S03.E07: Croak

[paulvdb]

Quote

The Yellowjackets realize their choices have snowballed into a catastrophe. Misty sets her sights on a fresh suspect, and even she’s surprised by the plot twist. Meanwhile, Taissa’s desperation is peeling back layers she didn’t even know she had.

Premiere date: March 21, 2025 on Paramount+

[Black Knight]

Fucking Lottie. I'm very torn now between Hannah's daughter and Jeff for her killer. I do think it's Hannah's daughter that she was rehearsing apologies in the mirror for. Up to now, I hadn't found anyone who fit that, even though Lisa showed up - I just didn't really see Lisa as someone Lottie would be rehearsing for.

I have a feeling Kodi takes out more than one or two of the YJs on his way out.

I love how this show will come up with such a mundane explanation for something intensely creepy. The screaming was frogs! The Arctic Banshee Frog! Hahaha!

The Yellowjackets are living only a few miles away from the plane, and Callie said the group of three went missing 100 miles away from where the plane was found. By foot, the YJs are not close to civilization, especially when you consider the terrain. I don't think they can feasibly walk out, especially not now that they're close to winter.

[WaltersHair]

For reasons I couldn't put my finger on, I just didn't think the hikers were bird folk. I did not see Arctic Screaming Frogs, however. More scary sound effects to keep Lottie in full cult mode. 

I do think Lottie killed the head frog guy because she wanted to stay in the wilderness permanently. Back home she's treated like a mentally ill stranger by her parents, sent off to various places and kept medicated.

I also don't think whoever is in that house in Virginia is Hannah's daughter. It seems too easy. And they made sure to show Hannah burying the tape in a hollow log under rocks (from what I could see. The night scenes are very dark). Nat and Shauna were the ones that saw her come out from the log. Maybe one of them went back and searched it. And Walter has to fit in there somewhere.

I was starting to lose interest, but I'm definitely back in now.

 

[Black Knight]

I wonder if that may have been a miscalculation on Lottie's part, if so - similar to Misty, who was so happy to be appreciated by Van early on, and has fallen to the bottom of the social order again. Several of the girls made it clear in this episode that they think Lottie is crazy. There have always been those who don't believe, but they've been careful up to now about how they express that, not showing outward hostility towards Lottie. And in choosing to save Kodi, Travis and Akilah are also breaking away from Lottie.

There are intriguing possibilities for that tape, for sure. We were told that Gen and Melissa grew close to Hannah, so she could have told one of them. Even if Gen and Melissa are both dead now, the tape still could have passed from one of them to another person. And there is my favorite theory, that someone was left behind in the woods. That person could have been holding onto the tape, and finally decided after nearly 25 years that it was time to leave. Maybe they looked up Hannah's daughter and told her the truth about what happened to her mother. It would answer the question that was raised in this episode, of why is this only happening 25 years later?

[BitterApple]

I agree it's unlikely the daughter is behind this. Based on what Shauna said, the girl had no relationship with Hannah, so why would she enact an elaborate revenge plot 25 years later? Also, logistically it makes no sense. She lives in Virginia but hops up to New Jersey to stalk Shauna, cut her brake line, lock her in a freezer and then kill Lottie in NYC? She must have a lot of free time on hands. 

I also think Walter is lying about Shauna killing Lottie. I think it was either Callie or Jeff. 

In the teen timeline, we saw how fast they snapped out of the woo-woo when given an opportunity to go home. Van trying to call her mom, Travis and Akilah begging to go with Kodi, Mari telling Lottie to f*** off. Now with Hannah in their camp, they're about to discover it was never the Wilderness talking to them, it was a bunch of frogs. I wonder if this will finally split the girls? Those who believe and want to stay, versus those who want to go home. 

Random nitpick, but given that Kodi was Edwin and Hannah's only source of protection, I'm surprised he didn't have a more powerful weapon than a crossbow. And yeah, he's totally taking some of those girls out before he dies (if he dies).

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, WaltersHair said:

I do think Lottie killed the head frog guy because she wanted to stay in the wilderness permanently. Back home she's treated like a mentally ill stranger by her parents, sent off to various places and kept medicated.

At this point she’s likely over 18 and a legal adult. She can choose to go live in the woods for the rest of her life if she wants to - she does NOT have the right to choose for others or take their lives from them. So prison is the real answer 😡

[SeanC]

1 hour ago, BitterApple said:

Also, logistically it makes no sense. She lives in Virginia but hops up to New Jersey to stalk Shauna, cut her brake line, lock her in a freezer and then kill Lottie in NYC? She must have a lot of free time on hands. 

That doesn't seem logistically problematic. Vacation exists.

[Anela]

Damn. Fuck Lottie, and Shauna.  She was thrilled at Lottie burying an axe in that guy’s head.  Poor Edwin. Joel McHale’s character seemed just as creepy, and he was scared of the girls. With good reason.

I fixed my sleep schedule, so I’m watching this during the day again. I’m going to have to watch it again later, because I could hardly see anything.  

Gen and Melissa are dead.  People have speculated that we’re getting an adult Akilah, but she isn’t Hilary Swank, and we only have three episodes left.  
 

[WaltersHair]

2 hours ago, AstridM said:

At this point she’s likely over 18 and a legal adult. She can choose to go live in the woods for the rest of her life if she wants to - she does NOT have the right to choose for others or take their lives from them. So prison is the real answer 😡

I agree, but she and the others didn't go to prison, so promises were made and kept. She was too mentally ill otherwise.

The one token rescue scene we got last year showed that she was mute and didn't interact with anyone except to scream. She was walking on her own and not being helped by anyone. That begs the question of why she came back with the group at all. She's happiest in the wilderness killing for it.

If she hadn't died on the staircase, I think it would have happened eventually. It seems as if they are all on the edge of death.

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, Anela said:

 

Gen and Melissa are dead.  People have speculated that we’re getting an adult Akilah, but she isn’t Hilary Swank, and we only have three episodes left.  
 

Interesting that we got the info Gen and Melissa are dead, but we don't know in which timeline they died. I think either Gen or Hannah is Pit Girl, so maybe Melissa took the tape and was killed post-rescue? It ties in nicely with Ghost Jackie inferring the survivors did bad stuff when they got back, and opens up the possibility of Swank being Melissa's relative. If Swank is a YJ but not Melissa, the only other option is Mari, however that would be horrible casting. They look nothing alike. 

 

[tennisgurl]

Fucking hell Lottie! She has really escalated from her usual crazy rambling visions to axe murder, but its makes sense. In her messed up head, this is what the wilderness wants and what Lottie wants is the Wilderness. Its certainly interesting that most of the kids, even after they have been listening to Lottie for awhile, jumped at the chance to go home. It feels like a schism could form between kids who want to stay versus the ones who want to go home, and even some of her more devoted acolytes want to go home. Van wanted to call her mom, Travis and Akilah want to work with Kodiack to go home, meanwhile Shauna seems hostile right away at the idea of seeing outsiders. 

I was so sure that Van would be the one to go full dark, but it seems like both teenage Van and adult Van are way less far gone than Tai, it was so sad how excited she was at the idea that she could call her mom. That dream was super creepy, Bad Tai is definitely out to play.

Of all the explanations for the whispers in the wilderness, I did not expect it to be frog fucking, that's hilarious. I know that people have speculated on whether or not something supernatural is going on but I am so sure that all of this have explanations, its even possible that researchers might have marked those trees with markings to show where frogs are located. 

We finally get Joel McHale! I guess he's the bear that Akilah saw in her vision, I am also guessing that he's going to take a few girls down. Or is it just a forshadowing? So now we know that Mel and Gen are dead, we still have several girls unaccounted for, with Mari and Akilah being the most notable ones. So where the hell is Hillary Swank? 

"He died of natural causes!" Nailed it Misty, no one will suspect anything.

[Anela]

13 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Interesting that we got the info Gen and Melissa are dead, but we don't know in which timeline they died. I think either Gen or Hannah is Pit Girl, so maybe Melissa took the tape and was killed post-rescue? It ties in nicely with Ghost Jackie inferring the survivors did bad stuff when they got back, and opens up the possibility of Swank being Melissa's relative. If Swank is a YJ but not Melissa, the only other option is Mari, however that would be horrible casting. They look nothing alike. 

 

I wondered if Nat found the tape, and it was in her storage unit. Walter told Misty about her storage unit, and I thought that he might be her child, but Alex has been confirmed to be someone else. Someone mentioned an actress being named in the credits. 

I would love for Mari to still be alive. She was named as most likely to contact you on facebook, for something like selling an MLM, when it came to a yellowjackets promo, two years ago. It's been established that she and Shauna loathe each other, but I also hope that Swank isn't playing Mari. 

[Black Knight]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

It feels like a schism could form between kids who want to stay versus the ones who want to go home, and even some of her more devoted acolytes want to go home. Van wanted to call her mom, Travis and Akilah want to work with Kodiack to go home, meanwhile Shauna seems hostile right away at the idea of seeing outsiders. 

Shauna indeed got a sick thrill out of Lottie axing Edwin and is hostile in general. But she also is the one who proposes the (batshit) plan that if they kill the whole group, someone will come looking for them and the YJs will finally be found and get to go home. "No witnesses." So I think she wants to go home as much as any of the other girls except maybe Lottie do.

And even Lottie I don't think can be taken as definitely wanting to stay in the wilderness. Remember, she rushed back from the cave to save Ben when Akilah's vision convinced her Ben was their bridge home. Her killing Edwin really may just be as simple as her believing he doesn't belong there, as opposed to a grander plan to keep the whole group in the wilderness forever. Granted, a lot of time has passed between when she saved Ben and the day Ben died, so maybe she did shift. As Van said in the premiere, "Unclear."

Misty saying Ben died of natural causes was funny. No, it wasn't going to work, but I give her credit for at least trying to come up with a story to salvage the situation instead of going straight to axe murder. None of the others could do even that much.

BTW, I have a friend who lives in Virginia and makes regular trips up to NJ/NY. It's not really a big deal.

Edited March 21 by Black Knight

[Thalia]

3 hours ago, Anela said:

I fixed my sleep schedule, so I’m watching this during the day again. I’m going to have to watch it again later, because I could hardly see anything.  

 

I was so interested in seeing what happened in this episode that I almost sat up until midnight eastern to watch last night.   But finally decided this show can be so thematically dark that it would be better to wait.  (And yes, it is also visually dark.  I had to watch the final shots of Shauna a couple of times before I confirmed to myself that she had a hunting knife in the car.) 

Was not expecting one of the YJs, even Lottie, to kill one of the hikers asap.  When I considered what might happen this week, I saw awkward and cringy effort on the part of the girls to explain what they were doing and why Ben's head wasn't real, but an old souvenir from Madame Tussaud's Atlantic City.   But Lottie's action more or less cut off the need for any explanations.  

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

it was so sad how excited she was at the idea that she could call her mom.

I also thought that was really poignant.  

 

1 hour ago, Anela said:

I would love for Mari to still be alive. She was named as most likely to contact you on facebook, for something like selling an MLM, when it came to a yellowjackets promo, two years ago. It's been established that she and Shauna loathe each other, but I also hope that Swank isn't playing Mari. 

She doesn't get a lot of screen time, but ever since Mari was kidnapped by Ben she's become one of my favorites.  I thought the way she tried to rewrite her history with him was funny.   That, and since young Shauna has been so unlikeable, to me at least, this season, it is hard not to like someone who has set herself up as Shauna's nemesis.  

[BitterApple]

I've been thinking about why they don't take the opportunity to be rescued.  Assuming they can't fix the satellite phone, maybe the group realizes they have no choice but to wait out another winter? The 100 mile mark where the hikers disappeared was likely the last known point of contact between them and the university, not necessarily the point where they left civilization. If the latter was the case, the Yellowjackets could easily hump it out of there. Ten miles a day and they're home in under two weeks. I'm guessing the researchers were airlifted in by helicopter, making the distance to the nearest town or city far greater. 

If we're now pushing into late October/early November, that doesn't give the girls a big enough window to walk out of the wilderness before the cold and snow hits. They may all want to go home, but have no choice but to stay put. 

Edited March 21 by BitterApple

[Black Knight]

I wouldn't categorize it as easy to hump out of there. They don't have appropriate gear nor do they have enough provisions for the greater caloric requirements necessitated by hiking through difficult terrain, so they'd have to try to hunt and gather along the way. And that terrain means that 100 miles isn't necessarily 100 miles, either, because the odds that they could proceed in essentially a straight line without ever having to detour miles around are very low. Injuries can also be expected. What maybe might make more sense is to just send a couple of people out while the rest of the group stays behind, which is what the soccer team in the Andes did.

It really comes down to Kodiak, I guess, which Travis and Akilah seem to have realized. He has the experience and the gear, and enough knowledge of the area that he can chart the shortest route - which still may be quite a bit more than 100 miles. Have two YJs take the scientists' gear and provisions and accompany Kodiak, and now you're talking about good odds of getting out, as long as all three can avoid serious injury. But I wonder if Travis and Akilah are even planning on going back to the YJ camp. Travis's question to Kodiak was rather ambiguous in that regard. The two of them may want to just bug out now with Kodiak. I wouldn't want to risk taking him back to camp, where he's likelier to end up with an axe in his skull than being allowed to act as a guide.

[BitterApple]

The thing is, the hikers managed to walk a hundred miles from their last known location to the YJ camp, so why couldn't the reverse happen? Just follow the route back. The girls found the hikers' campsite so they could presumably grab their gear, plus Ben's stash plus whatever food they have stored. I think it would be doable if the weather was favorable. 

Edited March 21 by BitterApple

[Wicked]

Another possibility for Pit Girl

[Brn2bwild]

After the gut punch ending Episode 6, his episode felt a bit slow to get going.  I didn't need to spend that much time with Edwin, Kodi, and Hannah to get who they were, especially since we didn't get meaningful info such as how long they had been hiking in the woods.

That being said, once they met the girls, things heated up quickly.  Some viewers theorized they would take out Edwin right away, and they were right.  

I could see Hannah becoming the den mother and defacto leader in coming episodes, infuriating Shauna and Lottie.

In the adult timeline, the scene with them texting each other in the car was pretty funny.  Do you think Other Tai is in control all the time?  The scene at the elevator she seemed like Regular Tai.

[Anela]

9 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

I could see Hannah becoming the den mother and defacto leader in coming episodes, infuriating Shauna and Lottie.

 

I hadn't thought about that. There were posters wondering how things would have gone, if they'd crashed out there with a woman as their coach. 

The current timeline was funny, until Van threw up blood, and Shauna ran off to confront the mystery woman. I was laughing out loud, and glad for some humour. 

[WaltersHair]

It occurs to me that Travis and Akilah want to leave with Kodi because they are tired of doing shrooms and cave gas. Lottie seems to need a go between and they have had it.

[overtherainbow]

I'm watching for Misty right now.

"He died of natural causes!" 

As Ben lay carved up on a literal platter. 

Then when Van was rushed to the ER, 

"I'm not family but we have a very intense trauma bond."

 

Shauna couldn't keep the grin off her face when Lottie was bashing Edwin's skull in and Lottie's feral scream when the three walked up shows just how bonded she has with the wilderness and her place in it. She never wanted to leave and go back to being the mentally ill girl with a rich dad. Meanwhile Shauna is high on the power of being the Antler Queen.

I love that this episode only further proved there's nothing really supernatural, half of them are just high from cave gas/shrooms, the screams are just from frogs, and they are clearly experiencing shared psychotic disorder led by Lottie à la Lord of the Flies. The psychological stuff is more interesting than the possibility of the supernatural to me. 

[Black Knight]

20 hours ago, BitterApple said:

The thing is, the hikers managed to walk a hundred miles from their last known location to the YJ camp, so why couldn't the reverse happen?

The scientists were appropriately geared and provisioned, and crucially, led by an experienced outdoorsman who knows the terrain.

Like I said, a couple of people going with Kodiak, if he's willing to guide them, could work, especially if they took the scientists' gear for themselves so that they're not trying to tramp along in footwear that isn't suited for hard hiking to begin with and is no doubt extremely beat up after a year plus in the woods. Why did the scientists hire Kodiak to guide them? Because they knew it would be foolish to try to do it on their own.

[Demian]

On 3/21/2025 at 4:46 PM, Black Knight said:

Her killing Edwin really may just be as simple as her believing he doesn't belong there

Her killing Edwin is as simple as the fact that she's batshit crazy and has been off her meds for over a year.

 

On 3/21/2025 at 10:19 PM, WaltersHair said:

It occurs to me that Travis and Akilah want to leave with Kodi because they are tired of doing shrooms and cave gas. Lottie seems to need a go between and they have had it.

I still don't have any idea how Travis survived all of the crap that's happening in these flashback sequences.

Quote

I could hardly see anything.  

I couldn't see anything.  I think I need someone to show me how to adjust the settings on my TV, because I had the same problem with that ridiculously dark Game of Thrones battle.

Edited March 23 by Demian

[sistermagpie]

On 3/21/2025 at 12:02 PM, BitterApple said:

I also think Walter is lying about Shauna killing Lottie. I think it was either Callie or Jeff. 

Yeah, we already knew about Shauna being in NYC so I was waiting for her to be accused, but I don't think she did it. On the contrary, the opposite makes sense, because Shauna was so angry at Lottie to begin with she'd be more likely to fight with her without killing her.

I think the thing with Shauna is that in the past she's enraged, but in the present she's just always in survival mode, seeing threats everywhere that she has to take out. Lottie was a certain kind of threat, but not the kind that needed killing, because she's not telling anyone what they did.

On 3/21/2025 at 12:02 PM, BitterApple said:

 I wonder if this will finally split the girls? Those who believe and want to stay, versus those who want to go home. 

I don't think any of them want to stay, besides Misty in her way. Seems like if there was a split like that we should see it referenced in the present. That is, unless all our people wanted to leave and a bunch of redshirts wanted to stay. But that doesn't seem likely. Or interesting. I never liked the whole "warring tribes" idea and somebody living in the woods seems unbelievable and random too.

 

On 3/21/2025 at 1:32 PM, Anela said:

Damn. Fuck Lottie, and Shauna.  She was thrilled at Lottie burying an axe in that guy’s head.  Poor Edwin. Joel McHale’s character seemed just as creepy, and he was scared of the girls. With good reason.

I don't think Shauna was thrilled. Her expression looks like she could be, but it could also just be total shock, which goes along with her barely being able to pronounce, "Holy shit!" She suggested killing the others as potential witnesses after what Lottie did and they saw, but she didn't just jump on Hannah and kill her.

On 3/21/2025 at 10:07 PM, Brn2bwild said:

I could see Hannah becoming the den mother and defacto leader in coming episodes, infuriating Shauna and Lottie.

Hannah would definitely be special given her more recent ties to the world and maybe even interesting facts about frogs, but I can't see why some woman who just steppe into the woods with her guide and sat on their communcation to the outside world would become a leader. She has no idea how to survive in the wilderness.

 

[Brn2bwild]

3 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

Hannah would definitely be special given her more recent ties to the world and maybe even interesting facts about frogs, but I can't see why some woman who just steppe into the woods with her guide and sat on their communcation to the outside world would become a leader. She has no idea how to survive in the wilderness.

I wasn't thinking "leader" in the Nat or Shauna sense, but in the old school sense - a grown person whom they would have listened to out of habit.

Looking at the group's reactions this episode, I am really curious how they'll reach the point where there's enough consensus for Pit Girl. Akilah and Travis are losing their belief in Lottie; Mari and Gen are already over her. Melissa becomes close to Hannah,  who seems like she could represent civilization, and Van just wants to leave the wilderness behind and go home. Nat would never condone a ritual like that on her own.  That leaves Shauna, Lottie, Tai, and Misty.  Tai would want what Van wants, and Misty could go either way.  That leaves Shauna and Lottie as the only two who would be believably blood thirsty enough to do the Pit Girl ritual.

ETA: The show's presentation of Lottie's visions has been inconsistent.  In the first season, Lottie had multiple premonitions - a car crash, the river of blood, the plane exploding and killing Laura Lee, etc.  Yet this season her visions are presented as misunderstanding the wilderness or a sign of her being mentally ill. 

Edited March 24 by Brn2bwild