When Lottie Matthews (Simone Kessell) directs our attention to something, it's best to pay attention — lest a gift from "the wilderness" go unclaimed.
In "Yellowjackets," for as abstract and up for interpretation as it can often seem, everything we see and hear has a purpose; with dialogue, setting, costuming, framing and even flashes of static worked into the mix to advance the story and get us closer to our goal of understanding just what the hell is going on here.
Clues can be found around every turn, delivered via a character's hallucination that jolts them into an uncovered recollection or — such as the case in this season's seventh episode — hidden in plain sight on the wall of Sunshine Honey's Wellness Community at Camp Green Pine.
Hello, wanderer. Do you know where you are?
Yeah, I'm not 100% on that either. Thankfully, we were blessed with a lifeline to call for some answers. And if not answers, at least some guidance in asking better questions.
After Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Taissa (Tawny Cypress) and Van (Lauren Ambrose) settle in a bit after joining Natalie (Juliette Lewis) and Misty (Christina Ricci) at the "intentional community," they're shown a phone number on the wall and are told by Lottie to give that number to whoever they feel may need it before handing over their cell phones for the remainder of their time there. Something about the length of time the shot lingers on this number tells me that it's important, so I texted it, and I highly suggest that you do the same, if you haven't already.
(L-R): Christina Ricci as Misty and Melanie Lynskey as Shauna (Colin Bentley/SHOWTIME)After punching in the number (607-478-1033), I received a return text reading, "You've reached a landline. Please call us instead," along with a link to add myself to the community via a form asking for my name and address, which I supplied because I, at all times, welcome strange things into my life. Once that step was completed, I called the number and heard a pre-recorded message that I've since listened to roughly 100 times. I won't spoil it for you, because you really should hear it for yourself, but I'll summarize: Cannibalism is officially the least interesting part about this show, and everything we thought we knew about what's been happening and where things are headed is likely very wrong.
"Don't be afraid to say the words that move the winds," the message says in its closing.
OK, here are my words, which I said out loud in an empty room the first time I called the number, "Whatttttttt is happppppeninggggggg?"
*Static sounds*
*Ominous whispers*
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
We've been mostly wondering about the "what" and "who," but now I feel a push for the viewer to lean more towards the "when" and "where."
Up until, oh, about two episodes ago, the main question most viewers have been mulling over is whether or not the things we've seen from Season 1 until now are practical (trauma induced, etc.) or supernatural (Antler Queens, haunted French, special powers, etc). We've been mostly wondering about the "what" and "who," but now I feel a push for the viewer to lean more towards the "when" and "where."
The weirdness is ramping up, and certain little details are emerging that weren't (at least for me) noticeable in earlier episodes. In the '90s timeline, Lottie's (Courtney Eaton) eye twitches every so often, like she's glitching out. Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) is having static-y hallucinations of life with his boyfriend Paul (François Arnaud) that are now merging with the reality that we've been following him in, yet we can no longer be sure if that reality is the only reality. And In a release of pent-up rage and sadness, Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) beats the ever lovin' s**t out of Lottie and, afterwards, sticks her bloody knuckles in the snow outside. There seems to be an implied shift in power or change in "roles" in this moment. Like the record is flipping from Side A to Side B.
Oh, now feel it coming back again
Like a rolling thunder chasing the wind
Forces pulling from the center of the Earth again
I can feel it"Lightning Crashes" by LIVE (1994)
Simone Kessell as Lottie (Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME)In the '90s wilderness, Ben looks out the cabin window and hears a phone ring (there is no phone) and, behind him, sees Paul (there is no Paul) go to answer it.
"But he isn't ready," Paul is heard saying to whoever's on the other end of the line.
Hanging up, he asks Ben to sit down and when he refuses, sits down himself.
"I have to go," he says. "Where do you think you are, Ben? You had to have known you couldn't stay here forever. This was never meant to be your hiding place."
Making his way out the cabin door, Paul then tearfully tells his boyfriend, "I love you. We all love you, Ben."
Seeing him exit, Ben screams out his name, causing Van and Tai to turn towards him in alarm. A beatific expression washes over his face, like he understands what Paul was talking about and now has a plan. For a moment, that plan seems like it will involve throwing himself off of a cliff after he uses a razor from his luggage to shave his face baby smooth. But Misty (Samantha Hanratty), always on hand in moments of need, intervenes with some waterworks and threats of sullying his name as a gay and/or chronic impregnator of teen girls.
If Ben hears that same nonexistent phone ring in the cabin again but, this time, answers it himself, will he be "ready"?
(L-R): Lauren Ambrose as Van and Tawny Cypress as Taissa (Colin Bentley/SHOWTIME)In recent past episodes, there's been a fair amount of talk of people not being where they're supposed to be, and of "reality" not being entirely concrete.
"This isn't where we're supposed to be," Tai told Van in Episode 5 after going into a fugue state and trying to kiss her.
There's a persistent questioning in my mind now if any of the adult Yellowjackets are really alive, or if what we're seeing in their timeline is their in-limbo spirits struggling to grapple with the violent post-crash events and the "what could have beens" of the adult lives they never got to live.
Yes, I know how this sounds. This from a person who's been very staunchly, "Lottie's full of crap!" until now. I love a show that keeps me on my toes and second-guessing myself. Give it up to the writers. (Seriously, pay writers a fair wage!)
In this episode, flashing back to the '90s timeline, the tables are turned and we see Van (Liv Hewson) grappling with a similar issue as adult Tai when she questions why she's survived so many unsurvivable things. She used to think she had some sort of purpose in this, but now she's not seeing it. She doesn't know "why" she's supposed to be there.
Flip-flopping back to the present, we learn that Van has terminal cancer and only has months to live. As the ladies reconvene post-therapy sessions consisting of musical sensory depravation tank experiences and baby goat wrangling (BRUCE!), they dance around a campfire making animal noises, unable to remember much from their shared traumatic past at all.
But Lottie seems to remember quite a lot, namely that the "God" of the wilderness has been starving for attention for some time.
In my last recap I wondered if Callie (Sarah Desjardins) would be sacrificed in exchange for the return of something they've all been wanting (release from purgatory? A return to their post-crash youth?) But now, since Van is going to die anyway, I wonder if it will be her.
"Does a hunt that has no violence feed anyone?" Lottie's (not really there) therapist turned Antler Queen asks.
For now, at least Bruce is safe, which will have to be enough for us to catch our breath until Episode 8, in which Shauna (or maybe Misty, since she ratted herself out to Walter) will have to answer for the newly discovered corpse of Adam (Peter Gadiot). Misty, didn't you already learn a big lesson about telling people your secrets?
QUICK BITES:
- Um, where's Crystal's corpse? Did Javi's "friend" take it?
- "Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" – Misty, when Shauna says her hobby is learning how to be the perfect serial killer.
- "What is the intention, exactly?" – Van, after being intro'd to the "intentional community."
- "EEEEEEEEE" – Adult Natalie, after being told it was snowing outside
- This episode made better use of Nirvana's "Something in the Way" than "Batman." Prove me wrong.
- I worry about Shauna burying her dead baby under a pile of rocks. Something, or someone, is gonna get after that baby.
- I could have done without the musical number. Sorry, Caligula (John Cameron Mitchell).
- Lottie says the wilderness doesn't "trade or haggle," but it seems like it kind of does? Isn't a sacrifice or an offering a "trade"?
- "In an ecstatic state, the body can't hold memory that well." Heard.
- Poor teen Lottie's bloody face. And ribs. And everything.
Shares