S02.E09: Storytelling

[iMonrey]

I think this would have served as a series finale just fine if they had cut the burning cabin at the end.

The present day story feels over to me. The Adam murder has been put to bed, Lottie's cult is over, she's being taken away to a mental hospital, and Nat is dead.

As for the 90s story, I just don't see what there is left to tell. We know their process now: pick a card, as a sort of ritual, don masks, engage in a hunt of the unfortunate card holder. I really don't need three or four (!) more seasons of their further devolution.

I never thought this was the kind of story that sustain multiple seasons and nothing they did this season has changed my mind.

[blixie]

Quote

I don't want it to be some random tree woman who's been living in the cave for twenty years. 

Oh see I absolutely do want that with every fiber of my being and hope she's grinding up baby corpses for her skin, dewy and glowy. Why would that be more or less random than cabin daddy?

[Cranberry]

My last post was unclear, so trying this again!

The discussion about accusations of hate-watching and critiquing other people's posts is off topic for an episode discussion thread, and it could easily turn into an argument we don't want. I'm not removing any current posts, but in the future, if anyone feels like someone is trying to police how they post, please just report their post (without engaging) and I'll take a look at it. Thanks!

[peachmangosteen]

10 hours ago, blixie said:

Oh see I absolutely do want that with every fiber of my being and hope she's grinding up baby corpses for her skin, dewy and glowy. Why would that be more or less random than cabin daddy?

Right! I kinda wish they'd go full camp craziness in the 90s timeline like they did in the current one tbh.

I really hope Javi's 'she,' wasn't an hallucination. That would be utter bullshit imo. But more so I just hope they actually explain that and don't just leave it as it is.

[tennisgurl]

I certainly expected a major character to die and for shit to get even worse in the flashbacks, but I didn't expect all of that. Ben set the cabin on fire! Natalie is accidently killed by Misty! Natalie was crowned Antler Queen! 

I can get why they decided to kill Natalie right now from a story perspective, now that we know more about what happened in the woods and how much that damaged her, but I'm still going to miss her a lot. Its going to be hard watching her teen self in the flashbacks knowing what happens to her. Its interesting how much Natalie seemed to be downplaying so much about her involvement with the cult, to herself and to the other survivors, even though they all clearly know what happened. Its still unclear how much Natalie really bought into the cult or if she was just taking on a leadership role because she thought it was the best play, but I guess it will always be a bit ambiguous. 

This season was certainly a step down in quality from the excellent first season, but there was still a lot that I liked here. Last season really felt like a more smoothly structured story while this one was much more scattered, but they did still manage to make me feel a lot of things, disgust, amusement, fear, and I am still interested in where this is all going.

I was hoping that the pornstache cop would be the one who got killed, he creeps me out. I thought he would try to assault Callie when he found her on the grounds, I wish she had just shot him. The Jeff/Callie/Shauna murder family show has weirdly become one of the seasons highlights, I feel like the weird dark comedy that this show likes to do is at its best with the three of them bumbling around. I loved when Jeff and Callie just "noped" out when they saw the cult members showed up where they were trying to drive their car into the compound.

I thought that the rest of the women were just humoring Lottie until they could have her institutionalized, but they seemed to be actually getting into it until Callie showed up. What the hell? I can buy Bad Tai calling off the people who were supposed to take Lottie away, but it seems like things really escalated too fast with the rest of them, even if they were just acting.

Not sure what Ben's endgame is with trying to set the cabin on fire, beyond just ending the madness about what happened to poor Javi. At this point he might think that killing the kids is an act of mercy as well as defense. The biggest shock of the episode for me was that Ben is still alive. 

[Quickbeam]

Just watched this….I sort of felt like I was floating on the edges of really getting what was going on. This episode was physically better lit that some recent ones. I initially watched this because of the powerhouse of female acting talent and that really delivered. 
 

The pragmatist in me wanted to know why they wasted so much of Javi’s blood. That has nutritional value! 
 

I hope there is more to come because I’m left hanging here. 

[Eeksquire]

... I realize this is extremely stupid, but my brain has wired together "Canadian wildfires" and "Yellowjackets burning cabin" so now every time there is a news story about the actual, current, present-day fires (constantly, because of the smoke), my brain is like "hey!..." 

I'll go sit down now.

[jsm1125]

Was Akilah not in the group shot at the very end when the Yellowjackets escaped from the cabin in 1997? I wonder if she died in the fire?

Edited June 10, 2023 by jsm1125

[sistermagpie]

43 minutes ago, jsm1125 said:

Was Aklilah not in the group shot at the very end when the Yellowjackets escaped from the cabin in 1997? I wonder if she died in the fire?

It looks like we might just not be able to see everyone in the last shot, so she could still be there. I think Gen's not visible either.

[BitterApple]

3 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

Was Aklilah not in the group shot at the very end when the Yellowjackets escaped from the cabin in 1997? I wonder if she died in the fire?

She was, yes. It was hard to see her because she was in the back and had blankets wrapped around her head and neck. I actually re-watched to find her because I didn't think she made it out. 

[Affogato]

On 5/26/2023 at 1:08 AM, WaltersHair said:

Goodbye sweet Nat. It should have been Lottie.

Yes, but I think Natalie may have run her course as an adult. Five times in/out of rehab, Travis dead (so that relationship can't be explored in real life) and she did get to be forgiven and remember who she had been. I like Juliette Lewis and the character of Natalie, but I think they wrapped her up nicely. 

Speaking of Tai and Lottie, there are an unusual number of people in this group with schizophrenia. Misty also seemed disturbed before the plane crash. I mean, I'd guess an unusual niumber for a girls soccer team. No data to cite, just guessing.

On 5/31/2023 at 3:12 PM, tennisgurl said:

I

I thought that the rest of the women were just humoring Lottie until they could have her institutionalized, but they seemed to be actually getting into it until Callie showed up. What the hell? I can buy Bad Tai calling off the people who were supposed to take Lottie away, but it seems like things really escalated too fast with the rest of them, even if they were just acting.

Not sure what Ben's endgame is with trying to set the cabin on fire, beyond just ending the madness about what happened to poor Javi. At this point he might think that killing the kids is an act of mercy as well as defense. The biggest shock of the episode for me was that Ben is still alive. 

I think they really were interested in somehow working out the trauma and once they got together with Lottie they were increasingly convinced, yeah, that is the only way we'll get over it.

I wonder if he thought that, if they survived, they'd be thrown back into basic survival mode and give up the crazy cult thing. Not thought, but feeling. He was scared.

[Affogato]

On 5/30/2023 at 9:35 PM, iMonrey said:

I think this would have served as a series finale just fine if they had cut the burning cabin at the end.

The present day story feels over to me. The Adam murder has been put to bed, Lottie's cult is over, she's being taken away to a mental hospital, and Nat is dead.

As for the 90s story, I just don't see what there is left to tell. We know their process now: pick a card, as a sort of ritual, don masks, engage in a hunt of the unfortunate card holder. I really don't need three or four (!) more seasons of their further devolution.

I never thought this was the kind of story that sustain multiple seasons and nothing they did this season has changed my mind.

I agree that it could have been the series finale, with a few tweaks.

I wonder if they do a time jump, which could be interesting. Or the whole incident could become public, possibly due to Walter, and it could have a season about that.

[KittyQ]

On 5/26/2023 at 8:23 AM, Thalia said:

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. 

Probably on the next semester's reading list. Oh well.

[chaifan]

The worst part about coming into a show late and watching 2 seasons over the course of a few weeks is the inevitable wait for the 3rd season.  Which will be delayed even further due to the strike.  By then, I probably won't have my Paramount account (which I got only for Picard but then hung on to it), and I will most likely have lost interest.

That said, this was a weird season.  I'm with everyone else on the whole Adam plot being not very well thought out, and it's disturbing that Shauna can so easily get away with manslaughter, plus dismembering a body, plus lying to the police.  There really is a lack of consequences for most of the present day YJ's. 

I love Walter, just for the comic relief.  But that was some convoluted scheme to eliminate Shauna as a suspect in Adam's murder.  There's no way he could have known Kevin and pornstache would end up at the compound, so I have to assume his original plan was just blackmail.  But how does killing Kevin with whatever drug, then shooting him - in the trunk of a police car - make any sense with that scheme? 

My take on Ben... I don't think he originally set out to torch the cabin.  I think he came to the cabin for supplies.  We see him with an axe, the matches (he wasn't able to light a fire in the cave), and then rope.  I think he really came for the matches (why they would leave them out in the cold/wet is beyond me, I know there are moisture proof matches, but still, you'd think they'd be treating those as gold) but watched the ritual and made the decision then to burn it down later.  Weird that there was only one door and no one went through back windows.  His motivation makes sense to me - he's rather starve/freeze to death alone then be hunted and eaten by the girls. 

I did like seeing the girls actually take a few moments to grab things - even in their state of mind survival instincts really kicked in. 

I'm sorry Natalie is dead.  I would have liked to see more of Natalie and Lottie - I liked that pairing.  I don't understand how Misty explains Natalie's death, unless they pin in on a psychotic break Lottie. 

Maybe Walter buys the compound, and goes into business with Jeff making hand made artisan furniture.  All sectionals.  All in purple.

 

 

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I'm sorry Natalie is dead.  I would have liked to see more of Natalie and Lottie - I liked that pairing.  I don't understand how Misty explains Natalie's death, unless they pin in on a psychotic break Lottie. 

 

Didn't she explain that death from that turns up like a drug overdose? They might just explain it away as a relapse on Natalie's part.

Agree totally on the Adam story and them getting away with it. It's weird to have them living in the past in a situation where they're stuck in a bad luck situation that they have to deal with, even if they sometimes do it with magical thinking...and then in the future things fall into place in almost cartoonish ways that keep them from dealing with the consequences. It might have been more satisfying if Shauna had just stabbed Adam without killing him and have the point be how that relationship ended for her rather than hiding the body from the keystone cops.

Or at least just let the body stay hidden so the focus is on her guilt instead of hiding from the police.

[chaifan]

19 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

Didn't she explain that death from that turns up like a drug overdose? They might just explain it away as a relapse on Natalie's part.

Right, but who jabs themselves in the collarbone or neck or where ever it was that Misty accidentally stabbed her?  The ME would find the needle mark. 

I totally agree with what you said about Shauna and Adam.  It would have been better as a stabbing but not death.  But, of course, that wouldn't have gotten the band back together.  I think I would have rather seen them competently dispose of the body, no real police investigation to speak of, or nothing that leads back to Shauna, but Callie finding out (overhearing Jeff & Shauna talking like they normally do) and blackmailing her mom and dad over it.  Or, like you said, just have it be Shauna's guilt and one more secret the group shares.

Here's my take on Season 1 and Season 2:

Season 1 I was drawn in.  I wanted to watch the next episode because I wanted to know what was going to happen.  I was genuinely intrigued, and I wanted to see the stories unfold.  Season 2 started that way, but quickly became me watching the next episode because I wanted to see how they would get out of whatever ridiculous plot corner they painted themselves into.