S02.E09: Storytelling

[Cranberry]

Quote

Heavy is the head that wears the antler crown is a lesson you don’t learn until much later in life… if you ever even learn it at all. Everything’s about to get really wild(erness), and we’re so excited (so excited!) and so, so scared to find out who paid attention to what lessons and when. So, on the count of three, you may pick up your pencil, open your testing booklet, and start this finale exam. One… Two… Season finale.

Original air date: May 26, 2023 (streaming) / May 28, 2023 (Showtime)

[WaltersHair]

Goodbye sweet Nat. It should have been Lottie.

[Avabelle]

I think the show has lost me. At this point I dislike everyone and just think the story has gotten stupid .

Edited May 26, 2023 by Avabelle

[Black Knight]

Natalie was the leader?

Natalie is dead?

The girls didn't kill Ben, he tried to kill them?

*mindblown*

[Avaleigh]

I'm confused--I know that Lottie was sincere when she started chasing Shauna, but were the others suddenly on board once they put on the masks or were they just doing a really good job of faking it? While I was watching I was like Shauna, girl, you are not running fast enough!

To me it looked like they were going to kill her if the daughter hadn't stepped in with a gun.

I get that Natalie was the best of them and that's why they chose her as a leader, but to me that's too much pressure to put on someone in their situation. Ideally they could have had a kind of triumvirate sort of thing with three leaders as decision makers for the group. It would ease the pressure for any one person and it could help check any one leader's more negative impulses. 

I'll miss Natalie. She's the only character I was still rooting for. 

I still enjoy the show but this season wasn't as good as last season for me. Last season blew my mind with how good it was. 

[Brn2bwild]

The way Lottie looked at Van in the end, we'll probably find out next year that her cancer is in remission.

Wow, was not expecting that ending.  What was strange was that it looked like Misty just stabbed Nat in the shoulder, not close enough to the heart or any major arteries.  And then later the authorities said Nat died of a drug overdose?

Also surprised that Kevyn Tan is apparently RIP as well.  I wasn't a fan of the actor (he sounds like he talks out of one side of his mouth), but really expected it to be the asshole cop who died.

ETA: A recap of the episode stated that Misty gave Nat a shot of fentanyl, which makes more sense now, but was really hard to tell at the time.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Brn2bwild

[BitterApple]

53 minutes ago, Avabelle said:

I think the show has lost me.

I feel like the adult timeline has reached shark jumping territory. The Adam murder conclusion was absurd. I guess Walter figured that with all the controversy surrounding law enforcement these past few years, Kevin's department wouldn't dig too deep, but I don't know. You'd have to do a lot of mental gymnastics to make the pieces fit. Not to mention, Jeff and Shauna are willing to put their trust in a complete stranger? That's a hell of a lot of leverage Walter now has over the group. Also, how horrific for Kevin's kids. They lose their father and he's falsely painted as a corrupt murderer. 

With regards to the hunt, I didn't get it either. It seems like everyone agreed they were doing it to humor Lottie, but then it turned serious? And why did Lisa randomly freak out like that? That seemed to come out of left field. I'm also curious as to why she didn't tell the cops the truth about how Nat died? 

In terms of the 90s timeline, holy crap, I was not expecting Ben to turn the tables and try to kill the girls. I'm kind of curious what his end game is, though. Let's say he succeeded. That leaves him alone in the woods, in winter, trying to survive on one leg. Once he runs out of cave animals, then what? 

I felt bad for Lottie when Misty tried to gaslight her about Javi. Telling your friends not to waste your body if you die is not the same thing as organizing a sacrifice for food. She never once told them to do that or even inferred it.

Also interesting was Shauna being salty over not winning Antler Queen. She's always bitchy and standoffish. Not saying she doesn't have valid reasons, but her personality doesn't exactly scream leadership material. 

[CoachMartinez]

Shauna led the slowest chase since OJ and the Bronco. 

I love this show but it always leaves me with more questions than answers. I need answers!!!!

[TakomaSnark]

Yikes. An absolute mess of a season, with an array of dropped storylines (just about everything with Tai, to start). So Lottie leaves to tell the other cultists to what, stay in bed tonight and then five non-members (Walter, Jeff, Callie, Cop, Mustache Cop) are able to just waltz in with not a single person noticing them there after establishing early on the place was very guarded with who entered? Walter just makes himself at home in a kitchen, conveniently cooking up spiked hot chocolate? The girls suddenly decide to 'for real' hunt Shauna even though they were all in agreement Lottie was nuts beforehand? (I thought that they were playing along as a fakeout to turn on Lottie but nooooooooooooooope).

This show needs to have an end plan in mind now. Like, season three should be a four episode wrap up. I can't imagine how much more of a mess it will get otherwise.

This is UNreal levels of a second season collapse.

[BingeyKohan]

36 minutes ago, TakomaSnark said:

This is UNreal levels of a second season collapse.

Haha too real (lol). Agree with all this tho. After this I feel like for S3 I will just read recaps and roll my eyes.

[CoachMartinez]

Frodo's ingenious plan to clear Misty and the gang of the pesky Adam Martin matter ???

Did I miss an episode?

Why did Detective Moustache not arrest the Hobbit? It made zero sense to me....like the card pull in the last episode. Shit jumps off way too quick in some parts but not others.

 

[Black Knight]

The Adam storyline this season was a mess, but hopefully the writers have wrapped that up now and can move on. There was a lot of sloppiness involved in wrapping it up, but maybe they realized it just wasn't working. I'd rather have a sloppy but quick wrap-up then spend a lot of screentime on a more logical conclusion. I really liked everything else.

Oh, Natalie. I can't wait to rewatch S1 and S2 with this new knowledge. With the conflict between her and Lottie this season, I never guessed that the past conflict especially would end with Lottie handing over power to Nat. But it was a brilliant twist - and foreshadowed, with the lines about having lost her purpose and so on - and it made sense for her character because she was always on the periphery due to being a "wino" and "burnout" even as a teen. She wanted so much for them all to be a team, and for her to be part of that team, of course she ended up going for this instead of refusing the crown (so to speak) from Lottie.

LOL at Shauna's journal where she was whining about feeling invisible. I wonder if she'll ever realize that if she feels invisible, it's her own doing - not Jackie's or Natalie's or Lottie's or whoever. She didn't have to live in Jackie's shadow. She could've made a case for herself to be leader.

I feel somewhat suspicious of Van. I know she's bought into the "wilderness chooses" mumbo jumbo (at least in the past), but there was something sociopathic about the way she was talking to Travis about Javi when she knows (and he doesn't) that she stood there and watched Javi die. And then in the present, her ruining the original plan the YJs had for dealing with Lottie has me side-eying her. Did she want someone to die? Did she think that might cure her cancer, perhaps? It's too bad Tai has probably completely burned her bridges with Simone, because I'd advise Tai to stay with her wife otherwise.

Adult Natalie said "I'm not supposed to be here" which goes along with Other Tai's "we're not supposed to be here" and Teen Van's "why am I still here?" Only that last one had a completely clear meaning; Van was talking about how she's still alive after having survived several near-death incidents. I liked Teen Nat basically confirming to Adult Nat (so great to see the two of them talking to each other onscreen) that Nat has never left the wilderness, which I feel is the case for all of the survivors.

Sophie Thatcher talks to EW about the finale.

[Colorado David]

well that was an episode.  cant say i enjoyed it - things happened i do not like. and walter can create fake bank statements now? that is not as easy as people would think, as banks are heavily regulated now and do a ton of reporting.  he manipulated the two detectives way too easily IMO.

hey misty, you know you could just go the heavy sedative route sometimes rather than straight to the lethal dosages. just a thought. i know u want a fast takedown, but you are building your felony list really quickly.

wow echo and the bunnymen, havent heard them since Donnie Darko. nice memory.

i wonder if the smoke from the  burning cabin leads to their rescue?  if it got big enough the authorities would come investigate.

i didnt think Ben would have it in him to kill everyone in the cabin, that is pretty darn cold hearted.

[Thalia]

1 hour ago, Black Knight said:

And then in the present, her ruining the original plan the YJs had for dealing with Lottie has me side-eying her. Did she want someone to die?

The results of Van's passionate defense of Lottie?  She is still committed and Natalie is dead.  

I guess we'll never know if Natalie's seeming acceptance of the cult was real or an act.  Probably real, since we now understand why Natalie might be particularly susceptible to Lottie -- Lottie chose her and she has to believe that Lottie has some mystical power to justify everything that happened post-coronation. 

One thing about having Nat in charge is she knows, from Javi and Ben, that there IS shelter out there somewhere and that the girls don't have to spend the winter in the elements.  But I had trouble sleeping last night wondering whether they got everything they needed out of that cabin (I was really sleepy by the time it was over; first time sitting up to watch right when it dropped)

Please show get rid of pornstache cop.  He just gives me the creeps and I was hoping Callie would shoot him and put us all out of our misery. 

Apparently none of the girls read the book ALIVE before the crash, because I was surprised by the way they just chowed down on Javi.  Jackie was a bit more understandable because she was an impulse.  But the soccer boys knew that the bodies of their fallen were a finite resource and carefully rationed their portions.  The girls should know this too since they were doing the same with the bear at the start of the winter.   And counting the survivors watching the fire -- minus the six we know survive -- there aren't that many of them.  Of course this will mean all out war between them and Ben. 

Depending on whether this is a three or five season show, season 3 will probably begin in the spring and Natalie is smart enough to figure out ways to stock up on game by this point. 

 

[Avaleigh]

4 hours ago, TakomaSnark said:

The girls suddenly decide to 'for real' hunt Shauna even though they were all in agreement Lottie was nuts beforehand? (I thought that they were playing along as a fakeout to turn on Lottie but nooooooooooooooope).

I don't get this. I kept thinking that there was some part of the plan that I was missing. I mean, I knew they were all incredibly damaged, but that turn around to masked, group participant murder just confirmed that they're all nuts. Even Natalie went along. It's not like they're still in the isolated woods and need to survive. They were trying to kill Shauna because they randomly decided that one of their number needed to die. Wth?

I've been of the mind that there is no supernatural element and that "It" has all just been in their heads because they needed an explanation for what went on in the wilderness. Now I'm wondering if this inexplicable thing is the explanation for why they all turned on Shauna like that out if nowhere. 

[JenE4]

I get why Ben tried to kill them all. He was terrified seeing what has become of them. He saw that their irrationality has gotten worse. He wasn’t going to stand by and continue seeing them hunt, kill, and eat each other—all while getting wrapped up in this cult hysteria. He would forever be on guard waiting for them to come after him. It was like euthanasia—take them out of this hell they created. As the adult there, this was probably the only way he could protect them in a way and keep them from making these choices that would forever haunt them.

I’m not sure if Natalie was supposed to be the “shocking twist,” but for me it was Travis biting a big ol hunk out of Javi’s heart! Holy shit! At first I thought Shauna was giving it to him to bury so he could have a funeral. Then I saw the alter and was like, damn, he really bought into the whole Wilderness thing, and he was going to put it on the alter like the bear heart, and Tai’s dog’s heart. But when he took a big bite out of it and then tossed it in the sizzling pan—yikes!

I think my favorite moment was Walter singing “Send in the clowns” and giving that little smirk when he heard the footsteps because his plan he put into the online tip line came to fruition. Yeah, the whole explanation was convoluted. But he’s a stellar citizen detective, so just go with it, I guess!

I had a feeling that things were afoot when Tai canceled the call for help. They were letting the ritual go for too long, too. Then Tai was holding the knife. But all that appeared to be Good Tai. If it were Bad Tai it would have made more sense. So I guess the conclusion to draw is that she came to believe that this was the only way to rid herself of Bad Tai, as influenced by Van. I’m not so sure what was going on with Misty and Natalie, though. The way Misty sprung into action to “save” Natalie (oopsie!) I’m not sure that she was in on the hunt and maybe thought it was just all part of the original plan. But she said “we” called for help, and someone (Natalie maybe) said who’s we? I think the We was her and Walter. So I guess Misty just thought the Citizen Detective  Brigade would have it all handled. And they would have if it weren’t for the darn mis-aimed fentanyl. I’m looking forward to next season seeing how Natalie as leader progresses. I guess she’s the Antler Queen, not Lottie? Though, I guess there is still the possibility it’s the “her” Javi saw out in the wilderness. But now it makes a bit more sense that Nat was the one who turned to drugs to numb the pain of what they did. Whatever happened out there happened under her supervision/direction. Yes, the pieces were in motion from the first hunt, but she could have said The Wilderness told her that they had to stop the hunt. Instead they added elaborate costumes and traps and who knows what else. Guess we’ll find out next season!

Edited May 26, 2023 by JenE4

[BitterApple]

51 minutes ago, Thalia said:

 

One thing about having Nat in charge is she knows, from Javi and Ben, that there IS shelter out there somewhere and that the girls don't have to spend the winter in the elements.  

 

Agreed and that's why Ben is going to be screwed once the girls put two and two together. Nat knows there's shelter. She knows which tree Javi was praying to and she knows the area better than any of them. I think they'll dispatch Coach Scott and use the cave to hunker down for the rest of winter. 

With regards to Van, I think this episode showed her to be way more manipulative than previously thought. She had zero empathy for Travis and didn't give a flying fig about Javi. Even Shauna, who's completely gone mentally, had to cover her face because she was struggling to butcher the body. I have a feeling Van's going to use Dark Tai for nefarious purposes as well. In terms of present day, yeah, she totally maneuvered that hunt into something it wasn't supposed to be. I'm guessing her cancer will be cured, cementing her belief in the Wilderness God. 

3 hours ago, CoachMartinez said:

 

Why did Detective Moustache not arrest the Hobbit? It made zero sense to me....like the card pull in the last episode. Shit jumps off way too quick in some parts but not others.

 

Yeah, I mean, don't the cops and the Feds have their own forensic teams that can tell when accounts have been hacked? The only thing I can come up with is Moustache was more worried about the Callie situation than he let on. At the least, he'd be fired from his job. At worst, he'd go to prison for statutory rape. Maybe he weighed his options and figured letting Kevyn take the fall would be the best way to save himself. He's arrogant and has zero morals, so not entirely unbelievable he'd go along. 

Edited May 26, 2023 by BitterApple

[DoubleUTeeEff]

9 hours ago, BitterApple said:

In terms of the 90s timeline, holy crap, I was not expecting Ben to turn the tables and try to kill the girls. I'm kind of curious what his end game is, though. Let's say he succeeded. That leaves him alone in the woods, in winter, trying to survive on one leg. Once he runs out of cave animals, then what? 

If they decide to hunt him, it's not like he can run away on one leg. Killing them off gives him more a chance of survival than not!

2 hours ago, Colorado David said:

i wonder if the smoke from the  burning cabin leads to their rescue?  if it got big enough the authorities would come investigate.

I wondered that too but they've still got to kill Akilah, Mari and the other new girl/not Crystal they introduced this season, right?  I don't think they'd have time to do all that by the time someone noticed the smoke and got there.

Pretty disappointing season overall. Maybe they should just lean into the camp of it all instead of trying to be serious. Because that hunt in the current timeline was ridiculous. They didn't give me any reason to believe that any of the characters would go along with even setting up the hunt much less do it, except Lottie.

Making Nat the leader was more of a surprise than Nat dying in the current timeline. And the fact that she seemed to like it, even after she supposedly felt so guilty about Javi! Lottie is the only one who didn't know what really went down in the first hunt, yet she's the one picking the leader. And Travis paying his respects to Nat and eating raw Javi heart didn't seem to make sense based on his character, either. I'd have preferred if he joined forces with Coach Ben. Then the girls would have more adversity.

I absolutely loved Coach Ben trying to burn everyone alive. After they all watched Javi drown, all the girls pretty much lost me so I like that there is someone fighting them. I was still on Nat's side since there are not many people who would just give up their own life for someone else so I felt she was least culpable. But then she became leader and liked it so...

I guess we never find out what happened to Crystal/Kristen's body?

I enjoyed Walter's antics but would have liked them better if he had been with Misty during them. The poisoning was actually kind of fun. The way they wrapped up Adam and Jessica Roberts all in one neat bow was dumb.

Lisa knows stuff now. And Nat's dead so she is not going to like that.

[Black Knight]

2 hours ago, Colorado David said:

i wonder if the smoke from the  burning cabin leads to their rescue?  if it got big enough the authorities would come investigate.

Far too early. They’re out there for another year before rescue.  They are waaaaaaaay up north where it’s very desolated.

57 minutes ago, Thalia said:

I guess we'll never know if Natalie's seeming acceptance of the cult was real or an act.  Probably real, since we now understand why Natalie might be particularly susceptible to Lottie -- Lottie chose her and she has to believe that Lottie has some mystical power to justify everything that happened post-coronation. 

(Snip)

Apparently none of the girls read the book ALIVE before the crash, because I was surprised by the way they just chowed down on Javi.  Jackie was a bit more understandable because she was an impulse.  But the soccer boys knew that the bodies of their fallen were a finite resource and carefully rationed their portions.

I came away thinking that Natalie was indeed only staying to protect Lisa. Her reaction to Lottie going off the deep end completely didn’t hint at feeling fooled or betrayed.

Shauna did not bring in nearly enough meat for it to have been the entirety of Javi. I’m sure she stashed the rest out in the meat house, like she did with the bear. I wonder if the meat house burned down too.

57 minutes ago, Avaleigh said:

I don't get this. I kept thinking that there was some part of the plan that I was missing. I mean, I knew they were all incredibly damaged, but that turn around to masked, group participant murder just confirmed that they're all nuts. Even Natalie went along. It's not like they're still in the isolated woods and need to survive. They were trying to kill Shauna because they randomly decided that one of their number needed to die. Wth?

The way Shauna turned on Callie and told her to put down the gun and not shoot anybody really made it seem like she never thought she was in real danger. The women - except for Van, whom they should all be looking at more closely now - seemed to be playing along waiting for the medical team to arrive. (I think Tai maybe thought playing along would bring Lottie to her senses. That seems to have been what Van claimed to her.) There weren’t any “sorry I tried to kill you” vibes or “how dare you try to kill me” vibes happening after it was all over.

[benteen]

That was a bad ending to a disappointing season. After finishing Yellowjackets Season 1, I thought this show could have been a great limited series. Especially if it had been only one season. Sure, it could be great woth two or three seasons but not the five or six I hear the showrunners are talking about. Next season should be its last bit I suspect greed will keep it going longer. In any event, I don't see much Emmy consideration in this show's future.

Both the past amd present storyline dragged in Season 2. I get trying to sell the desperation these characters have but an entire season of them snowed in was long and repetitive. When they do make the transition from desperation to cannibalism, the change is very abrupt and WTF. Lottie as a character turned out to be a disappointment in both the past and present. While it would have been an obvious and safe choice to have killed either her or Van instead of one of the core four, what was the benefit of killing Natalie other than shock value? Maybe it would have worked if they had given her a better S2 storyline in the present but Nat spends the entire season spinning her wheels at Lottie's not-cult, wasting Juliette Lewis who is now gone from the show. At least Sophie Thatcher will still be around in the past, as she is one of the best things about this show.

But what is the future for the show going forward? It seems like we'll be subjected to a slow, unavoidable death march for these characters in the present day while the flashbacks in the past DRAG on. There's certainly more material in the past, with their full descent in barbarism, their eventual rescue and return to civilization (which could be incredibly compelling). But no doubt the showrunners and Showtime will DRAG this out for another three to four seasons, watering down a once-great show.

So what's ahead for the present day scenes? It seemed this show was ready to go full Lost (problematic) by adding a supernatural element. I think the show put that to rest last night. There is no supernatural element. That's something they just told themselves as they descended into madness and held onto after they returned from the woods so that they could live with themselves going forward. I think next season should focus on Tai's political career, bringing in all her personal and Yellowjackets-related issues to today's charged political climate. That could be fun and compelling television but I don't have much faith in this show to deliver. 

Right now, Yellowjackets is like other shows that had amazing first seasons and bad second seasons. Mr. Robot, Heroes and Sleepy Hallow. In my experience, shows tend not to recover from this. I hope Yellowjackets does though because at its best, it's a great show and addictive television. 

Whatever happens, I hope Misty gets what's coming to her.

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by benteen

[Cranberry]

I've always believed what Shauna said, that there was no "It," just them. However, I have a feeling that Van's terminal cancer is going to go away, and there's no rational way to explain that. I hope I'm wrong.

Natalie was/is my favorite character. I think her dying made sense story-wise, but now I expect I'll have trouble enjoying/caring about teen Nat's storyline knowing how and when she dies.

I've been entertained by a lot of elements of this show (especially everything with Adult Misty and with Shauna/Jeff/Callie), and I'll probably keep watching, but I'm not eagerly anticipating the next season.

[Colorado David]

well stated @benteen. rather than blaming their inner demons/problems for their actions, they objectified it to the wilderness. that is one way to cope with having to take such drastic actions to survive and not give up on life. 

it'd be weird if it turned out Travis started the cabin fire in retaliation for Javi, and Ben has been innocent all this time. Did we see him take anything besides rope??? After all he would need that to get up and down from the underground cave.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

11 minutes ago, Colorado David said:

it'd be weird if it turned out Travis started the cabin fire in retaliation for Javi, and Ben has been innocent all this time. Did we see him take anything besides rope??? After all he would need that to get up and down from the underground cave.

We saw him with a box of matches.

47 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

The way Shauna turned on Callie and told her to put down the gun and not shoot anybody really made it seem like she never thought she was in real danger. The women - except for Van, whom they should all be looking at more closely now - seemed to be playing along waiting for the medical team to arrive. (I think Tai maybe thought playing along would bring Lottie to her senses. That seems to have been what Van claimed to her.) There weren’t any “sorry I tried to kill you” vibes or “how dare you try to kill me” vibes happening after it was all over.

But that's just because they were interrupted before they could even really get started.  Plus Shauna didn't know better. There were at least 3 people who were an actually threat to her--Lottie, Van and Tai. I doubt Tai would have stopped Van even if she was just "going along with it". Shauna thought only Lottie was against her in that moment so she might have trusted everyone else to stop Lottie for her. I guess? Lottie had the knife.

[BitterApple]

Ben took a box of matches in addition to the rope.

 

17 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

I've always believed what Shauna said, that there was no "It," just them. However, I have a feeling that Van's terminal cancer is going to go away, and there's no rational way to explain that. I hope I'm wrong.

I think Van's trajectory will give us the answer. If her cancer is magically healed, then there was something supernatural. If it's all for naught and she dies anyways, it was in their heads. 

[AstridM]

12 hours ago, WaltersHair said:

Goodbye sweet Nat. It should have been Lottie.

Yes, it absolutely should’ve been Lottie. God damn it.

11 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

I'm confused--I know that Lottie was sincere when she started chasing Shauna, but were the others suddenly on board once they put on the masks or were they just doing a really good job of faking it? While I was watching I was like Shauna, girl, you are not running fast enough!

To me it looked like they were going to kill her if the daughter hadn't stepped in with a gun.

I get that Natalie was the best of them and that's why they chose her as a leader, but to me that's too much pressure to put on someone in their situation. Ideally they could have had a kind of triumvirate sort of thing with three leaders as decision makers for the group. It would ease the pressure for any one person and it could help check any one leader's more negative impulses. 

I'll miss Natalie. She's the only character I was still rooting for. 

I still enjoy the show but this season wasn't as good as last season for me. Last season blew my mind with how good it was. 

Ideally, they would’ve worked as a team. They didn’t need a “leader.”

11 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

The way Lottie looked at Van in the end, we'll probably find out next year that her cancer is in remission.

How? Lottie doesn’t actually have any special powers. She’s just sick.

[BingeyKohan]

If the present-day timeline had ANY connection to the way the world works (which, it clearly doesn't) then S3 would revolve around a true-crime/paranormal podcast investigating The Curse of the Yellowjackets -- plumbing the surreality of Travis, Jessica Roberts, Kevyn,  and Nat dying very close together, along with the shooting of the leader of a wellness center who evidently charged a lot of money for admission to her community -- surely somebody would link the dead Adam Martin to the survivor Shauna somehow, even if neither claimed their fender bender on insurance -- and the adults would have to quash the podcast. Otherwise it's just too impossible to ignore the public interest that would follow all these strange events unfolding, especially with a connection to a fairly well-publicized state senator, not to mention a well-publicized plane crash/survivor story. I'm not saying that would make an interesting third season in adult-land, but how long can the show go without ignoring the fact that the world would intervene to 'narrative-ize' their story even more than they are already doing that themselves. Otherwise it's like on later seasons of The Hills when they have to pussyfoot around the fact that they were famous for being on a reality show whose whole point was to depict them as regular strivers in Los Angeles.

[AstridM]

3 hours ago, Black Knight said:

but there was something sociopathic about the way she was talking to Travis about Javi

Completely sociopathic!

3 hours ago, Colorado David said:

didnt think Ben would have it in him to kill everyone in the cabin, that is pretty darn cold hearted.

Given what he just witnessed, I sure didn’t blame him 🤷‍♀️.

[AstridM]

2 hours ago, Thalia said:

I guess we'll never know if Natalie's seeming acceptance of the cult was real or an act. 

It was clear to me in this episode that it was an act, but YMMV. She knew Lottie had lied about Travis and wanted to find out the truth.

[Avaleigh]

2 hours ago, BingeyKohan said:

Otherwise it's just too impossible to ignore the public interest that would follow all these strange events unfolding, especially with a connection to a fairly well-publicized state senator, not to mention a well-publicized plane crash/survivor story.

This is another thing, how is state senator Taissa being missing, after her wife was in a very serious car crash where Tai was driving, not a news story at this point? 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Avaleigh

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, JenE4 said:

I get why Ben tried to kill them all. He was terrified seeing what has become of them. He saw that their irrationality has gotten worse. He wasn’t going to stand by and continue seeing them hunt, kill, and eat each other—all while getting wrapped up in this cult hysteria. He would forever be on guard waiting for them to come after him. It was like euthanasia—take them out of this hell they created. As the adult there, this was probably the only way he could protect them in a way and keep them from making these choices that would forever haunt them

Same. It made perfect sense to me. What they were doing wasn’t ok and he knew it would just escalate.

[Colorado David]

5 minutes ago, AstridM said:

Completely sociopathic!

Given what he just witnessed, I sure didn’t blame him 🤷‍♀️.

I don't blame Ben per se, I just don't think your average uncrazy person could so callously kill that many people. Except of course in self defense, but maybe that was where his mindset is. I'd have a hard time killing an animal much less fellow humans that were my former friends.

Oh ya thats right, he was lighting the fire with the matches in the cave. I still am wondering if that's a misdirect and Travis in his grief didn't set the cabin on fire. Tho he did take a chunk of his heart.  Too many questions still.

[BitterApple]

Random thought: weren't we supposed to get Dead Cabin Guy's backstory in this episode? I thought he was being played by Melanie's husband? 

Just now, Avaleigh said:

This is another thing, how is state senator Taissa being missing after her wife was in a very serious car crash where Tai was driving not a news story at this point? 

Imagine being Tai's poor campaign manager right now. She thought spinning a positive test for Adderall was the worst of her problems. I'm trying to picture her reaction when she gets the call that her boss was found on a cult compound where a cop murder and "drug overdose" happened the same night! 

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, DoubleUTeeEff said:

wondered that too but they've still got to kill Akilah, Mari and the other new girl/not Crystal they introduced this season, right? 

We have no idea if those characters survived or not, and if not, what caused their deaths.

[benteen]

2 hours ago, BingeyKohan said:

If the present-day timeline had ANY connection to the way the world works (which, it clearly doesn't) then S3 would revolve around a true-crime/paranormal podcast investigating The Curse of the Yellowjackets -- plumbing the surreality of Travis, Jessica Roberts, Kevyn,  and Nat dying very close together, along with the shooting of the leader of a wellness center who evidently charged a lot of money for admission to her community -- surely somebody would link the dead Adam Martin to the survivor Shauna somehow, even if neither claimed their fender bender on insurance -- and the adults would have to quash the podcast. Otherwise it's just too impossible to ignore the public interest that would follow all these strange events unfolding, especially with a connection to a fairly well-publicized state senator, not to mention a well-publicized plane crash/survivor story. I'm not saying that would make an interesting third season in adult-land, but how long can the show go without ignoring the fact that the world would intervene to 'narrative-ize' their story even more than they are already doing that themselves. Otherwise it's like on later seasons of The Hills when they have to pussyfoot around the fact that they were famous for being on a reality show whose whole point was to depict them as regular strivers in Los Angeles.

I think the podcast idea is a really good one. I feel like this show is going to have to evolve into something different if they want to continue and if they want to regain their quality. There can't be another season of SLOWLY dragging out two different storylines while contriving ridiculous situations. 

Watching them back in the woods, inexplicably going along with a new chase while wearing those masks felt like a completely manufactured moment to me. The writers wanted to do that again but didn't put in the time to make that happen logically again. That scene played out the way it did because the writers told us ot did as opposed to show us.

Edited May 26, 2023 by benteen

[PurpleFishHead]

Fuck this show. I'm out.

[AstridM]

10 minutes ago, Colorado David said:

I don't blame Ben per se, I just don't think your average uncrazy person could so callously kill that many people. Except of course in self defense, but maybe that was where his mindset is. I'd have a hard time killing an animal much less fellow humans that were my former friends.

Oh ya thats right, he was lighting the fire with the matches in the cave. I still am wondering if that's a misdirect and Travis in his grief didn't set the cabin on fire. Tho he did take a chunk of his heart.  Too many questions still.

I didn’t see his actions as “callous.” He was crying.

[BingeyKohan]

32 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Imagine being Tai's poor campaign manager right now. She thought spinning a positive test for Adderall was the worst of her problems. I'm trying to picture her reaction when she gets the call that her boss was found on a cult compound where a cop murder and "drug overdose" happened the same night! 

To say nothing of the fact that her employer stole her car and abandoned it on the roadside with files of Yellowjackets background on the passenger seat! What’s that saying about (male) politicians - never get caught in bed with a live boy or a dead girl? Tai had basically been caught with both lol 

[Anela]

Misty wasn't going to let them eat Kristen, but she was fucking fine with little Javi dying. "This is a good thing!" No, it wasn't!

I don't know why I was surprised they wanted to kill Nat so badly, last week. The opening scene of the pilot was brutal.

Did the Quirky Murder really have to be Kevyn?

Van is insane. JFC. They could all have just said no. Tai was stupid for cancelling the assistance.

Christina Ricci said it would be devastating, but people guessed everything, so I just felt "well, that happened." Javi was devastating. So was the stillbirth. This was predictable. It looked like Lottie was telling Van that she won't die.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Anela

[WaltersHair]

Quote

Right now, Yellowjackets is like other shows that had amazing first seasons and bad second seasons. Mr. Robot, Heroes and Sleepy Hallow

Add Westworld and Homeland to that list.

[Anela]

6 hours ago, CoachMartinez said:

Frodo's ingenious plan to clear Misty and the gang of the pesky Adam Martin matter ???

Did I miss an episode?

Why did Detective Moustache not arrest the Hobbit? It made zero sense to me....like the card pull in the last episode. Shit jumps off way too quick in some parts but not others.

 

I know! "He killed my partner, hid him in the trunk, came up behind me, and shot him quickly, then tried to bribe me." Simple. 

[Cranberry]

2 hours ago, BitterApple said:

I think Van's trajectory will give us the answer. If her cancer is magically healed, then there was something supernatural. If it's all for naught and she dies anyways, it was in their heads. 

 

1 hour ago, AstridM said:

How? Lottie doesn’t actually have any special powers. She’s just sick.

I'm "Team Rational" myself, but we don't know that. The writers have deliberately straddled that line. Right now there's no definitive word either way on whether there was an "It" or just them. I had assumed there never would be (as the debate is excellent for fan engagement, heh), but now this cancer element makes me wonder. They have to address it one way or the other now, right?

[BitterApple]

3 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

 

I'm "Team Rational" myself, but we don't know that. The writers have deliberately straddled that line. Right now there's no definitive word either way on whether there was an "It" or just them. I had assumed there never would be (as the debate is excellent for fan engagement, heh), but now this cancer element makes me wonder. They have to address it one way or the other now, right?

I'd always assumed they'd never answer the question and let the audience decide for themselves. Unlike the dozen other plot threads left dangling, they can't exactly ignore the cancer. Van said she had only months, right? So either way the resolution has to come fairly quickly. In terms of the writing, I think it would be easier to have Van die, and the spirit stuff be a result of the girls' trauma. By confirming the supernatural, there'd be a whole new list of who/what/when/where/why. They're going find themselves in a Lost scenario, where the mystery elements become such a convoluted mess, there's no logical way to wrap things up. 

[Anela]

4 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I'd always assumed they'd never answer the question and let the audience decide for themselves. Unlike the dozen other plot threads left dangling, they can't exactly ignore the cancer. Van said she had only months, right? So either way the resolution has to come fairly quickly. In terms of the writing, I think it would be easier to have Van die, and the spirit stuff be a result of the girls' trauma. By confirming the supernatural, there'd be a whole new list of who/what/when/where/why. They're going find themselves in a Lost scenario, where the mystery elements become such a convoluted mess, there's no logical way to wrap things up. 

Right. I think the first two seasons happened over the course of a few weeks, in the current timeline, so I don't know how they'll cover that in season three, unless they do a time jump. 

I didn't want to see Natalie go, so I do hope that Van's cancer takes her, and she has to deal with the fact that she was all-in on murder, for nothing. 

[peachmangosteen]

That was worse than I thought it’d be. This season was such a letdown. 

10 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I'd always assumed they'd never answer the question and let the audience decide for themselves. 

That’s what they’re gonna do and it’s so fucking annoying. Write the fucking show, don’t make me do it lol!

I am starting to think there may be some bts issues that are maybe at least partially to blame for how bad this season was. Like, they were given 10 episodes and yet we only got 9. Jason Ritter was announced as being in this season, there was even a bts photo of him, and yet he never showed up.

Also, I think Juliette Lewis probably asked to leave the show so I’m trying to cut them some slack there but like killing Natalie off while giving her basically nothing to do in present day all season was a really bad decision.

I’ve been saying it all season and this ep was no different, there were a lot of moments I liked but overall it was just really bad. And I’m losing faith it’s gonna get better. Especially if they do 5 or more seasons. They desperately need to wrap this up in at most 2 more.

[Tipsymcstagger]

So much promise last season. But I think this season has been a mess. The acting - imo - has been all over the place and OTT. Especially the young actresses. None of them had consistent characters. One minute they’re foaming at the mouth raving lunatics…next minute compassionate and reverent. I think I’m out after this season. I gave it the college try. But even after season 1 I though that it should have been a one and done kind of miniseries and was apprehensive that it could sustain the story arc for another season. Well - this season seem to have literally catapulted over the shark. The writers seem to have run out of ideas and are literally spit balling s**t now. And while I love Melanie Lynskey - I think her acting has been pretty tone deaf this entire season. Or the writing has been. Either way her cutesy “Aren’t we in a pickle? Aren’t I super zany?” acting style seems off. Especially compared to her adolescent counterpart. Oh well…one less series to binge.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Tipsymcstagger

[Anela]

6 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Write the fucking show, don’t make me do it lol!

Yes! I think the show would be much better, if they did that. I had season one running when I was doing other things, this week, and it was much better, even though there were things I liked this season. 

 

 

[DrSparkles]

Was this the season finale? I can't imagine Juliette Lewis wanted to leave the show.

[SeanC]

6 hours ago, Black Knight said:

LOL at Shauna's journal where she was whining about feeling invisible. I wonder if she'll ever realize that if she feels invisible, it's her own doing - not Jackie's or Natalie's or Lottie's or whoever. She didn't have to live in Jackie's shadow. She could've made a case for herself to be leader.

The next sentence in her journal, that she always previously thought it was Jackie who made her feel invisible, seemed like the beginning of self-reflection.

But in Shauna's defense, it wasn't really a leadership election, the group's prophet came down and bestowed leadership on one particular person.

3 hours ago, benteen said:

So what's ahead for the present day scenes? It seemed this show was ready to go full Lost (problematic) by adding a supernatural element. I think the show put that to rest last night. There is no supernatural element.

I would say Van's cancer is going to be a major question mark going forward as far as the supernatural element goes.

2 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

This is another thing, how is state senator Taissa being missing, after her wife was in a very serious car crash where Tai was driving, not a news story at this point? 

Senator-elect, I believe. I would guess that most people don't know she's missing; her campaign manager presumably didn't raise the issue, who else would?

 

[Anela]

2 minutes ago, DrSparkles said:

Was this the season finale? I can't imagine Juliette Lewis wanted to leave the show.

It's supposed to be. There were rumours of a secret episode, but last night, I was thinking the filming with Jason Ritter, might have just been to throw people off. 

[BingeyKohan]

31 minutes ago, Tipsymcstagger said:

Either way her cutesy “Aren’t we in a pickle? Aren’t I super zany?” acting style seems off. 

Lmao. ‘Aren’t we in a pickle’ … right up there with Joey’s smell-the-fart school of acting from Friends.