The Q26 Official Review of Showtime’s Original, “Yellowjackets”
Right off their season one finale, Yellowjackets leaves fans wanting more and wanting to know what the fresh hell is gonna go down next! If you’re new here and haven’t seen the show then I suggest you stop reading and go do that - but be sure to come back! For everyone else, hang onto your butts!
Yellowjackets is a thrilling and chilling series that follows a wildly talented high school girls' soccer team that descends into savage clans after their plane crashes in the remote northern wilderness. Fast-forward twenty-five years later, these women quickly discover that what began in the wild is far from over (showtime). And let me tell you there is an emphasis on WILD. There are more twists and turns in the plot of this show than Highway 17!
The show’s timeline is split between 1996 – when the yellowjackets’ plane crashes on their way to nationals – and 2021 – when everyone who made it out alive is trying to navigate their adult lives in the wake of such a trauma. While the 1996 timeline unfolds as an ensemble, the 2021 timeline is told through the eyes of four main characters – Shauna Shipman (Melanie Lynskey), Taissa Turner (Tawny Cypress), Natalie Scatorccio (Juliette Lewis), and Misty Quigley (Christina Ricci).
Honestly, Yellowjacket has everything I’ve ever wanted in a psychological drama: fictional girls/women committing atrocities, homoerotic glances between “best friends” and a storyline that will deliver a level 7 damage to your psyche. But what’s more about this show of such trauma and implied cannibalism, is that it’s told through a genuine, at times comedic, lens of strained friendships, navigating the curveballs life can throw – weird prophetic dreams and stabbing aside – and dealing with the consequences of your decisions. This, in my opinion, is what makes the quality of the show so excellent. Like, yes, give me scheming women going absolutely batshit while teaching me a life lesson. The show’s many nuances, colorful and multifaceted characters and sinister plotlines create great potential for future shows in the same genre.
Yellowjackets also doesn’t measure up too shabby when it comes to representation. Overall, if the Yellowjackets had actually made it to their final game of the season, I’d give them a 7/10 for play. This is only because as someone who is queer and black, I always think there can be MORE queer and black characters. I always want to see myself and my friend depicted on screen. But when it comes to depicting women in all facets of personality – loving, messy, calculating, complicated, cruel even – they get a solid 10. They take the dull, boring, often one-dimensional mold that a lot of women in the media are depicted in, and they drop it from a plane. And that’s something I can get behind. I’m still hoping it gets even gayer though.
Now that we’ve done a speed run through all the good things this show brings, let's talk about the cons and for me the top two are: the pacing of the show and plot elements that did nothing to further the storyline. When it comes to pacing, I’ll admit that the show is slow to develop. And while I like a slow burn as much as the next person, at times it took me out of the drama and excitement of it all. I can understand that in order to unfold all of these juicy and exciting plot elements there needs to be time to do so. However, most of the fatigue I experienced was due to filler. Further on this, I feel like all the lightbulb moments that should have happened gradually throughout the season were all shoved into the last ten minutes of the season finale episode. Again, as a viewer, I can understand the sensational air of it all and of making a move like that during the last episode of the season but for me it would have been more satisfying getting those moments throughout the course of the show.
Remember this? When are we getting back to this???
The above is a great segue into my dissatisfaction with the plot elements I feel didn’t further the storyline. The dude with no eyes? He’s introduced to viewers during a flashback memory Taissa has to when she’s little while her grandma is on her deathbed but other than that we see and hear nothing of this man for the rest of the season. Creepy cabin man in Jackie’s death realization? As a viewer, I’m assuming he’s the dead guy in the attic but that’s about it. I’m still scratching my head about these things. In my opinion, they didn’t serve to further the story and in a show with so many moving parts, it felt unnecessary to include them. They only added to my confusion about what was going on. Oh, and don’t get me started on Jackie’s death. Having her character die was almost as useless as the above-mentioned plot holes. I guess they wanted to show us what happens when you leave your friends out in the cold? Metaphor not accepted y’all.
All in all, Yellowjackets is a great mix of all the things right to do in a show and things you shouldn’t. But why take my word for it? Catch the full first season on Showtime or Amazon Prime.
You can also catch actor Jasmin Savoy Brown (young Taissa Turner) and Liv Hewson (Vanessa Palmer in Yellowjackets) in a great podcast called The Homo Schedule where they check in with incredible creative queer folks and explore the wonderful, funny, and sometimes ridiculous parts of the LGBTQ+ experience.
