Yellowjackets: It Girl

February 15, 2025 10:13 AM - Season 3, Episode 1

Summer inspires the Yellowjackets to ditch soccer for a more contact-intensive sport and revive an old pagan tradition. In the present, a cringe-worthy funeral flows organically into a bar therapy session. Season premiere.
posted by porpoise (10 comments total)

I mean, I enjoyed this, but I've basically given up on this show living up to its initial promise. We're still teasing the idea that something supernatural might be going on here three years in, where a show like this should probably be setting up how it's going to wrap up.

On the other hand...

It is intriguing the '90s Yellowjackets (I no longer remember if this is 1997 or 1998; I think less than a year has elapsed; shades of Better Call Saul, the youngest of the Yellowjackets now looks about 28) are evidently just living this life to win it. With clear skies and rabbits in the field, there seems to be no real reason for them not to have resumed a search for the way out of the wild, and NO reason to be eating folks. They are choosing this now.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 12:53 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]

There were a couple lines of dialogue that struck me as too modern - did teenagers (especially non-gamers/nerds) really say “for the win” in 1997? I was in high school about the same time and don’t remember it until much later. “Workshopping” as a verb also stuck out as feeling very current, but I could be off about that.
posted by skycrashesdown at 1:37 PM on February 15

I can't believe that I had never noticed before but all of them of have perfectly shaved legs out in the wilderness.
posted by porpoise at 4:20 PM on February 15 [2 favorites]

‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Two-Part Premiere Review: I Don’t Like Any Of These People Anymore [forbes]
posted by porpoise at 3:56 AM on February 16 [1 favorite]

How does anyone see Lottie and not immediately try to cave her head in with a stone at this point? "Yeah you definitely organized a bunch of people to try and murder me last week, but sure we can hang out. No remorse for your actions, you'll definitely do it again to me or someone I know? cool cool cool, gimme more mushroom tea and hang around with my daughter."
posted by FatherDagon at 9:21 AM on February 16 [1 favorite]

wow that Forbes article totally captured what I haven't been able to articulate about why this show is losing me... I'll probably keep watching out of curiosity but yeah, they really lost the s1 groove
posted by kokaku at 5:39 PM on February 16

I think the only one of the team that I don't think is a fundamentally awful person is Van and I'm sure we'll find out something shortly. Her worst sin that I can recall was keeping her cancer diagnosis secret from Tai.

The rest? Holy moly are they just danger noodles.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:02 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]

I do find it hard with Lottie gone. She and Van were the most sympathetic, to me.

However, moral judgments aside, I've always found Shauna the most compeliing. Have we seen any of her backstory involving parents? All I can remember is her living in that attic room, having to hide her pregnancy even before they all fly off for the finals, and also hiding her admission to Brown. She may just be secretive by nature but i suspect there is something in her upbringing that made her feel like she was all on her own and could not risk showing her true self. When she does show something, it's a weird revelation like, "You know, I never even liked soccer." I find her very watchable in that way.
posted by BibiRose at 6:30 AM on February 18

You know what, I said Lottie above when I actually meant Natalie.
posted by BibiRose at 6:24 AM on February 19

I love adult Shauna, she's probably my favorite TV character of the past few years.
Her glee at watching her daughter dumping entrails over some mean girls was relatable.
posted by signal at 7:42 AM on March 22