Spoilers below.
In Lord of the Flies, the novel that Yellowjackets is loosely based upon, the stranded young boys eventually siphon off into two groups in hopes of survival: Ralphās group encourages civility while Jackās veers into savagery. As leaders, the 2 boys couldnāt be more different: Ralph practices democratic leadership, aiming to get everyone rescued, while Jack inhabits a dictator-like role that forces his followers to comply to his every whim. Lostāone other show that Yellowjackets shares DNA withāalso saw two schools of thought spring up on the island: one behind Jack Shephard, the sensible leader, and one other behind John Locke, the spiritual one.
4 episodes into the brand new season of Yellowjackets, different factions within the wilderness are starting to obviously form. Natalie and Lottie have change into the de facto leaders, each employing a unique approach, very like the aforementioned characters did. Like Ralph and Jack, Natalieās group is grounded in point of fact and driven by their practical survival needs. Lottie, meanwhile, has been āchosenā and her powers appear to be activated by the wilderness (similar to Lockeās were), and her followers cling to her every move. At odds with one another, Lottieās followersāa really vocal Mari and Crystalāchallenge Natalie to a contest in āOld Woundsā: whoever discovers food first wins.
The 2 set out in opposite directions, Natalie using her hunting instincts while Lottie tries to summon her powers to steer her. Lottie is a believer, but still thinks this contest is futileāearly in her quest, she touches the symbol carved into trees within the woods. But as a substitute of getting a breakthrough, she braces herself. āFuck me,ā she says, defeated. Carrying on, she finds the altar seen at the top of season 1, and sacrifices blood from her palm to talk to the spirits. As she loses a big amount of blood, she hallucinates the small plane that Laura Lee died in sitting in front of her, fully intact. Scavenging the plane for food, she finds Lauraās cross necklace and teddy bear before the episode goes into full Lost-mode with a mysterious hatch.
On the opposite end of the hatch isnāt the Dharma Initiative, but relatively a trippy view of a Nineties mall. She peruses the stores in a haze and driven by her hunger and the hunt at hand, she sees her fellow Yellowjackets gathered at a food court table. Laura offers her food while Natalie taunts her. But in point of fact, Lottie is bleeding out and her significant lack of blood causes her to pass out within the snow with no plane or cafeteria in sight. That is the second time Laura has appeared in a Lottie dream (the opposite being the demonic version she saw while trying to avoid wasting Adult Travis within the second episode). We saw Laura and the plane blow up in front of our eyes in season 1, but her reappearance in Lottieās psyche suggests that their close connection is constant beyond the grave or leading Lottieās powers ultimately.
Courtney Eaton as teen Lottie.
Kailey Schwerman/Showtime
Lottie isnāt faring a lot better in the current: her visions have spooked her enough to send her to an urgent therapy session. Her usual doctor is on sabbatical (this detail feels vital because itās not trying to elucidate a recasting or logistical production decision as weāve never met the character before), so she explains to the brand new one which she needs her medications increased to battle the unwanted visions. āLast time, it became something different,ā Lottie says fearfully. The psychiatrist pushes her to take into consideration what the visions may be telling her, to which she says, ānothing, because theyāre not real.ā Almost like sheās attempting to persuade herself. Lottie notably ran out of pills early in season 1, and her āsobrietyā likely played a task in realizing her powers; learning that she has been medicated for the past ten years (including during Travisās death) draws less sinister conclusions to the cult, which can long have been the one thing keeping the destructive visions at bay.
In a while, Lottie is shuffling some flashcards when she sees the Queen of Hearts playing card with its eyes scratched out (which is featured in the brand new opening credits and is potentially connected to the person with no eyes, or a nod to her role because the Antler Queen). Regardless of how much she shuffles the deck, the cardboard keeps reappearing. Sheās shaken up and cuts her palm at an altar as a sacrifice again asking, ācan this be enough? Please?ā Itās the second time on this episode that Lottie sacrifices her blood like this for an unknown entity and the outcomes have yet to help her in any way.
Back within the wilderness, Natalie sees footsteps within the snow that appear like they belong to a big animal. She follows them out to a frozen lake, uncovering something trapped under the surface: a moose. Rushing back to the cabin, she enlists everyoneās help to drag it out of the ice, though Mari (whom I dubbed āLottieās #1 fanā in my notes) resists the rescue mission, stating that itās cheating within the ideological competition she conjured. Misty, who was firmly in Lottieās camp earlier within the episode, canāt resist the promise of food and goes to assist excavate the moose, to Mariās chagrin. The thing is, the moose is heavyāmuch more so now that its fur is bogged down by waterāand their best effort of tug-of-war with the animal is in vain. Nobody is more defeated than Natalie, who all but plunges into the water after its sinking carcass, desperate for what would have provided a way of stability locally.
Steven Krueger as Ben Scott, Jenna Burgess as teen Melissa, Sophie Thatcher as teen Natalie, and Jasmin Savoy Brown as teen Taissa.
Colin Bentley / Showtime
Coach Ben continues to stew within the corner of the cabin, questioning whether the ladies would eat him in the event that they needed to and daydreaming about what life would have been like if he had made the choice to remain and provides his relationship a probability. Before we see his daydream, through which his boyfriend reassures him about not having sentimental items from past relationships, stating that he’s his future, Ben is seen reading āThe Magusā by John Fowles. The postmodern British novel centers on an English teacher Nicholas Urfe who ābecomes embroiled within the psychological illusions of a master trickster, which change into increasingly dark and serious.ā Within the book, Urfe is depressed and lonely until he meets a wealthy estate owner who draws him into psychological games based on his life. Now, it could possibly be a coincidence that that is the sunshine plane read that Ben packed, nevertheless itās more likely a breadcrumb of Benās ongoing misfortune within the wilderness: there will not be a physical estate owner that seduces the survivors, however the forest itself is forcing everyone to lose their grip on reality.
In present-day, Shauna and Natalie are focused on providing freedom and truth to those around them. After Shauna finds out that Callie has been lying to her about sleeping over at her friendās house and discovers the piece of Adamās burnt license in her dresser, she knows itās time to come back clean to her daughter. She takes her to a distant area with no cell signal and at last tells the reality. Is she a murderer? Yes, and he or she admits to having much more secrets that sheās not able to share yet. The reality is a catalyst for Callie, who has been considering her parentsā dysfunctional relationship and life for everything of the series, to finally treat her parents with some respect. But Jeff isnāt completely satisfied losing control of his family and the situation at hand, telling Shauna that as parents they needs to be protecting Callie, not making her an accomplice. Itās hard to argue with that despite Callieās seemingly newfound respect for them, however the answers keep Callie from meeting up with the undercover cop Jay in the interim.
Natalie, meanwhile, goes on a road trip with Lisa. The collective sells their honey on the town every Tuesday and regardless that their āanchors are within the compoundā and never the true world, Lisa breaks the rule to go see her mom as a substitute (well, technically she just desires to see her fish at her momās house). On the way in which over, Natalie questions these rules of the community, which Lisa says arenāt compulsoryāeven the purple uniform is a alternative, she explains. But there are holes in the idea, especially as Lisa is actively lying to be able to go see her family, and her mom clearly believes that her daughter is a component of a cult, asking her to come back home. She inquires about Lisaās prescriptions and he or she reveals that sheās not taking her medsāa transparent contrast to Lottie, who needs her prescription increased. Lisa pleads together with her mom about taking her fish together with her and when her mom says no, Natalie smuggles the fish out in her mouth.
I expected Misty and Walter to finally converge on Lottieās compound, but evidently reunion can be held for an additional week. At a diner, they discover that the cult is situated in a secluded area somewhere up Route 19 and choose to ambush them the following day as a substitute of the dead of night. They spend the night on the town in separate rooms and a split-screen shows us that theyāre two halves of 1 whole with regards to their various quirks. But even despite their innocent flirtations and Misty confirming that Walter isnāt only a creepy Yellowjackets fan (as a substitute, heās a multimillionaire survivor of a horrible accident and a musical lover who keeps a box of cassettes in his automotive), this storyline has been the weakest link of the series to this point. With them closing in on among the other key players, hopefully they start to feel more vital to the plot.
Conversely, Taissa looks like the important thing to your entire plot. Her discoveries in each timelines prove to be essentially the most pivotalāor no less than, essentially the most fan serviceāand he or she frequently straddles the road between practicality and spirituality. Within the wilderness, she desires to resign the supernatural happenings while also being someone who often acts as a medium for them. Her biggest believer is her girlfriend Van, who has meticulously mapped out the placement of each symbol-marked tree that Tai has sleepwalked to. Thereās one spot on the map missing, though, and when the ladies arrive there that night, they donāt find one other symbol; they find Javi. He lives! But when they carry him back to the cabin, he shows no emotion and doesnāt seem to acknowledge anyoneānot even his brother Travis. Give Lottie a degree for knowing heās still alive, but proceed with caution as he has clearly seen some things.
Tawny Cypress as adult Taissa.
Kailey Schwerman/Showtime
In the current, a disoriented Tai wakes up behind the wheel on the side of the road with an empty gas tank (her poor assistant isn’t getting that automotive back). On the passenger seat is a manila folder titled āYellowjacketsā that seemingly belonged to the fake reporter Jessica Roberts who was tracking everyoneās whereabouts in season 1. Taiās attention is targeted on a black and white image of a video store contained in the folder, and he or she soon begins walking along the side of the highway before being picked up by a friendly semi-truck driver. Normally Iād be nervous a couple of situation like that, given what we find out about single women hitchhiking, but Taiās recent behavior and apparent possession by one other being (or no less than, one other consciousness) made me more fearful for the driving force.
But thereās nothing to fret about. He says he voted for her, allows her to pocket a lewd pen she finds on the ground, and views giving his Senator a ride as an honor. Tai is dropped off on the town in a single piece; when she looks up, sheās standing in front of the video store from the photo. Inside, a red-haired woman looks back at Tai from behind the counter: Van (played by Lauren Ambrose, who joined the forged this season). The 2 donāt exactly seem surprised to see their past love again they usually definitely recognize one another immediately, suggesting that this isnāt their first reunion in maturity. With Van because the purest believer of Taiās powers, hopefully sheāll be exactly what Tai needs to achieve control again.
Radhika Menon is a contract entertainment author, with a deal with TV and film. Her writing might be found on Vulture, Teen Vogue, Bustle, and more.
