“Yellowjackets” – Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2

The most thrillingly amazing series is back on TV. “Yellowjackets” season three has premiered its first two episodes on Paramount+, and fans are already hooked.

“Yellowjackets” follows the story of a 1996 high school soccer team that is heading to nationals when their plane suddenly crashes in the deep Canadian wilderness, where they are then stranded for 19 months.

The gruesome show tells the story of how the girls’ survival instincts turn into truly disturbing actions while following along with the survivors’ adult counterparts 25 years later, as they continue to try to live normal lives.

Season three brings the audience further into the girls’ time in the wilderness and showcases the aftermath of some heightened situations that happened in the adult timeline.

This post contains spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2 of “Yellowjackets.”

Episode 1 – “It Girl”

Season two of “Yellowjackets” left the audience in utter disbelief, seeing the cabin that the girls had been living in for months suddenly engulfed in flames.

Season three presents a time jump. The first winter is finally over, and the girls are living in huts made of brush and branches after the fall of their structurally sound shelter.

Though most of the girls are getting along, there is still animosity between teen Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) and the rest of the team. Shauna is being the overdramatic downer she always is, but who can blame her?

Teen Van (Liv Hewson) begins telling the story of the girls’ “adventures” in the woods. Meanwhile, Shauna is mocking their storytime by writing “Once upon a time, a bunch of teenage girls got stranded in the wilderness and they went completely f—ing nuts” in her journal.

Way to tell it like it is, Shauna.

In the adults’ timeline, the remaining crash survivors are navigating the aftermath of adult Natalie (Juliette Lewis) dying in season two.

Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Taissa (Tawny Cypress) and Van (Lauren Ambrose) attend Nat’s funeral, but Misty (Christina Ricci) is missing.

The adult timeline follows Van and Taissa reigniting their teenage romance, something fans have been begging for since Van was revealed as a survivor in season two. It also follows Misty and her coping mechanisms after the loss of her good friend.

Back in the wilderness, viewers get a glimpse of Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) who is somehow still alive after the cabin fire, though the girls think otherwise, and see that Mari (Alexa Barajas) has run away after fighting with Shauna.

Episode one ends in what is assumed to be a prayer circle, where the girls are thanking the wilderness and welcoming their passed teammates to watch over them as they continue to survive.

The first episode of this season showed the truth behind a lot of scenes that were part of the season three trailer, contextually misdirecting viewers as these writers do best.

The misdirects and unclear moments throughout the entirety of “Yellowjackets” have always been top-tier. Fans theorize over so many aspects of the series due to the writers’ blurred line between supernatural elements and simple human insanity.

Episode one was a perfect taste of what's to come this season, just barely scratching the surface of madness.

Rating: 4/5

Episode 2 – “Dislocation”

Episode two begins with the deafening screams of Mari in a deep pit, who has been caught in someone’s trap.

Viewers erupted in chatter online due to the parallels between this pit and the pit seen in the series premiere that has been heavily talked about throughout the show’s span. Once again, if there’s one thing these writers will do, it’s lead their audience astray.

The other girls are at camp talking about going on a search to find Mari. Teen Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) encourages Shauna to join them, but she refuses.

As Misty (Samantha Hanratty) and Natalie go looking for Mari, Natalie spots what seems to be an animal trap set by someone other than the girls, what this alludes to is out of reach. If Natalie knew Coach Ben was alive, why would she keep it a secret?

The storyline in the woods has been showing a lot of young Lottie (Courtney Eaton) and Travis (Kevin Arves), so it will be riveting to see how their relationship blossoms and changes throughout season three.

In the present day, Lottie (Simone Kessell) has shown up at Shauna’s house looking for a place to stay, following her release from psychiatric hold.

Shauna’s daughter, Callie (Sarah Desjardins), is the one who convinces her parents to let Lottie stay, despite her involvement with the trauma that occurred on the night of Nat’s death.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree with Shauna and Callie, and it’s very interesting to watch their dynamic play out.

Shauna enlists Misty to “babysit” Lottie and keep her away from Callie while she joins her husband Jeff (Warren Kole) at a work dinner. Callie is, of course, one step ahead of her mother and is able to get Lottie to open up to her.

Back in Coach Ben’s shelter, which is literally just a cave, he gives Mari some hot chocolate from the supply crate he found. Viewers then hear Coach in the corner of his cave arguing with someone unknown, which sets up the first cliffhanger of the season.

The episode ends with back-and-forth shots of adult Shauna and teen Shauna, setting up a new narrative in the 1996 timeline that involves one of the lesser-known characters, Melissa (Jenna Burgess), leaving the audience with yet another cliffhanger.

As always, the “Yellowjackets” soundtrack is calculated to perfection and adds just the right amount of eeriness to the show. Another aspect of the series that is undoubtedly impressive is the writers’ ability to blend comedic moments with a show that is usually quite vile and horrific.

It’s not often that a show like this will have viewers laughing one minute, and hiding under their blanket the next.

Viewers will have to tune back in next week for episode four, but it is beyond question that “Yellowjackets” season three will be a good one.

Rating: 5/5

Sarah Gavlak is a third-year majoring in telecommunications. To contact her, please email sng5393@psu.edu.