Yellowjackets: Two Truths and a Lie
April 21, 2023 5:08 PM - Season 2, Episode 5 - Subscribe
Rise & shine and don’t forget your booties because it’s coooold out there.
Wouldn't it be cool if all along, all the way back to crash, there's been a non-speaking teammate occasionally in the background of scenes and if you go back and look, has never been shown interacting with anyone?
Hey, let's have someone every day walk up to a snow and icy cliff's edge to dump a bucket, I'm sure that's safe.
That dude seems a bit overconfident that Misty won't push him off a cliff. In my experience, telling a serial killer that you know they're a serial killer while you're on a long drive in the middle of nowhere is an oopsie.
I like how having an oxycodone prescription bottle in your name in the bathroom gets the Ominous Music of Doom.
Both teen and adult Vans are pretty great.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:18 PM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
Hey, let's have someone every day walk up to a snow and icy cliff's edge to dump a bucket, I'm sure that's safe.
That dude seems a bit overconfident that Misty won't push him off a cliff. In my experience, telling a serial killer that you know they're a serial killer while you're on a long drive in the middle of nowhere is an oopsie.
I like how having an oxycodone prescription bottle in your name in the bathroom gets the Ominous Music of Doom.
Both teen and adult Vans are pretty great.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:18 PM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
*I don't know the dosage of Oxycodone that Van just took; when I was on Oxy, they just gave me a jug of it and trusted me not to go buckwild. (This is a dangerous proposition, because the more Oxy you take, the more Oxy you feel okay taking.) However, if she took...um...a good size dose of it, she's not going anywhere, Evil Tai. Sorry.
*The "Mother" music cue made me bust out laughing. Oh, Danzig. Never not funny. I realize he's from the same era as the '90s music we've heard this far, but it's hard for me to imagine which Yellowjacket would be a Danzig fan. I would have said Van if not for the 4 Non-Blondes cut.
*"I don't think we've been asking the right questions about the moon landing."
*Poor Misty.
*Nat's vision is...huh. I feel very confident this show would not stoop to a "they were dead all along" storyline (in no small part because this would make zero sense), but I do wonder if Nat is glimpsing alternate timelines. It seems likely that this is the same timeline that the Coach saw, the one where he didn't take the flight and was happily situated with his partner when the plane went missing.
*The cops in whatever tiny town the Yellowjackets are from are truly awful and stupid, and "Jay" is frankly a disgusting fucking person. I feel like Shauna might get to escape justice simply because his stalking Callie is so objectively wrong. Kevyn should probably also not be a cop. Maybe he could open a goth record store next to Van's VHS shop.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:40 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
*The "Mother" music cue made me bust out laughing. Oh, Danzig. Never not funny. I realize he's from the same era as the '90s music we've heard this far, but it's hard for me to imagine which Yellowjacket would be a Danzig fan. I would have said Van if not for the 4 Non-Blondes cut.
*"I don't think we've been asking the right questions about the moon landing."
*Poor Misty.
*Nat's vision is...huh. I feel very confident this show would not stoop to a "they were dead all along" storyline (in no small part because this would make zero sense), but I do wonder if Nat is glimpsing alternate timelines. It seems likely that this is the same timeline that the Coach saw, the one where he didn't take the flight and was happily situated with his partner when the plane went missing.
*The cops in whatever tiny town the Yellowjackets are from are truly awful and stupid, and "Jay" is frankly a disgusting fucking person. I feel like Shauna might get to escape justice simply because his stalking Callie is so objectively wrong. Kevyn should probably also not be a cop. Maybe he could open a goth record store next to Van's VHS shop.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:40 PM on April 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
You and your Hardy boy.
posted by snofoam at 7:12 PM on April 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 7:12 PM on April 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
My take on the coach's "alternate timeline" visions is that it's not an actual alternate timeline, but a fantasy he's concocted where he never got on the plane in the first place. Notice before each dip into those scenes that there's kind of a "switching TV channels" (analog TV, that is) effect. I think it's merely escapism, not a different timeline.
As for Natalie's vision, I'm not sure it's the same deal as with the coach. Haven't quite figured that one out.
I loved Misty hastily turning off the radio playing "Stayin' Alive," and then the flashback to find out why.
Shauna's daughter seems plausibly older than a high schooler, but we got the reminder that she's definitely in high school.
posted by emelenjr at 10:35 AM on April 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
As for Natalie's vision, I'm not sure it's the same deal as with the coach. Haven't quite figured that one out.
I loved Misty hastily turning off the radio playing "Stayin' Alive," and then the flashback to find out why.
Shauna's daughter seems plausibly older than a high schooler, but we got the reminder that she's definitely in high school.
posted by emelenjr at 10:35 AM on April 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
I assume nat's vision is at least partically metaphor for "part of us died out there, and what we brought back includes the darkness that overcame us" and I don't know how else it would be possible to read it given how insistently the show's coy about being about spooky supernatural shit vs. coping with trauma
I said this to my wife after we watched the last episode, and I still feel it here: this show is (depending on wherever it ultimately, cohesively lands plot-wise) either being sloppy and irritatingly vague about its supernatural storytelling, or else it's being really shitty and irresponsible about its mental-health-trauma storytelling
characters like kidLottie are near-incoherent to me because the show isn't willing to articulate their interiority past a certain point, because the vagary is part of the game it's playing. but, like, when Lottie refers to the unborn child as a "he" -- why does she think this? we haven't seen a vision where a gender is assigned to the child, have we? so if not, there are presumably other and at least somewhat concrete things she believes/knows about what's going on, but the show won't tell us because it's less invested in making her feel like a character than in continuing to play the story as "is she having visions or is she just craaaazy?"
there are parts of this show I really like -- Shauna's modern-day storyline is good at the moment as it leans into black-comedy farce -- but its overall arcs and structures are unreasonably frustrating and the edges of the knife it's dancing on do damage to each other the longer it stretches things out.
(sorry I don't want to throw a fit where others are enjoying the show, it's just been reaching something of a breaking point for me. if the show hasn't made some hard, decisive moves before season's end, I'm probably dropping this show off my radar before season 3 comes around.)
posted by Kybard at 1:02 PM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
I said this to my wife after we watched the last episode, and I still feel it here: this show is (depending on wherever it ultimately, cohesively lands plot-wise) either being sloppy and irritatingly vague about its supernatural storytelling, or else it's being really shitty and irresponsible about its mental-health-trauma storytelling
characters like kidLottie are near-incoherent to me because the show isn't willing to articulate their interiority past a certain point, because the vagary is part of the game it's playing. but, like, when Lottie refers to the unborn child as a "he" -- why does she think this? we haven't seen a vision where a gender is assigned to the child, have we? so if not, there are presumably other and at least somewhat concrete things she believes/knows about what's going on, but the show won't tell us because it's less invested in making her feel like a character than in continuing to play the story as "is she having visions or is she just craaaazy?"
there are parts of this show I really like -- Shauna's modern-day storyline is good at the moment as it leans into black-comedy farce -- but its overall arcs and structures are unreasonably frustrating and the edges of the knife it's dancing on do damage to each other the longer it stretches things out.
(sorry I don't want to throw a fit where others are enjoying the show, it's just been reaching something of a breaking point for me. if the show hasn't made some hard, decisive moves before season's end, I'm probably dropping this show off my radar before season 3 comes around.)
posted by Kybard at 1:02 PM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
> characters like kidLottie are near-incoherent to me because the show isn't willing to articulate their interiority past a certain point, because the vagary is part of the game it's playing. but, like, when Lottie refers to the unborn child as a "he" -- why does she think this? we haven't seen a vision where a gender is assigned to the child, have we?
This is just incredibly, incredibly common, though. People still do it all the time, projecting their ideas about being able to guess the sex of the baby based on how it's riding, etc. And look, these girls (like me) are GenXers and were barely old enough for amniocentesis to be routine--our grandmas were waving pendants over our mom's bellies or otherwise using folk wisdom to divine stalwart assumptions about the sex of the baby. (Turns out I'm not a boy, whoops, Busia.)
posted by desuetude at 10:18 PM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
This is just incredibly, incredibly common, though. People still do it all the time, projecting their ideas about being able to guess the sex of the baby based on how it's riding, etc. And look, these girls (like me) are GenXers and were barely old enough for amniocentesis to be routine--our grandmas were waving pendants over our mom's bellies or otherwise using folk wisdom to divine stalwart assumptions about the sex of the baby. (Turns out I'm not a boy, whoops, Busia.)
posted by desuetude at 10:18 PM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
Incredibly petty take that I have to say out loud: Present-day Van is too femme.
(I love Lauren Ambrose's casting and the above petty observation will not overly affect my enjoyment of the show. I just wanted to represent some insidequeercrit here.)
posted by desuetude at 10:21 PM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
(I love Lauren Ambrose's casting and the above petty observation will not overly affect my enjoyment of the show. I just wanted to represent some insidequeercrit here.)
posted by desuetude at 10:21 PM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
If Misty had been a better friend she would have pointed out that “Kristen the Piston” is as good a nickname as “Crystal the Pistol” if not better.
But then, Misty not being a good friend is a big part of why everyone is in this mess.
Mother was an inspired song choice.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 8:47 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
But then, Misty not being a good friend is a big part of why everyone is in this mess.
Mother was an inspired song choice.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 8:47 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
I heartily laughed at the Mother music cue on the outro. Abfab.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:45 PM on April 24, 2023
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:45 PM on April 24, 2023
ugh the Showtime roku app stepped all over Mother with next week's preview. got like two seconds of it.
Angst in My Pants left me really really ready for Misty and the citizen/hobbit detective to bone or at least get up to some serious snugglebunnies. What would the show look like if they'd boned and then did the "I think you're a murderer but nbd" reveal?
But on second thought that would have been repeating the past's Misty / Crystal storyline with its intimacy-interrupted-by-dawning-awkward horror vibe.
still, I'm a fan, and I want my service.
it's hilarious that the hobbit detective accuses Misty of killing Adam. Misty has a trail of bodies going back thirty years but the killing she's accused of is somehow one that she didn't do.
Also I am totally here for how central Callie is to Shipman-Sadecki coverup conspiracy ... and anticipating the hyped duel of wits between her and the creepy detective.
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:24 PM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Angst in My Pants left me really really ready for Misty and the citizen/hobbit detective to bone or at least get up to some serious snugglebunnies. What would the show look like if they'd boned and then did the "I think you're a murderer but nbd" reveal?
But on second thought that would have been repeating the past's Misty / Crystal storyline with its intimacy-interrupted-by-dawning-awkward horror vibe.
still, I'm a fan, and I want my service.
it's hilarious that the hobbit detective accuses Misty of killing Adam. Misty has a trail of bodies going back thirty years but the killing she's accused of is somehow one that she didn't do.
Also I am totally here for how central Callie is to Shipman-Sadecki coverup conspiracy ... and anticipating the hyped duel of wits between her and the creepy detective.
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:24 PM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
Hey, let's have someone every day walk up to a snow and icy cliff's edge to dump a bucket, I'm sure that's safe.
Yeah, when she "confessed" that sometimes she doesn't dump it off the cliff, but just in the woods ALMOST at the cliff, I honestly found myself thinking, "Yes, because that's normal and smart and there's not fucking reason to throw it off a cliff; you just want it far enough from the cabin that it doesn't stink or cause issues with hygiene." I doubt they're throwing their dish water or food scraps (not that there would be many) off that cliff, which would be the bigger concern in terms of attracting animals.
I do also hate that this character sort of came out of nowhere, with someone even saying in an earlier episode, "Great, there are two of you now," as if they'd never seen or heard of this girl until that very day.
posted by asnider at 3:30 PM on April 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
Yeah, when she "confessed" that sometimes she doesn't dump it off the cliff, but just in the woods ALMOST at the cliff, I honestly found myself thinking, "Yes, because that's normal and smart and there's not fucking reason to throw it off a cliff; you just want it far enough from the cabin that it doesn't stink or cause issues with hygiene." I doubt they're throwing their dish water or food scraps (not that there would be many) off that cliff, which would be the bigger concern in terms of attracting animals.
I do also hate that this character sort of came out of nowhere, with someone even saying in an earlier episode, "Great, there are two of you now," as if they'd never seen or heard of this girl until that very day.
posted by asnider at 3:30 PM on April 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
(sorry I don't want to throw a fit where others are enjoying the show, it's just been reaching something of a breaking point for me. if the show hasn't made some hard, decisive moves before season's end, I'm probably dropping this show off my radar before season 3 comes around.)
I'm getting a little frustrated too, and for very similar reasons. And the needless improbabilities stacking up and the clumsiness with the added characters. Although it would take more than one slightly underwhelming season to make me bail entirely. I was just so enchanted by the first season and would hope for the possibility of that magic returning. Or, of course, this season could still improve.
posted by BibiRose at 8:30 AM on April 26, 2023
I'm getting a little frustrated too, and for very similar reasons. And the needless improbabilities stacking up and the clumsiness with the added characters. Although it would take more than one slightly underwhelming season to make me bail entirely. I was just so enchanted by the first season and would hope for the possibility of that magic returning. Or, of course, this season could still improve.
posted by BibiRose at 8:30 AM on April 26, 2023
Misty was definitely offended by the murder charge because she would've done a better job of it, right?
I'm starting to feel like Shauna is going to kill Saracusa, and I'm going to be on her side for it.
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:34 PM on April 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm starting to feel like Shauna is going to kill Saracusa, and I'm going to be on her side for it.
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:34 PM on April 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I also cracked up at "Mother" and my slightly younger partner didn't understand why. Glad to know I am not alone.
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:26 PM on April 29, 2023
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:26 PM on April 29, 2023
as if they'd never seen or heard of this girl until that very day
When she said, “When the plane crashed, I pretended that I ran out, but really I just lied.” I first interpreted she meant she actually died in the plane crash and was a Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense / Brad Pitt in Fight Club situation all along.
posted by Apocryphon at 7:05 PM on May 20, 2023
When she said, “When the plane crashed, I pretended that I ran out, but really I just lied.” I first interpreted she meant she actually died in the plane crash and was a Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense / Brad Pitt in Fight Club situation all along.
posted by Apocryphon at 7:05 PM on May 20, 2023
I keep thinking what if I were one of Lottie's ordinary cult members (excuse me, wellness center attendees) and then her weirdass friends start showing up? At that point I think I would totally bail. Like, time to go!
posted by inexorably_forward at 2:21 AM on August 13, 2023
posted by inexorably_forward at 2:21 AM on August 13, 2023
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posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:24 PM on April 21, 2023