‘Yellowjackets’ review: No rest for the wicked as season 3 kicks off
4/5 weird rituals
Spring has come to the woods of our favorite stranded soccer team, and we are finally free of the oppressive hold of winter. The new season gives us a sense of hope–or at least, as much hope as a thought-to-be-dead group can have. Of course, as it always is with Yellowjackets, the mild weather is only hiding the things lurking beneath.
Minor spoilers for season 3 of Yellowjackets ahead
The two-episode premiere was a whirlwind, tossing us right back into the thick of things after the heartbreaking season two finale. As we all know, Yellowjackets is split into two separate timelines, and last season saw the unfortunate and shocking death of adult Natalie Scatorccio (Juliette Lewis). There is always a moment of panic when a main character gets unexpectedly killed off, but the season three premiere shows that they know how to fill in the gap left by Lewis.
With such an ensemble cast, it’s exciting to see where the story unfolds this season. Already we have gotten more of the relationship between adult Van (Lauren Ambrose) and adult Taissa (Tawny Cypress). We are also getting more of adult Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), a character who I find endlessly fascinating, especially when we get the flashbacks to her teen self (Sophie Nelisse).
Teen Shauna has so much (rightful) rage, and seeing it juxtaposed with her more laisse-faire adult self is one of the things that makes the format of the show particularly interesting. Grief does funny things, and it seems like we are really finally beginning to scratch more across that surface.
Taissa and Van’s relationship is one of those things that blooms in the bleak face of grief. With Van’s terminal diagnosis towering over them, Taissa wants to make up for lost time. Van is reluctant, but after a date where they dine and dash (to disastrous consequences Taissa discovers later), they both finally fall into each other. It’s beautiful, and a little sad.
The loss of Natalie
The ramifications of adult Natalie’s death are also still being felt this season. Shauna’s daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins), who witnessed Natalie’s death, has become obsessed with finding out the truth. Shauna herself keeps falling into trouble. We see the return of adult Lottie (Simone Kessell), who has become the object of Callie’s fascination. She wants to know what really happened at the compound, and Shauna wants to keep them both apart. Better said than done, especially with her own daughter.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Yellowjackets without mystery, and we begin to see that this season with teen Lottie (Courtney Eaton). Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there is more at stake in the show than it seems on the surface, and this season has begun to lean further int0 it, setting up some mysteries I’m desperate to see solved. Why are the trees screaming? And what is the group actually hearing out there in the woods?
A show of all the worst decisions for our enjoyment
Yellowjackets continues to be a show where the characters make the worst decisions possible, but it serves the plot in a way that makes sense. In the adult timeline, these are all incredibly traumatized women. They have a bond with each other that most people, as Misty (Christina Ricci) says to Walter (Elijah Wood), wouldn’t be able to understand. But is that bond a good thing? However, in the teen timeline, these are young, scared girls just trying to make it to the next day with their sanity intact. One can hardly fault them when tensions get high.
We are also seeing teen Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) really beginning to shine. Thatcher has had an amazing horror run recently with Heretic and Companion, and we can see some of that experience imbued in her performance this season. She has always been one of the standouts of the teen timeline, and I cannot wait to see where this season takes her.
Rage, grief, and guilt continue to be our true main characters of the show. Now that it has impacted both timelines, one has to wonder: How much worse can it really get? There’s only one way to find out.
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