Showdowns, reunions, elections and… bears capped off a wonderful first season of Showtime’s Yellowjackets.

The present a couple of highschool ladies soccer workforce stranded within the harsh wilderness promised Lord of the Flies, however with durations, difficult relationships and extra clever feminine leaders. Creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson knew the fireplace needed to burn slowly, in order that when the women lastly neglect all remnants of who they as soon as have been — after they get an urge for food for human flesh — it is as plausible, impactful and disturbing as could be.

Episode 10 unleashes a few of that hell. We get solutions. Not all of them — the season 1 finale poses a ton extra questions — however not less than we discover out (a few of) Jackie’s destiny. As soon as workforce captain of the Wiskayok Yellowjackets, as soon as greatest good friend of Shauna, Jackie is the one essential character who is not round within the current timeline. How does she die? Is she killed within the opening chase scene that every little thing appears to hinge on?

Apparently, no. After lastly confronting Shauna about sleeping together with her boyfriend Jeff behind her again — to not point out choosing aside the cliches of their cool woman and sidekick greatest good friend dynamic — Jackie angrily spends the evening outdoors the cabin. Simply earlier than tragically freezing to dying through the sudden first snowfall of winter (who else was pleasantly stunned Jackie did not find yourself being brutally stabbed by anybody?), Jackie has a imaginative and prescient, one which was presaged by Van’s related expertise within the limbo between life and dying. Jackie desires herself and Shauna as greatest pals as soon as once more, and the remainder of the Yellowjackets workforce, together with Laura Lee, who died in a airplane explosion two episodes in the past, welcome her again into the heat with open arms.

Solely, there’s another determine ready within the nook. A shadowy man, with a not so refined demonic vibe. “So glad you are becoming a member of us,” he intones. “We have been ready for you.”

So… is Jackie actually gone for good? I am guessing the reply is a tenuous no. Perhaps all of the useless Yellowjackets are set to return due to supernatural forces, which the writers correctly saved at bay for almost all of season 1. Is the person the identical one that died within the cabin? Is that this “in between” place, as Van describes it, the idea of a cult? One related to the group of people that kidnap Natalie simply earlier than she sadly makes an attempt suicide?

Talking of the supernatural — it seems Taissa, the logical one, the one who all the time had a proof for Lottie’s desires and omens, has been conserving a darkish secret within the basement all alongside. Her spouse, Simone, stumbles throughout a blood spatter, after which she lays large eyes on Taissa’s secret shrine to, presumably, “the traditional gods of the sky and the grime,” to make use of Lottie’s phrases. The household canine and his coronary heart are sacrificed, it appears, to make sure Taissa wins her election. We must always have seen it coming. She was all the time obsessive about successful, regardless of the means. RIP Allie’s damaged leg.

One other large revelation: Lottie Matthews continues to be alive? Natalia receives a telephone name simply earlier than she’s kidnapped by the mysterious symbol-wearing group (are they different survivors of the Rockies?). She blackmailed financial institution employee Suzie into trying into who took the cash out of Travis’ checking account simply earlier than he was discovered useless from hanging. The reply is somebody named Lottie Matthews. Can we safely say she’s The Antler Queen at this level?

Most likely not, however all indicators are pointing to Lottie. Her visions of a deer shedding its antlers. The scene the place she wakes up in the course of the evening and stands up in entrance of antlers mounted to the cabin wall, giving her an antler crown. Her crown-esque headgear for the wilderness homecoming. Her bear coronary heart sacrifice out within the snow. By the best way, “Versez le sang, mes beaux amis,” interprets as, “Shed blood, my stunning pals.” Only a few indicators, there. That being stated, there is a idea that, ultimately, it is Lottie who’s killed and eaten within the opening scene.

Extra free ends: Did Travis, coach Martinez’s eldest son and Natalie’s greatest good friend, actually commit suicide? Or was he murdered? Why can Lottie stare down bears till they give up and let her stab them within the head? Does faux journalist Jessica Roberts die from smoking Misty’s tampered-with cigarettes? Who’s the person with no eyes haunting Taissa? When will we uncover what the image means?

Not that it actually issues given how entertaining Yellowjackets is, nevertheless it took some time for me to determine what Yellowjackets is de facto about. The story goes, creators Lyle and Nickerson have been requested, in early improvement, what they have been attempting to say with the present. The 2 totally different timelines did not assist with clearing up the general message. Within the current, it appears destruction and trauma are key themes. However, general, as we see within the 1996 timeline, the dismantling of hierarchy amongst teenage ladies is the reply.

With a deliberate, measured unraveling of the women’ relationships with one another and grasp of actuality, Yellowjackets has positively delivered on that promise. It introduced among the greatest TV of 2021 and into the start of 2022. The deliberate five-season collection has been renewed for a second season, promising extra solutions and extra enthralling storytelling to come back. Reward be, Yellowjackets. Reward be.

Deeper into the occult

Extra stray observations…

• What occurred to poor Javi, Coach Martinez’s youngest son?
• RIP Coach Scott’s amputated leg.
• Perhaps Lottie is not alive, however a stunning cult has sprung up in her identify.
• Who’s nonetheless haunted by Jackie’s horribly visceral dying? How usually can we see younger ladies brutally torn aside by life like forces of nature on display? It is deeply unsettling.
• Misty appears to be one in every of Lottie’s different sidekicks, subsequent to Van, within the wilderness. Perhaps Misty continues to be involved with Lottie within the current? She’s been a double agent all alongside? That is so Misty…
• A proof for the weird-acting bear: It ate the leftover shrooms.