Somehow we are already onto the fourth episode of Yellowjackets. The second season has nine rather than ten episodes, which means that we are already around its midpoint, and we are not at all ready for the show to disappear again. This week’s episode, Old Wounds, pushed even further into the supernatural elements and continues to set up an exciting stage for the upcoming finale.
Old Wounds opened with Taissa. In the past, Tassia (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and girlfriend Van (Liv Hewson) have fully committed to their moonlight wanderings. With Taissa unconscious during the walks, Van is left to witness what the sleepwalking teen is hunting for. Each time Taissa awakens she is next to a tree that bears the mark of the weird symbol that is becoming ever more prominent. Van believes that this knack for finding the marking means something and urges Taissa to speak with Lottie. Taissa though is reluctant to bring attention to her ‘power’. In the present, Taissa (Tawny Cypress) comes to, at the wheel of her car. The gas tank is empty and it is clear that she has somehow been driving all night, but to where? The Yellowjackets file next to her alludes to a location, but it’s not until the end of the episode that her destination is confirmed.
After (briefly) witnessing her beloved bee hives destroyed at the end of Digestif, Lottie (Simone Kessell) is flustered. Until now the woman has been a calm oasis, imploring Natalie (Juliette Lewis) to accept her commune’s way of life. Her latest vision has rattled her however, and while Natalie is sent to market with commune member Lisa (xxx), Lottie checks in with a therapist. The scene presents the first real insight into who Lottie really is. On the surface she is a strong mother figure to those that stay with her, but as Lottie breaks down during the session, she reveals herself to be just as scared as those she looks after. The visions returning for the first time in decades terrify her and transport her back to her teenage fears. Her line that, “last time it became something different, that can’t happen again” is a delicious tease for what’s to come back in 1996.
Whilst Lottie is pouring her heart out, Natalie is bonding with Lisa. These two have come a long way since the season opener, which saw Natalie attack the younger woman with a fork. The two women are meant to be headed to the local town to sell some honey but they get side-tracked. Lisa wants to visit her estranged mother, something that she doesn’t usually get to do. Natalie supports the idea, but quickly finds herself face-to-face with a mirror version of her own toxic mother. As Lisa’s mother belittles her daughter’s simple request to take her pet fish with her, Natalie steps in to give the older woman a piece of her mind. The Natalie of the past is always fiercely protective of those around her, but this is the first real glimpse that this trait still exists inside the present Natalie. It’s a great sequence that ends with a wild liberation of the highly coveted goldfish.
Someone else experiencing the flourishes of new friendship is Misty (Christina Ricci). After finding a clue to Natalie’s whereabouts last episode, Misty is now on a road trip with fellow Citizen Detective, Walter (Elijah Wood). As they travel, Walter tries to connect with his companion, but Misty shuts him down. He then offers her a selection of show tunes to help pass the time. Misty incorrectly sees his collection as proof that he is a Yellowjackets stan, something that Walter vehemently denies. Later, the two converse over a diner breakfast and the audience is given the first real piece of information about Walter. Apparently he is a millionaire, having received a payout after somehow surviving a ‘torrent’ of bricks falling on him. Quite how true this statement is is unclear, the script purposefully keeping his character enigmatic to allow the viewer to remain a tad suspicious like Misty.
During breakfast the pair get another lead, the group they seek are due to attend the local market, but with Natalie busy rescuing fish, they are a no show. Misty speaks with another seller at the market who points them in the direction of Lottie’s compound. It’s another trek away and so Walter suggests a hotel. This then leads to a lovely split-screen sequence that shows just how similar Walter and Misty are as the pair both sweep their rooms for electronic bugs, follow a dedicated skin care routine, and get to sleep with the aid of animal noise. Were this to be anything other than Yellowjackets, this would be a scene straight out of a rom-com and we at THN are certainly shipping the twosome.
What makes the scenes between Walter and Misty so special is the chemistry of Wood and Ricci. As someone that grew up with both on the television, there’s something magical about getting to experience these two former child stars sharing the screen. Both have traversed the pitfalls of growing up in the spotlight, maintaining interesting careers right the way through. To see each pick a project as exciting as Yellowjackets proves that neither is going anywhere anytime soon. In terms of the story itself, it’s great to see Misty finally have the upper hand in a friendship. For once she is placed into the dominant side of the relationship and it’s compelling to see her, not only in control, but also appreciated and admired.
In the past, the teens are horrified to discover that someone has been stealing from the bear meat stash. Mari (Alexa Barajas) is quick to accuse Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) who snaps that he is neither nimble nor stealth enough for such a task. He also asks what they would do if it were him – would they eat him? It’s his first admission to the group that he is really not okay with what happened. Mari’s fury then turns to Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) who gets blamed due to her reluctance to participate in Lottie’s pre-hunt rituals. Previously only glimpsed on the periphery, Mari is coming into focus a lot more this season and she’s certainly an early disciple of Lottie’s.
Battle lines begin to form with Ben, Natalie, Shauna, and Taissa being the only members of the group to not be seduced by Lottie’s strange beliefs. As tempers fray, a challenge is thrown down: to prove Lottie’s power, she and Natalie will venture into the wilderness separately, and the first to bring back food will be crowned as the victor. These two girls have slowly been positioned as enemies so far in this second series. Travis (Kevin Alves) has been a big factor in this distance building, with Natalie jealous of Lottie’s connection to him. Now the pair go head-to-head; could this be the end of the pair’s relationship once and for all?
During all of the past bickering, Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) has been keeping to herself. This is mirrored with her present self (Melanie Lynsky) as she continues to try and deal with her family issues. Husband Jeff (Warren Kole) isn’t buying her story that their previously stolen car is back home after a tow company found it, but it is daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins) that is really causing problems. Realising that Callie has been lying about sleeping over at her best friends, Shauna begins investigating her daughter’s bedroom for clues. There she finds the charred remains of Adam’s ID and realises that Callie is on to her. Placed in a difficult situation, Shauna opts for honesty, tracking down Callie and being open with her about Adam’s fate. It’s a bold move; can a family stay together with such an explosive secret hiding in their closet?
Back in 1996, Mari complains of hearing a dripping noise. No one else seems to hear it, but Akilah (Nia Sondaya) agrees to help find its source. Akilah instead uncovers a mouse in the pantry and quickly scoops it into her pocket. The creature is sure to be Akilah’s undoing, and with Mari almost rumbling her discovery already, this secret can’t last for long. Could her secret being exposed lead to Akilah being the next one on the dinner plate? Van and Taissa are upstairs in the cabin, logging the newest location of a marked tree. As they add it to the map, they realise the pattern is forming a very familiar shape – that’s right, the symbol is back again. With one point left to connect, the two set out to see what is waiting there.
Outside the cabin, Lottie and Natalie are each on their quest to provide for the group. Natalie appears to be an early winner after finding a moose trapped under a sheet of ice. She quickly races back to the cabin for reinforcements, something that is viewed as cheating by designated Lottie cheerleader Mari, but the others are more concerned about food than settling any arguments. Their efforts though are in vain, as they lose their purchase on the animal and it sinks to the bottom of the lake. It’s devastating to watch, conjuring up a similar heartache to that in The Never Ending Story, but for very different reasons.
Lottie meanwhile, returns to the tree stump from Doomcoming, tracing the symbol and offering a blood sacrifice. The teen then goes on something of a vision quest as she finds the plane that Laura Lee crashed in. Lottie then wanders through a passage and into a shopping mall. As she stumbles around the building the show theme song plays over the tannoy and Lottie eventually finds her fellow Yellowjackets, including Laura Lee, at the food court. It’s the first real WTF moment of this season of Yellowjackets so far. The vision is confusing and catches the viewer off guard. Is it reality and the wilderness a hallucination? Or vice versa? Lottie’s prone body lying in the snow alludes to the latter, but with this show, one can never be too certain.
The group find Lottie and take her back to the cabin where she shares a tender moment with Natalie. Neither girl found food and so no one is the victor. The two begin to bond over their experiences in the snow, but this truce is set to be short lived…. Van and Taissa arrive at the final spot and find Javi (Luciano Leroux)! Natalie had previously staged his death in an attempt to help Travis move on. Lottie has always asserted that Javi is alive and it seems that she is right. As Javi arrives at the cabin and Natalie’s lie is revealed, the group dynamic shifts. Mari announces Lottie as the winner of the contest. Whilst she might not have found food, she was the one that said Javi was alive and this is taken as proof of her powers. Van then outs Taissa’s nocturnal roamings, linking them to Lottie’s gift and drafting Taissa to team Lottie. This is clearly the beginning of the end of the group and the start of the events that older Lottie mentioned earlier in the episode.
The present day Lottie experiences another vision, this one involving a Queen of Hearts playing card with its eyes scratched out. Deciding to confront rather than retreat from the building problem, Lottie then sought out a tree stump on her compound upon which she sacrificed some of her blood. Her plea of “let this just be enough please” is haunting and once more sets up the present as no longer being a safe haven for the surviving Yellowjackets.
In an episode all about connections, Old Wounds has one last reunion hiding up its sleeve. After hitch-hiking her way across State, Taissa arrives at her final destination. She stumbles through a shop door and comes face-to-face with Van (Lauren Ambrose). To anyone that followed the season two casting news, it isn’t a surprise that Van got out of the wilderness, but with this already being the fourth episode, it was starting to feel as if we were never going to meet Lauren Ambrose’s version. The reveal of Van was where the episode halted and so we have to wait a whole extra week to see how the reunion of the former lovers plays out.
Yellowjackets: Old Wounds
Summary
Four episodes in pieces and people are still being shifted into position, with Old Wounds teasing some interesting directions (especially in the present) for the show to go in. Old Wounds is another strong episode and so far the second season of Yellowjackets is as riveting as the first.
Yellowjackets Season 2 screens exclusively on Paramount +.
