Yellowjackets season two

When we last left the Yellowjacket football team at the end of the gripping first season, they had made shelter for themselves in a creepy cabin after their plane crashed in the middle of the woods. Tensions were beginning to run high between the group, which resulted in the accidental death of the team captain. In a parallel storyline set 25 years after the incident, the remaining survivors struggle with the fallout of their traumatic ordeal and become embroiled in another fiendish mystery involving blackmail and suspected murder. With plenty of unanswered questions left lingering after the season finale, there are still more secrets to be uncovered about what exactly happened to these women.

Although the first two episodes of the latest season aren’t going to give much away (however, they do answer a key question fans have been wondering about), Yellowjackets nevertheless remains as entertaining and gripping as before, as it continues to tell its disturbing and bizarre tale of survival and trauma.

One of the things that made the show so compelling was its use of non-linear storytelling. Not only did the two parallel timelines give viewers two engrossing plotlines to follow, but it was smartly deployed by showrunners Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson to explore how the characters have been affected by their time in the wilderness. The second season maintains this tightly written narrative structure, with the opening episodes examining how Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) dealt with the loss of her best friend, and how the experience shaped her present-day self (played by Melanie Lynskey).

Moreover, the overarching mystery only deepens with the introduction of the adult Lottie (Simone Kessell), whose survival was hinted at in the previous season, and her connection to previous events. An ensuing police investigation only further complicates matters, while Misty (Christina Ricci) discovers an intriguing new lead from her own sleuthing.

Though the show never enters full-on horror territory, a creeping sense of dread grows as the group’s food runs dangerously low, bringing them a step closer to the inevitable cannibalism that’s been dangling in front of audiences since the show’s opening scene. Overtones of angsty teen drama can lessen the severity of the situation at times, however, Yellowjackets never loses sight of the grander mysteries and themes that drive the script forward.

Andrew Murray

Yellowjackets season two is released on Paramount+ 24^th March 2023.

Watch the trailer for Yellowjackets season two here: