Let’s review the plot of “Yellowjackets” season 2, episodes 1-6. Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) is dealing with the aftermath of Adam’s murder and it’s starting to affect her family. Taissa (Tawny Cypress) is struggling with her mental health/dark vision and this eventually leads her back to Van (Lauren Ambrose). After being kidnapped, Natalie hangs out in a self-care compound run by her old “friend” Lottie (Simone Kessell). Misty, the citizen detective she is, investigates Natalie’s disappearance along with Walter (Elijah Wood).
Each woman not only has her own backstory, but also their own supporting cast. That’s not to say that the supporting cast is bad — I’ve always preferred Shauna and her goofy but kind husband Jeff (Warren Kole). However, this results in a less cohesive series—none of the stories prevails over the others and so the episodes blend together. The reason “Yellowjackets” season 2 took a while to start is that I couldn’t pinpoint its destination.
Thankfully, episode 6 ended with all the adult survivors reunited at Lottie’s estate and the season settled down; Episodes 7, 8, 9 are the strongest of this batch. There’s only one story to follow and those spooky fun character interactions are back. My personal favorite, episode 8 “It Chooses,” even talks about the Yellowjackets catching up on what happened in the corners of the story. Instead of just explaining, this was like a climax and the threads finally knit together.
When “Yellowjackets” writers’ room gathers to map out part 3, I hope they keep their pieces closer together on the board. This will not only give their main cast more opportunities to portray each other as we all know they can, but it will also lead to a more condensed, more satisfying story.
“Yellowjackets” is streaming on Paramount+ and Showtime.
