Yellowjackets
★★★★
Paramount+
It’s been a long wait for Yellowjackets fans – of which there are many and dedicated – after the Hollywood writers’ strike delayed production on the hit show’s third season. But the wait is finally over, and the action immediately picks up after season 2’s insanely dramatic ending, back in the wilderness in the 1990s, presumably after the girls’ cabin burnt to the ground in mysterious circumstances.
The Yellowjackets survivors in their new settlement in season 3.Credit: Paramount+
After surviving the depths of the Canadian winter, the remaining girls and Travis (Kevin Alves) – minus Coach Scott (Steven Krueger), whom they believe set the cabin alight with the team locked inside – have created an almost idyllic settlement, replete with impressive wooden huts, and a steady food source that doesn’t include the bodies of their dead teammates.
Akilah (Nia Sondaya) has begun farming ducks, and the survivors are regularly hunting other food using traps and snares. But it’s not all Instagram-worthy homesteading, as Shauna (Sophie Nelisse) is still deeply troubled (more so than most of the girls), and presumably not thrilled at last season’s anointing of Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) as the group’s new leader.
Lottie (Courtney Eaton), meanwhile, remains convinced of the wilderness’s power, roping in poor Travis as a conduit between her and its “messages”, cajoling him into taking far too many mushrooms for anyone, much less a traumatised teenager whose brother’s corpse was recently devoured. If you’re reading this review and have not yet watched the series, apologies, but after two seasons of this bonkers, gory and utterly compelling tale, a spot of al fresco cannibalism is nothing.
Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), with husband Jeff (Warren Kole), is Yellowjackets’ most complex character.Credit: Paramount+
Following a New Jersey high school girls’ soccer team whose plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness in 1996, Yellowjackets follows both the teenagers – who could be stranded with a malevolent supernatural entity – for almost two years, flipping between then and 2021, where, as adults they are all still grappling with the fallout of their ordeal. Both timelines, thanks to incredible acting and spot-on casting, are gripping; the non-linear storytelling rarely jars.
In the 21st century, Natalie (Juliette Lewis) has left us (Lewis only signed on for two seasons) after that insane ending to season 2; Misty (a standout by an unrecognisable Christina Ricci) is suffering from serious guilt, which affects her relationship with Walter (Elijah Wood in top kooky form); and Shauna (the always brilliant Melanie Lynskey as the series’ most complex character) and Jeff (Warren Kole) are also struggling, especially with the guilt of how much their daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins) has become involved with, well, everything.
