Hive Mind: Speculation

[Anela]

I’ve seen people say that Jeff read her journals, so he knows everything.  But he asked her about the rabbit, saying, “you weren’t serious about the rabbit, were you?” Unless he just didn’t expect her to do that back in the suburbs.  

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, roctavia said:

Watching the first episode of the new season.. I wonder if shauna suggests eating Jackie when the other meat runs out… or if she just starts bringing in the meat without telling the others right away what it is… 

ugh.. I don’t know I I can handle actual cannibalism on screen versus just suspected.. 

I religiously watched the series Hannibal a few years ago, so I think I can handle it.

38 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

I've seen this suggestion a lot, but I just don't get why Shauna would do that. Although, of course, there is that scene where she feed her family the rabbit in a similar way.

I can’t see her doing that with Jackie’s body, but who knows?

37 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I believe the writers have said they don't eat Jackie, but that seems like it's pretty obviously going to happen. I would like to have concrete proof the writers are lying though so that'll be nice lol.

Why would they be lying? I do remember them saying that they don’t eat Jackie in the season 1 finale, so maybe that’s what you’re thinking of?

[peachmangosteen]

4 minutes ago, AstridM said:

Why would they be lying? I

Because that’s what writers do lol.

They change their minds sometimes too so they could say something and then decide to go another way. Van wasn’t supposed to survive the wolf attack but they loved Liv Hewson so much so they changed that, which would in turn likely change some major plans they had. They also originally thought about making Adam Javi but went another way. Although, again, writers lie so that could all be bullshit too.

[AstridM]

2 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Because that’s what writers do lol.

They change their minds sometimes too so they could say something and then decide to go another way. Van wasn’t supposed to survive the wolf attack but they loved Liv Hewson so much so they changed that, which would in turn likely change some major plans they had. They also originally thought about making Adam Javi but went another way. Although, again, writers lie so that could all be bullshit too.

Could be 🤷‍♀️.

[sistermagpie]

8 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

They change their minds sometimes too so they could say something and then decide to go another way. Van wasn’t supposed to survive the wolf attack but they loved Liv Hewson so much so they changed that, which would in turn likely change some major plans they had. They also originally thought about making Adam Javi but went another way. Although, again, writers lie so that could all be bullshit too.

Still, it seems like there's a difference between them revealing that they thought about something (like Adam being Javi) vs. lying outright about something that they were going to do, because why do that? Seems like the main thing they've been clear on that I've heard is that they don't eat Shauna's baby, period. But with Jackie Courtney Eaton was even hinting at them eating her in an interview in S1.

[AstridM]

1 minute ago, sistermagpie said:

Still, it seems like there's a difference between them revealing that they thought about something (like Adam being Javi) vs. lying outright about something that they were going to do, because why do that? Seems like the main thing they've been clear on that I've heard is that they don't eat Shauna's baby, period. But with Jackie Courtney Eaton was even hinting at them eating her in an interview in S1.

Yeah, I fully expect them to eventually eat Jackie. They just didn’t eat her in the S1 finale, like some speculated they might.

[peachmangosteen]

8 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

… lying outright about something that they were going to do, because why do that?

Ask the Lost writers lol.

[AstridM]

25 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Ask the Lost writers lol.

This is why I never watched that show, lol.

[sistermagpie]

37 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Ask the Lost writers lol.

Oof. Yeah, touche. They lied their asses off. 

But tbf, even they were just lying about having a plan at all, more like a kid pretending to have done their homework when they were hoping they'd have time to do it on the bus on the way to school!

[peachmangosteen]

26 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

But tbf, even they were just lying about having a plan at all, more like a kid pretending to have done their homework when they were hoping they'd have time to do it on the bus on the way to school!

What a great description of them lol.

I also just looked at the article that claimed the writers said Jackie doesn’t get eaten and if you read their actual quote they don’t explicitly say that. What they said could have meant that but it could have meant they just didn’t eat her right away. Which is how they should be answering questions rather than just being so blunt about things like they tend to be.

I do think the theory that Shauna secretly feeds them Jackie is possible. The rabbit thing could have been foreshadowing. Plus, there’s a shot in the promo of Tai looking horrified in the shed.

[BitterApple]

The one thing I think is set in stone is the characters not eating the baby. I believe the writers when they said it's a line they won't cross. I think everything else however, is fluid and on the table (perhaps not only metaphorically, lol). I can see them saying x/y/z won't happen only to change their minds as they develop the story. I don't necessarily think they're lying or being deliberately deceptive, it's just how the creative process goes. 

[peachmangosteen]

Yea they clearly have a loose plan but they also have no problem completely changing things up. 

12 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

The one thing I think is set in stone is the characters not eating the baby.

This reminded me, did anyone catch if the promo at the end of the premiere said it was for ep 2 or the season as a whole? Because there’s a shot of Shauna in labor and I can’t see that happening next episode.

[BitterApple]

Just now, peachmangosteen said:

Yea they clearly have a loose plan but they also have no problem completely changing things up. 

This reminded me, did anyone catch if the promo at the end of the premiere said it was for ep 2 or the season as a whole? Because there’s a shot of Shauna in labor and I can’t see that happening next episode.

It was a "this season" reel. From what I read, ep 2 is supposed to be intense, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. Shauna is around six-ish months pregnant, right? Maybe she delivers early due to stress and malnutrition? 

[AstridM]

47 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

claimed the writers said Jackie doesn’t get eaten and if you read their actual quote they don’t explicitly say that. What they said could have meant that but it could have meant they just didn’t eat her right away.

This is the way many of us interpreted what they said. They said she wouldn’t be eaten YET, lol. At least that’s my memory of the article. I really appreciate the way they share their work. YMMV 🤷‍♀️.

[peachmangosteen]

23 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

It was a "this season" reel. From what I read, ep 2 is supposed to be intense, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. Shauna is around six-ish months pregnant, right? Maybe she delivers early due to stress and malnutrition? 

Is ep 2 the one they all talked about where Shauna does something really shocking or whatever?

[Anela]

2 hours ago, AstridM said:

Yeah, I fully expect them to eventually eat Jackie. They just didn’t eat her in the S1 finale, like some speculated they might.

“We said she wouldn’t be eaten in the finale, not ever.”

yeah. 
 

I had the first season running, and could see why some viewers would think that Adam was Javi, but I think shauna would have recognized him.  

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

Is ep 2 the one they all talked about where Shauna does something really shocking or whatever?

I'm not sure because I haven't watched all the cast interviews, I just remember critics who got a sneak peak of the season said ep 2 is crazy. 

[Cranberry]

As one of the people who hopes there's a rational explanation for everything and that the show doesn't go true supernatural, I love this theory from Reddit that the girls are living on top of a mine and are being slowly poisoned. (That would also explain warmth coming up from beneath that tree with all the moss on it.) On another similar thread, someone left this comment:

Quote

Finally… YJ heavy metal (specifically [lead]) poisoning symptom list:

Tai’s dirt eating — Pica, a craving for non-foods, a symptom Tai’s sleepwalking - Insomnia is a symptom Ear munch - Also pica… Travis’s episode - Seizure (his eyes rolled back and he was convulsing) also a symptom Travis’s pp problems - ED is a symptom

Other symptoms observed as a whole: Mood changes, personality changes, irritability, delirium, hallucinations

Other symptoms that could come into play later on: Blindness, early births and miscarriages

It has to be noted that these could all just be symptoms of PTSD and starvation, but the combination here is pretty spot-on

 

[AstridM]

I think Travis just had a panic attack, not a seizure. 

[peachmangosteen]

 

[BitterApple]

Yay, we get Kevin Tan next episode! I wonder how Shauna is going to play this. Admit to the affair? Say she'd been talking to Adam about buying his art? She can't exactly deny knowing him when phone records would prove otherwise. 

I wonder if Tai is going to off Simone to prevent her from going to the press? I think it was a hollow threat to begin with, because it would hurt Sammy, but Tai isn't in a rational place. 

This week looks like it's going to be really good! 

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Yay, we get Kevin Tan next episode! I wonder how Shauna is going to play this. Admit to the affair? Say she'd been talking to Adam about buying his art? She can't exactly deny knowing him when phone records would prove otherwise. 

I wonder if Tai is going to off Simone to prevent her from going to the press? I think it was a hollow threat to begin with, because it would hurt Sammy, but Tai isn't in a rational place. 

They showed that clip of Shauna and Kevin on Watch What Happens Live and at least at first Shauna tries to deny ever having any contact with Adam outside of when they had their little car accident. But yea then Kevin tells her they have phone records lol. I'm really excited for that stuff.

My first thought was that Tai will kill Simone. She looks evil as fuck in that shot in the promo. 

[Brn2bwild]

4 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

They showed that clip of Shauna and Kevin on Watch What Happens Live and at least at first Shauna tries to deny ever having any contact with Adam outside of when they had their little car accident. But yea then Kevin tells her they have phone records lol. I'm really excited for that stuff.

My first thought was that Tai will kill Simone. She looks evil as fuck in that shot in the promo. 

After finding the shrine, how could Simone feel safe being a passenger in Tai's car?

[Tatum]

On 3/25/2023 at 12:35 PM, BitterApple said:

It was a "this season" reel. From what I read, ep 2 is supposed to be intense, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. Shauna is around six-ish months pregnant, right? Maybe she delivers early due to stress and malnutrition? 

I was wondering about this. I thought Shauna looked about 5 months pregnant in Doomcoming, which I think was supposed to be mid/late fall, and would line up with her conceiving sometime in May (Given that she conceived shortly before she left and the trip coincided with the high school prom). Doomcoming was at least two months prior to the season opener so I am guessing she is around 7-8 months pregnant now. I think it's probably January 1997 by the season opener.

[peachmangosteen]

11 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

After finding the shrine, how could Simone feel safe being a passenger in Tai's car?

Right! Maybe Tai kidnaps her?

48 minutes ago, Tatum said:

I was wondering about this. I thought Shauna looked about 5 months pregnant in Doomcoming, which I think was supposed to be mid/late fall, and would line up with her conceiving sometime in May (Given that she conceived shortly before she left and the trip coincided with the high school prom). Doomcoming was at least two months prior to the season opener so I am guessing she is around 7-8 months pregnant now. I think it's probably January 1997 by the season opener.

So maybe she will go into labor in this week's episode.

[Anela]

I like the other theories, but didn't Tai break that girl's leg, before they crashed? Could "the bad one" have been there before? 

[peachmangosteen]

That's a hotly debated topic lol. I personally don't think she did it on purpose.

[Tatum]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

That's a hotly debated topic lol. I personally don't think she did it on purpose.

I did not get the impression she did it on purpose. I think she was playing aggressively to Allie to intimidate her, but I do not believe breaking her leg and eliminating her from the trip was her end goal.

 

ETA: Just rewatched the clip on Paramount. Allie gets mad, then she starts getting aggressive back, and Tai says "finally" and seems relieved. She's on Allie's ass when Allie is trying to line up and make her goal, and I think she was trying to steal the ball from the other side, put her foot out to snag the ball, and Allie tripped over it and fell wrong. But it's shot from a weird angle and over in a split second- it really is hard to tell what Tai was trying to do. I don't think she meant to hurt Allie so seriously for sure, but I can't say that she wasn't intentionally trying to trip her. Of course even if she was, people trip every day and do not have their freaking bones sticking out of their legs. Yeesh I can't watch that scene without feeling sick.

Edited March 29, 2023 by Tatum

[Anela]

LOL at someone on reddit, saying "information moved slower back then." Like we were in the dark ages. We had the internet, as well as phones, and pagers. someone else mentioned the 24 hour news cycle. I remember the news channels, when planes crashed, and the bombings that happened, like the one in Oklahoma. They would have probably been alerted that a rescue was either in progress, or had happened, and they would be speculating just like people in these threads. Art Bell would have been talking about it on Coast to Coast/Ghost to Ghost, and would have wanted to hear from Lottie. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by Anela

[peachmangosteen]

Interview with Tawny Cypress for Hollywood Reporter:

Quote

Is there one thing on the Reddit boards you read that you really enjoyed?

Oh, gosh. So many things. I really can’t say if they’re true or not. But, they’re not. Nobody has gotten it right yet. There are a lot of theories out there. I think what people are going to see is actually going to blow their minds. And some people are going to hate us. Some people are going to fucking hate us by the end of the season, I think, unfortunately. The adult storyline is tough.

Yikes, I'm scared lol.

[BitterApple]

15 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Interview with Tawny Cypress for Hollywood Reporter:

Yikes, I'm scared lol.

Right?! I mean, we've already seen the adults commit multiple felonies: elder abuse, kidnapping, two murders (possibly three, depending on what really happened to Travis), accessories after the fact, extortion, animal abuse.....what the hell is left?! 

 

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, BitterApple said:

Right?! I mean, we've already seen the adults commit multiple felonies: elder abuse, kidnapping, two murders (possibly three, depending on what really happened to Travis), accessories after the fact, extortion, animal abuse.....what the hell is left?! 

 

Travis was murdered. As soon as he handed over the remote to Lottie, she could’ve called 911, but she chose to allow him to hang.

[Anela]

I wonder if they frame someone for adam’s murder.  Like Jeff or Callie.  
Or maybe something happens at Lottie’s retreat.

[snarts]

Shauna sacrifices Callie? Thinking of the scene from S1 of the girl with long dark hair falling into the spiked pit.

 

Edited to add, sacrifices Callie in present day. At Lottie's camp in upstate NY. The interview specifically referenced the adult storyline.

Edited April 3, 2023 by snarts
Clarification

[KaveDweller]

The worst thing I can think of is intentionally killing Shauna's baby to eat it. But I feel like that has been speculated about.

[Colorado David]

Cant be Callie, she exists in the later time line. Unless you are posing they return to the island, which doesn't seem likely in my opinion. That would be a weird twist tho.

[Anela]

3 hours ago, snarts said:

Shauna sacrifices Callie? Thinking of the scene from S1 of the girl with long dark hair falling into the spiked pit.

 

Edited to add, sacrifices Callie in present day. At Lottie's camp in upstate NY. The interview specifically referenced the adult storyline.

 

2 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

The worst thing I can think of is intentionally killing Shauna's baby to eat it. But I feel like that has been speculated about.

I know. That was the worst thing I could think of, but they made it sound like it was something in the adult timeline. Unless it's that they hunted the other girls, but that's already been a big guess, because of pit girl. 

I haven't posted to the reddit site, but I did see someone post that we won't get to pit girl this season. I think it would be a mistake if they didn't give us something more, because they've included her in both season openers. If the theories about the necklace are correct (that the sacrifice has to wear it), then maybe at the least show how it starts, if that's the case. 

I can't see Shauna letting Lottie get away with sacrificing her baby. 

[Anela]

I also can't see Callie being pit girl. That's too much, even for this show. I can't see them sacrificing her at the cult in the forest. Jeff would be wondering where his daughter was, so would her friends, the police, anyone else involved with them. Shauna doesn't like her, but I also can't see her doing that to her. 

I've seen mentions of Lost, and as much as I used to love the show, I'm not liking any parallels. I don't want them to say they have a plan, and then to just say that none of it really happened. Or that it was - I can't even remember the name. Purgatory. I had to google for that. Crikey. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by Anela

[BitterApple]

Someone on the subReddit speculated they kill Jeff and frame him for Adam's murder. That would definitely rile up the fan base, but I'm not so sure Callie would keep quiet about that. 

 

[snarts]

TBH, not liking the current trajectory. Going in, I thought it was going to be about what happened in the woods and their present day attempts to keep the details under wrap. Instead, they seem more focused on the adult storylines and it's disjointed and just not that interesting. 

Dragging out 18 months over five seasons is too much and I can't help but see parallels to Lost, which I watched til the bitter disappointing end. I think the showrunners  were given too much time and the story would've been better/tighter if they'd limited to two seasons. 

[AstridM]

7 hours ago, Anela said:

I also can't see Callie being pit girl. That's too much, even for this show. I can't see them sacrificing her at the cult in the forest. Jeff would be wondering where his daughter was, so would her friends, the police, anyone else involved with them. Shauna doesn't like her, but I also can't see her doing that to her. 

I've seen mentions of Lost, and as much as I used to love the show, I'm not liking any parallels. I don't want them to say they have a plan, and then to just say that none of it really happened. Or that it was - I can't even remember the name. Purgatory. I had to google for that. Crikey. 

I think Shauna loves Callie. She may not like her attitude right now, but she loves her daughter. 

[Tatum]

The writers have unequivocally stated that

Spoiler

Callie is not Pit Girl

Although one of the writers conceded that would have been an incredible twist.

 

At this point, I'm sort of losing faith in the writers. Multiple actors and writers have stated that no one on any major speculation sites has accurately predicted what is going on, and given ALL the theories, and the fact that most of S1 was fairly straightforward, most simplest explanation is the correct explanation, that seems unlikely. If we don't get to Pit Girl by end of season 2, I will strongly suspect the writers either scrapped their original plan in order to drag out the seasons, or were winging it all along, a la Lost.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Tatum

[Cranberry]

10 minutes ago, Tatum said:

Multiple actors and writers have stated that no one on any major speculation sites has accurately predicted what is going on

I wouldn't put too much stock in this. I've seen people say this in the past (on other subjects) when I'd seen the eventual reveal guessed multiple times. The writers and stars just don't have the time to read everything on these sites.

[peachmangosteen]

14 hours ago, snarts said:

Shauna sacrifices Callie? Thinking of the scene from S1 of the girl with long dark hair falling into the spiked pit.

The writers have explicitly said that Callie isn't pit girl.

14 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

The worst thing I can think of is intentionally killing Shauna's baby to eat it. But I feel like that has been speculated about.

The writers have also explicitly said they won't eat the baby.

10 hours ago, snarts said:

Dragging out 18 months over five seasons is too much ...

I agree. Trying to get 5 seasons out of this is going to be a mistake imo. They really don't need that much time and it's just going to end up being a lot of stalling or a lot of random stuff being throw in for the sake of it.

This is off that, but can someone explain the whole situation with Tai and the man with no eyes. I fast forwarded those scenes in season 1 because it was too unsettling for me. I think Tai's grandmother had visons of him. And now Tai is seeing him. So, perhaps some kind of hereditary psychosis or something.

[Brn2bwild]

I think part of the series' run will involve the adult characters inevitably returning to the cabin to confront their demons (pun intended), which could take a season by itself.  I think the past wilderness scenes will taper off as the series goes on.

[Baltimore Betty]

35 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

I think part of the series' run will involve the adult characters inevitably returning to the cabin to confront their demons (pun intended), which could take a season by itself.  I think the past wilderness scenes will taper off as the series goes on.

This series is giving me "Lost," vibes.

[snarts]

4 hours ago, Tatum said:

The writers have unequivocally stated that

  Hide contents

Callie is not Pit Girl

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

The writers have explicitly said that Callie isn't pit girl.

I seem recall one of them also stating that Jackie wouldn't be a meal at some point. so...

In terms of the baby, according to one of the showrunners, that's still undecided. 

"We have about ten different ideas about what happens to the baby,” Lisco said. “I think none of us adore the idea of eating the baby, although you never know what’s going to happen once you get into the crucible of the writer’s room. In a way, eating the baby seems a little bit easy.”

They're just making this shit up as they go along, just like Lost. Think I'm out. I'll monitor the forums to see what eventually happens.

[AstridM]

4 hours ago, Tatum said:

The writers have unequivocally stated that

  Hide contents

Callie is not Pit Girl

Although one of the writers conceded that would have been an incredible twist.

 

At this point, I'm sort of losing faith in the writers. Multiple actors and writers have stated that no one on any major speculation sites has accurately predicted what is going on, and given ALL the theories, and the fact that most of S1 was fairly straightforward, most simplest explanation is the correct explanation, that seems unlikely. If we don't get to Pit Girl by end of season 2, I will strongly suspect the writers either scrapped their original plan in order to drag out the seasons, or were winging it all along, a la Lost.

Since they’re planning 5 seasons, it seems perhaps  too early to go there, imo. I adore these writers and trust them to tell the story they want. I’m not surprised that no one has guessed the twists yet because some of the “theories” I’ve seen elsewhere have been ridiculous. 🤷‍♀️

1 hour ago, Baltimore Betty said:

This series is giving me "Lost," vibes.

I actually don’t think they’re on that track AT ALL. 

13 minutes ago, snarts said:

I seem recall one of them also stating that Jackie wouldn't be a meal at some point. so...

In terms of the baby, according to one of the showrunners, that's still undecided. 

"We have about ten different ideas about what happens to the baby,” Lisco said. “I think none of us adore the idea of eating the baby, although you never know what’s going to happen once you get into the crucible of the writer’s room. In a way, eating the baby seems a little bit easy.”

They're just making this shit up as they go along, just like Lost. Think I'm out. I'll monitor the forums to see what eventually happens.

The writers only said that Jackie wouldn’t be eaten right away (in season 1). They didn’t say she wouldn’t be eaten at all. Some Redditors seem to have misunderstood a previous article. 

[BitterApple]

I think everyone's made some great points. I'm choosing to be an optimist and ride it out, but several of you have touched on my two biggest fears:

1) We have a replay of Lost, where the storylines get so overwhelming the writers have no logical way to back themselves out of the corner and end the series on a satisfying note. There ends up being more questions than answers. Or:

2) We have a Game of Thrones scenario where the show runners believe their own hype and become so invested in fan service and shocking everyone that the end game makes no sense. I concede they were working off GRRM's outline, but still, the last season absolutely sucked. 

I am really, really hoping everything is mapped out if Yellowjackets is going with five seasons. I guess we'll see....

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by BitterApple

[sistermagpie]

6 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

This series is giving me "Lost," vibes.

 

4 hours ago, AstridM said:

I actually don’t think they’re on that track AT ALL. 

 

I don't either. To me it seems like the comparisons to Lost are all superficial. There's no big central mystery, it's just mysticism, which is slightly different. It hasn't been a particularly twisty-turny show--it's not a puzzle box. There's a bunch of people who know what they did and what happened and we, the audience, are finding out how things down and how it affected them.

WRT to pit girl, her identity just doesn't seem that important to be as an answer to be solved. If the show was into dragging things out they probably would have waited longer for cannibalism, but as they said, there was no reason to just keep people waiting for the thing they've never hidden was coming. Pit Girl just happened to be the person getting sacrificed that we saw that one time--doesn't mean she was the first to be sacrificed that way. On the contrary, seems like the routine was set by that point. So we can see them getting the idea to sacrifice someone this season without us getting exactly to pit girl.