.
She didn’t see a real deer, Van was with her and we saw Van’s POV and there was nothing there. She had a vision of the same antler shedding deer that was shot by Travis, she is upset because Van is not seeing what she’s seeing and that’s when she goes to Laura Lee because she’s unsure if it’s a hallucination or if she is seeing a version of a future like she possibly did when she was a kid.
How about mentioning that Hulu will be hosting another season? Leaving out that info. seems to be an habitual oversight here. There will be people who’d like to watch the show after reading about it here; it helps to know where to find it.
It’s not on Hulu yet without a Showtime subscription… Did you read it’s moving there or something?
No. I just Googled and came up with Hulu but, yes – when I logged in – suddenly it comes as a Showtime add-on. Still, it would be nice if writers made that information clear.
It is not an oversight. The show is being internationally broadcast across many different channels and platforms. I trust the global readership of The A.V. Club are able to google their own broadcasting information.
Yeah exactly, here in Australia it’s on Paramount Plus (ugh, another god damn streaming service to pay for).
Certain commenters are lazy & need everything spoon-fed to them.
I watch it thru Amazon prime, they had a deal for Showtime for 99 cents a month for the 1st two months, figured that was long enough for me to get thru this season and cancel
“The news that Yellowjackets has been picked up for season two seems particularly perfect given that it is accompanied by an episode that is a microcosm of what makes the show so good.”It’s the second sentence of the post!?!
I lost it when Misty was blasting Phantom of the Opera in her car. Delightfully deranged.
Now having met Jackie’s parents, Jackie makes SO much more sense to me. Wow.Not sure how I feel about Tai being tree lady. Still not crazy on her storyline overall. I will say, her wife annoyed me for getting all huffy about her quickly checking her phone. Lady, it’s not like she took a call or anything, she literally just glanced at it. She’s got a demanding job. The doc aint going anywhere. Just feels like she’s trying to manufacture drama.I did not interpret Lottie being put on meds as “suppressing psychic powers” or whatever. Sure the car accident thing was weird, but can fully be a coincidence. I mean, the meds are for Schizophrenia, aren’t they?Love Jeff dropping truth/love bombs at brunch. Daaaamn. Impressed. Also loved Shauna straight-faced saying she doesn’t like her daughter.
New theory: Jeff is the blackmailer. He disappeared for “inventory” at the same time the text went out to meet up with the money. Plus Shauna is the only one who didn’t get a postcard.
Yeah I definitely think the show is going to keep riding that line between is she or isn’t she psychic. I don’t think the show is, or ought to be, supernatural, only have elements that may seem supernatural. If it is, then the girls lose all agency or responsibility, which would undermine a show that is one of the strongest in terms of examining the dynamic amongst women. Plus, it is just more fun to debate, if we’re left guessing whether Lottie is truly touched, or simply a mentally ill person off her meds.
Jeff, or even more likely IMO, the daughter, are both good guesses for the blackmailer.
Based on nothing other than seeing a lot of shows with batshit crazy plotlines over the years, I’m going with Jeff is blackmailing with his forest baby that Shauna put up for adoption after they were rescued. He’s not having an affair and Shauna didn’t recognize the woman he was with at the hotel.
ooooooh, I like that theory!
Agreed he’s definitely not having an affair and the forest baby is going to come into play at some point (the person who killed Travis, perhaps? Even though they really want us to believe it’s Jackie). Also, shout out to Ricci and young Misty actor – Misty is the best new character on tv this year.
There’s a sick, sad, but relentlessly realist part of me that really hopes that the writers don’t bring the baby back to civilization. I feel like you get more rotation out of the knife if the poor lil’ tyke’s life ends at month 10.
I’ve always thought that Jeff was working with someone (a book publisher? newspaper editor?) to gain some money off of this story, and that is who he was meeting at the hotel.They’ve made mention now twice about how Jeff & Shauna have little money send their daughter to college. It does make some sense that he’s trying to capitalize somehow on this “event” to better his family’s life.
from the future, you win
one thing is that once youe seen the while first season, there are various clues as well as misdirections that become obviou in hindsight
I think one of the fun questions is whether or not Misty is a baddie. She strikes me as a “moral monster” who can’t actually internalize the importance of other people’s inner lives or feelings. If that’s the case, she doesn’t have a ton of control over her own impulses: she’s kind of like a cuckoo’s chick, pushing out the other chicks and manipulating momma to get what she wants out of a narcissistic survival instinct with no real check. Her performance of ethical or laudatory behavior comes across as uncanny because it’s missing intention.Also, that abort[ion/ed] scene needs to be played in all 50 states as an ad for Planned Parenthood. That was one of the more harrowing things I’ve ever seen.Not sure about the Tai possession deal. Might’ve missed something.
that scene was so hard to watch… i never looked up coat hanger abortions. i just assumed one of the shoulders was used but they used a very sharp torn rod piece from a hanger which was way worse than what i had assumed. i was internally screaming.
That’s messed up, man.
It’d be such a tragedy if these people’s files got dumped on the Internet by accident (and only those because it had been sorted by ‘hypocrite’).
Dan Savage has said that he’s in favor of closeted gay people being outed if they are using their power to oppose gay rights. Going off that I’d have ZERO qualms about leaking the file of someone who got an abortion if they’re a pro-lifer.
Also, that abort[ion/ed] scene needs to be played in all 50 states as an
ad for Planned Parenthood. That was one of the more harrowing things
I’ve ever seen.
High Fives
The thing is, if you truly belived abortion was murder, that sort of thing wouldnt sway you, it would just increase your convictions due to horror of the act.
Like, showing people beng brutally murdered wouldnt be an argument for murder being legal because legal murder was somone more clinical and sanitary… I think if you want to convince someone who wants to get a abortiion to do it a clinic instead of attempting it themselves, sure, but I dont really see that it going to change peoples minds, I think generally the people who oppose abortion actually do see it as the same as killing infants, and the pro-choice people (it seems to me) mostly think its about misogyny and controlling women which although thats probably a part of it for many, I think the “main objection” is just a hard difference thats extremely difficult to reconcile. Like imagine a world where half the population thought it was totally fine to kill babies under a year old. Thats more or less how the pro-life people see it, and there just isnt going to be any argument thats going to persuade unless you confront that belierf head on
Amen to the abortion comment! I kept thinking, this is exactly what thousands (at least) women are going to soon be experiencing if things don’t start turning back around.
I don’t think Tai is possessed. I think she has dissociative fugues where she thinks she’s a wolf. It’s called Clinical Lycanthropy and there was even a case a few years ago where a teen was cannibalizing people in a neighborhood because of this. There’s a Canadian First Nations folklore about the Wendigo, which is basically the same thing.
Notice she lists Titanic, American Beauty, Bring it On and (partly visible) Ten Things I hate About You, all of which came out after the crash. Bring it on dates to 2000. This indicates that Jackie made it out of the woods, but died later. Contextual clues indicates Shauna married Jeff around 2001-2002. the timing could be crucial. Of course, we dont’ know HOW Jackie died. Or if she may have faked her death. Note that she identifies with Rose Dawson, a character who likewise faked her death and assumed a new identity… I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Jackie in the modern timeline. Not by a longshot.
Good catch!
OR, they just might be sloppy with the dates. This is season one and we do not yet know how great they are with that kind of stuff.
yeah, I also noticed this and think its just a mistake. They could have set the show in 1998 and 2013 and it would have made more sense. Daria didnt premier till 1997 so that also seems like an anacrhomism. Theres a subtext I think in this show with the 90s being a sort of idealized culturally optimistic time compared to the present day, but they werent careful I think with making sure the girls would only have had cultural referenes from the spring of 1996 and prior
I take it back. Those are confirmed as intentional details not mistakes. weird.
https://screenrant.com/yellowjackets-jackie-movie-journal-no-mistake-response/
I think it’s probably just a production error. An easily avoidable one, to be sure but maybe some intern was just asked to write down some 90’s movies Jackie would enjoy and made a mistake. That makes more sense to me than “Jackie made it back seriously damaged an ultimately killed herself but kept journaling.”I bet if you went through the show and checked they’ve sang songs or referenced things from the 90’s that weren’t actually around in ‘96. I know the recent Fear Street netflix movies did that a bunch. “90’s” is good enough and they don’t check the actual year.
Fear Street was indeed very lazy in how it emphasized “This is the 90s”, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything from this show that seemed especially off. It helps that the scenes involving the teen cast are fairly sparing in pop culture references all considering.
its been confirmed as being intentional. My guess is that Shauna filled out those journals for some reason.
But it’s featured WAY too prominently. There have been other moments where text on screen was not meant to be read, like the occasional newspaper article about the disaster, and the text is all Lorem Ipsum jargon. This was done with precision and care, and I simply find no way that one could accidentally throw in a movie like American Beauty, or Titanic, which was the seminal movie of 1997-1998.
I agree. This is a show where viewers will (and should) be looking for background stuff like that. If it was 1 song drop error, fine, but this would be several continuity errors. It’s gotta be real and if it’s not that’s horribly sloppy for this type of show
ESPECIALLY film people.
eh could be, but I think writers’ error. The girls were listening to Snow’s Informer like it was still cool in the car. Nobody ever thought it was cool beyond early 1993. No way. Teenagers, even back in the 90s, have very short attention spans. That actually turned me off to this show initially because as a teen of the 90s, I remember what was “cool” and when it stopped being cool. A small thing to many, maybe, but as important as music is to teens, you have to remember how quickly trends die and new ones begin. Playing Informer in 1996 (? correct me if I’m wrong on the year) would be a huge joke. Even Shoop was a 1993 hit and wouldn’t be sung by all the kids in the locker room so enthusiastically like it was still dominating the charts!
Personally, I think Alicia Witt would be PERFECT as adult Van.And if Jackie is alive (see my post below on that point), I think Robin Tunney would be brilliant. Or possibly Lizzie Caplan, though I think she’s too busy with other projects to be seriously considered here. And my personal favorite, Laura Lee…three words: Sarah. Michelle. Gellar.
oooh fun! I’ve been getting Rebecca Gayheart vibes for Jackie (purely visually and random af, I know) but I like Lizzy and Robin too!
I want Winona as adult jackie, just so we can have that perfect 90s casting.
We do need her in there, but I don’t see her as Jackie. Maybe Lottie, assuming that wasn’t Lottie in the murder pit from episode 1.
Robin Tunney would be perfect.
I agree with Drew Barrymore, especially considering the established mother/daughter relationship established with her and Liv Hewson.
I guess I just feel like that casting might be a tad too on the nose, considering the last show she and Hewson appeared together on.
Robin Tunney would be absurdly perfect casting, she’s the right age too!
Or Lauren Ambrose.
I don’t think Jeff is having an affair… MAYBE he’s involved with the postcards somehow? Shauna didn’t receive one. I also think that the postcards and Travis’ death/murder are not the same person.Im thinking the coach is in the closet (maybe having sex with the head coach) and that’s whats going to ultimately get him killed by Misty. I think his death is going to play a role in the group breaking up later and might be when Shauna began to distrust/dislike Misty. (She told Misty to never call her and seemingly wants nothing to do w/ her)Also Shauna is sorta living Jackie’s game of MASH. Rabbits and all.
Got a better look at the MASH page and it says For Shauna @ the bottom.
To everyone who hasn’t googled this yet it says “Mom, New Jersey, Indian, Rabbit.” I don’t understand the Indian part yet but maybe it’s an easter egg?
yah coach defz gay and I can see Jeff involved in the blackmailing to get some money for his family.
But Shauna did receive one, didn’t she? She pulled it out of her pocket (or something), and it was folded in half. It was shown briefly after she denied having received one. This was formed as a question, because now I’m doubting what I thought happened.
No I noticed it too, and very few people seem to have caught it. I suppose she might have just swiped the one that Taissa/Nat got? But give what big old liar Shauna is I’m guessing she never tells everyone everything.
My husband and I both just looked at each other like – “what was that?”
I may have missed it if I’d been watching by myself.
I caught that too. It would definitely be a Shauna thing to do.
That rotisserie chicken birth dream had me thinking these KFC commercials are gettin’ extra weird in the pandemic…
it made me think of Eraserhead, combining the weird chicken dinner scene with the messed up baby. Shauna seems like the type to have maybe watched it.
Thank you for not mentioning the gross Adam is Shauna’s baby theory again, Leila.
You are most welcome.
Taissa in the past is possessed (?) and eating dirt, and that Taissa in the present is the woman in the tree who has been harassing her son, it is a gloriously well-earned and well-acted thrill. The sight of Taissa with her hand bleeding, out of her mind and animalistic was terrifying. Was there any more context for the dirt eating? I watch on a laptop, and I had an incredibly hard time seeing what was happening in that double reveal, even when I went back and watched it with the lights out. (For instance, I couldn’t tell exactly what was up with her hand, and didn’t realize she had bitten it until reading this review.Any additional info/explanation/context clues fellow viewers can fill in would be much appreciated.
I thought maybe the dirt eating was hunger induced as they seem pretty close to starving when we first notice her doing this. And maybe now its just a response to stress. But i don’t know how her going into a fugue/animalistic state fits into it.
That was my thought too. Or that she has pica disorder – but that’s not so enthralling.
Yeah I think it’s just pica + sleep walking, which is why she doesn’t recall it in the past or present.
Liv Hewson is really in danger of being typecast as “teenage girl in supporting role in a TV series about cannibals”.
Especially considering she is 26… she wasn’t an actual teenager while on Santa Clarita Diet.
So Lottie is definitely the girl under the veil in the pilot episode, right? That shot of her in the cabin that made it appear as if she has antlers coming from her head sealed it for me. My guess is she’s going to do something prescient that will appear to save the group and because of that, enough of the girls will start to follow her and she becomes a leader/prophet.Showtime should just say fuck it and see if they can land Sarah Snook for adult Van, if she indeed lived to adulthood.
That shot of her in the cabin that made it appear as if she has antlers coming from her head sealed it for me.
That or she’s…. a Leshy!
I’m inclined to think it’s Tai. there was a moment when they found the cabin where she regarded the antlers. Plus if we assume she wounded Allie on purpose to increase their odds of winning that shows she’s ruthless. Also she’s a politician!But mostly I think the head cannibal has to be one of the main adult cast, no?I think Lottie could have been the girl who fell in the pit.
I also thought Lottie was the one who fell into the pit but that horn shot was some pretty in-your-face foreshadowing.
One thousand times “Yes” to Sarah Snook!
Liv Hewson played Drew Barrymore’s daughter in Santa Clarita Diet! Great casting choice!
I’m loving this show, but one pet peeve of mine from the latest episode is when Travis and Nat are fooling around and she gives him shit for being a sexist ass when he asks about how many partners she has.
She goes on an epic rant about how ridiculous it is, and I’m cheering her on the whole time!Then, she has to ruin it by saying, “but it was only two…” and infers that one of those may not have been consented to.
Why the fuck create such a great, empowered comeback and say all the shit that so many of us sexually active girls felt and lived back in the day, but then shit all over it by glossing it all over at the end, and making Natalie a “good girl” afterward.Ptooey!
I was just glad they didn’t go the “I’ll have you know I’m actually a virgin!” route and it was all just rumors.
True! But it still was mostly rumors – which were widely believed considering the way Jackie had gone off on her earlier.
That scene actually drove home a bunch of issues I was having with the show. They’re supposed to be starving in the Canadian wilderness in summertime, but nobody seems particularly uncomfortable. Maybe it’s plausible that Nat and Travis are coping by making out, and they’re so inured to everything that being in the blood-soaked fuselage of the plane isn’t a boner killer. It’s even plausible that Nat has nothing to wear but cool black and white striped pants. But it’s not plausible that they wouldn’t be sweaty as fuck, that there wouldn’t be mosquitoes everywhere (that goes double for the cabin by the lake), or that the white stripes on Nat’s pants would be pure white after weeks in the woods, while she’s on her period. No human being has ever kept pants like those in their original condition for more than 1 hour.The show is fine, but the flashback structure allows the writers to play loose with the timeline and logistics of the 90s scenes. In this episode we hear the girls are going hungry, but nothing about their behavior makes that seem to be the case, and the incidental hazards/discomforts of being in the wilderness just don’t exist. It’s schematic writing, just like how Shauna goes from “late with her period” to “attempting an abortion with a bra wire” seemingly in a single day.
The hard part of watching a show like this in season one is we do not know how masterful (or not) the writers are yet in doling out their clues. I see some people reading Jackie’s dairy as “proof” that she lived, but that does not really seem to jive at all with everything that occurred, especially in this episode. It might just be a mistake or laziness in not checking the years movies came out.This is probably the best episode so far. Shauna’s abortion attempt was pretty terrifying and well acted, and I can totally get why she did it. Cheating with your best friends BF is pretty horrible. But also, adult Shauna and her husbands brunch with Jackie’s parents was also superb. They obviously have been meekly smiling out of respect for their daughter for a loong time hearing the pedestal version of their daughter before that outburst. And Jeff pretty much has been totally redeemed in my eyes in this episode. He made it clear he chose Shauna and he does not resent what happened at all. (I do seem to pick up on a “shotgun wedding modern day equivalent here where Shauna was pregnant or had his kid in tow when she was found)I also do not think Taissa eating dirt by the tree conclusively establishes she is the “girl in the tree” her boy is seeing. I am thinking it has a supernatural reveal as this show seems to be going that way (my bet is dead Jackie)
Melanie Lynskey was more hilarious than usual at the dinner with the parents. I loved when Jeff tried to play it off that Shauna was just joking about not liking her daughter, she shook her head to indicate that she wasn’t.
i actually think merritt wever would be incredible as adult van
There actually is a condition, Pica, where people compulsively eat non food items like dirt. Its also associated with illnesses like schizophrenia. Maybe Taissa is not possessed but suffering a mental illness which explains the issues with her son. Taissa’s grandmother is also seen suffering from hallucinations.
Adding Drew Barrymore to the cast would be genius.
I wonder if they’re going to introduce the concept of the Wendigo, given that cannibalism is part of the show.
I was hoping they’d work the song Saints by the Breeders into the episode at some point. My favorite Juliette Lewis role was in From Dusk Till Dawn. She is so amazing in this. Melanie Lynskey has been amazing since she was first in Heavenly Creatures.
Apparently the part Melanie Lynskey played in Heavenly Creatures was difficult to cast, but when they finally met her they knew she was right. Her quiet intensity and the sense she conveys there is a lot going on in her head are rare qualities
Heavenly Creatures is still one of my absolute favorite movies. I loved Melanie’s casting in it.
Do we think that Jackie maybe killed herself after the rescue, finding out about Shauna/Jeff? This might make sense based off of the timeline of those lists, and it could be the trigger that makes Shauna/Jeff get married eventually, if they’re bound together by that strategy – especially since they didn’t seem to be in love before the plane crash.
Hopefully Jeff is the blackmailer. There’s gotta be some reason that he SEEMS so boring and milquetoast, right??
I am starting to really like the coach, he is actually a pretty good low-key leader & gave Travis a sensible & effective version of “the talk.” I do not blame him for being speechless about the weird maggot-ridden deer, because WTF even was that??Shauna & Natalie’s instant antagonism was interesting, I did not expect that Neither Jackie nor Shauna said “I love you” back to Jeff. Poor dope Misty is like a grown up Wednesday Addams if her parents were less loving than Morticia & Gomez & she was even more depraved