“Yellowjackets,” created in 2021, follows the story of a high school girls soccer team whose plane crashes on their way to nationals. The show goes back and forth between their adult lives and their teen lives as the team is stuck in the wilderness. In this article we will be focusing on the teen timeline from season 1.
PILOT
First, let’s take a look at before the crash. The girls are preparing for nationals. Jackie, the team captain, is desperately trying to bring the team together and become more of a family instead of fighting against each other after the new freshman on the team is hurt by one of the girls named Taissa. The pilot shows this in a scene where all the girls are lined up by Jackie and forced to say one nice true thing to each other. This scene shows Jackie’s ability to have authority and bring together a community. Each thing she says to the girls foreshadows their experience in the wilderness. She says something to Taissa, Van, Laura Lee, Natalie and lastly to Shauna. She says, “You’re the only one who’s always been there for me, You’re the best friend I’ve ever had” This quote symbolizes two things. First, it symbolizes Shauna’s betrayal of Jackie in the following scene when Shauna gets with her boyfriend. The other reason we’ll get to later.
EPISODE 2
When the plane crashes Misty, the team manager, is the first to help. She helps Coach Ben with his leg because the wings of the plane fell on it and had to be amputated. She heals the wounds of the JV girls and more. Misty has always been an outcast. Made fun of by her peers constantly and overlooked by the other soccer girls. She overhears Tai and Van saying they would barely make it without her. This feeling of finally being wanted and being worthy overtakes her. She destroys the plane’s flight record, the only other way they could’ve been saved. This shows how much she wanted to be valued and she wanted to hold on to that feeling even if it cost her life. Throughout the show her want to be needed is shown by her constant need to be by Coach Ben’s side even during times he doesn’t want her near him and pushing boundaries with everyone.
EPISODE 4
“Nat, I love that you don’t care about what anybody thinks, you are so completely yourself.”
After the first couple of weeks, they run out of food which leads them to a new option. Hunting. Everyone tries to shoot a rifle to see who will be the designated hunter. Travis, one of the coaches’ sons makes misogynistic remarks claiming that none of the girls, including Natalie are good enough to use it. Natalie takes the rifle from his hands and shoots it perfectly. Becoming their main hunter, Natalie’s character throughout the show remains carefree and sane as the girls stay in the wilderness. Natalie does not represent the group but represents that humanity can still happen in these high stake situations to us viewers.
EPISODE 5
Lottie, one of the varsity girls, seems too familiar with the wilderness. The episode starts with her being extremely hesitant about going into a cabin they found in the woods claiming she has a “bad feeling.” She is also seen by Jackie standing in the lake alone early in the morning. But the most concerning thing was when the girls were calling on the ‘cabin man’ and she started screaming in french repeating the word ‘sang’ which means blood. During season 1 Laura Lee tries to help Lottie by telling her about her faith. Laura Lee even tries to baptize her but Lottie ends up being sent to a hellish looking place in her mind. Lottie’s connection with the wilderness deepens throughout the show. She decides her actions based on what she assumes the wilderness is telling her, which is one of the causes of the group’s descent to madness. Lottie not only represents the wilderness but also the leader role that Jackie never truly had.
EPISODE 6
Shauna ends up pregnant because of her relationship with Jeff, Jackie’s boyfriend. She tries to hide this from Jackie and even tries to perform an abortion on herself but fails. Jackie finds out by reading Shauna’s journal after suspicion of Shauna lying to her.
EPISODE 7
“Taissa Tuner, you have more fight in you than anyone I’ve ever known, I’m so inspired by your determination.”
Taissa shows her determination in many ways but it is shown especially in episode 7 as she ventures off to find a way back home on foot despite the others telling her it is dangerous and unhelpful. Taissa portrays her determination by going against Lottie’s thoughts of the wilderness. She is very literal and is big on getting things done that need to be done.
EPISODE 7 & 8
“Vanessa Palmer, Your smile makes me so happy every time I see it,”
During Tai’s attempt at a voyage home, accompanied by Mari and Van, Van gets part of her face eaten by wolves and is forced to wear a covering around her mouth for the rest of the season which doesn’t only restrict her smile, but also restricts her ability to joke which is a significant source of joy for the girls during their time in the wilderness. Her humor is demonstrated after Tai and Mari try to burn her assuming she was dead. Van wakes up right before and after they rescue her she says, “Really? Fire?”
EPISODE 9 & 10
“Laura Lee, I truly admire your faith.”
The girls find a helicopter near the beginning of the season. Laura Lee studies how to fly it to possibly find them a way home. After constant studying and checking she is ready for her take off. But once she gets close to the mountain, the helicopter blows up, taking away their one source of hope. This leads us into Doomcoming. The girls decide to have a party to try to find some joy in the wilderness but Misty had an idea to get shrooms to put in Coach Ben’s soup. The mushrooms end up in the main soup that all the girls ate besides Jackie. The girls start to go crazy. They gang up on Travis, almost killing him after Lottie tells Shauna to butcher him like they did with a moose they found earlier. Jackie goes to hide while this all unfolds. The next morning Jackie is angry at everyone, especially Shauna. They have an extremely heated argument where Jackie confesses that she knows about Shauna and Jeff. The argument goes on until the girls take Shauna’s side which makes Jackie sleep outside for the night. This night ends up being her last, Jackie dies in the cold snow. In a dream before her death Shauna says to Jackie, “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, you know that, right?” Which echo’s Jackie’s last nice true thing. “You’re the only one who’s always been there for me, You’re the best friend I’ve ever had” Shauna ends up being the only one who doesn’t live up to her quote aka Jackie’s expectations. Jackie continues to haunt her narrative even through her adult life.
Yellowjackets is very good at creating parallels throughout the show that create a great experience for viewers who enjoy creating fan theories and predictions for future seasons. Although it can be a bit disturbing, it is a very enjoyable watch overall. As they continue to create their final season fans hope that these themes will continue to be added in.
