It feels like we only embraced the brilliance of Yellowjackets, yet the time has come to say goodbye. We were shocked, terrified, and hungry for more after the final hour of the first season of the drama.
"Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" raises more questions than it answers, but it does show Yellowjackets' hand for Season 2 and a lot of what's to come.
In the present, adult Yellowjackets, now including Misty, destroy and dispose of Adam's body before cleaning up and heading to their 25-year high school reunion. Their entrance scene is spectacular, but also something out of a very different kind of show and yet entirely of a piece with Yellowjackets entire ethos of juxtaposing young womanhood with horror.
The people who once envied them for being soccer stars are now afraid of the Yellowjackets, and they may have brought something up in the gym. The message is clear, especially with Adam's blood barely washed clean, that these women are still a team.
Everyone is back in the woods. Javi is missing, so he barely has time to acknowledge what the girls almost did to him. The girls' actions grate on her and she blames them. They still can't believe she had sex with a man, and tension rises until they have a fight. Both parties were too proud and upset to go back on their word, and that's whenJackie left the cabin to sleep outside.
The morning is too late.
My captain.
This was unexpected. Kailey Schwerman is on the show.
Yellowjackets made it clear that anyone can die in the wilderness, but we didn't think it would happen so soon. She is the captain and teammate of Laura Lee, who died in the crash.
It all reads differently if you watch Season 1 with knowledge ofJackie's fate. The Yellowjackets writers meticulously craft this tragic story, one of an admired and envied young girl who should have been on top of the world, but for a brief time, she was, before the crash took her completely out of her element.
The dramatic irony doesn't excuse the times thatJackie is inconsiderate or self-absorbed out in the wilderness, but it changes how you view everything. Until now, adult Shauna's guilt was tied to sleeping with Jeff as a teen or eatingJackie in the woods. The truth is sad and simpler.
In her final moments, she imagines her best friend welcoming her back into the cabin and all the other Yellowjackets telling her they love her. Adoration was a foregone conclusion of her life before the crash. She's used to making people feel special, but she doesn't have her powers in the woods.
"You don't matter anymore," she was told by Lottie.
The last person to speak in the vision is a man who has never been seen before.
He says he's glad you're joining. We've been waiting for you.
This is loaded to say the least. This may or may not be a form of the French Canadian, and it's the only part of the vision that doesn't connect to her life. This could be the French Canadian, or someone else entirely. They seem to be speaking on behalf of the dead or something else in the woods. Speaking of which...
Who lives, who dies, who joins a cult.
The finale of "Yellowjackets" takes a dark turn. Credit: Showtime.
Taissa was between living and dead when the wolf attacked her, according to Van. She saw something in that state that terrifies her. She doesn't know what it means, but she believes something is in the woods with them.
The finale gives us a chilling glimpse at the changing tides in the wilderness, as the three of them kneel before a makeshift altar. This is the beginning of what we saw in the pilot, but with a clearer purpose than before, because these girls are performing rituals.
We didn't know until this episode that any of the adult Yellowjackets were involved. The pilot and finale show our survivors splitting up into hunters and hunted, as a result of the dead girl in the pilot. Four adult Yellowjackets are trying to live normal lives and escape their past, but many more may be alive or still in the woods. We can't be sure that she's alive, but her legacy is still amazing.
The adult Yellowjackets have avoided the woods for a whole season. We thought we understood what this meant when we watched the opening sequence. We know it's not in the past.
How do you solve a problem like Taissa?
One of the women killed animals, but she is a vegetarian. Kailey Schwerman is a guest on the show.
Tai seemed to be on the side of the Yellowjackets throughout the first season. Tai was the only one who seemed to have her shit together, she had a loving family, a career and a vegetarian diet. She hired Jessica to make sure they kept their silence, but that was supposed to be for the state senate campaign, not to cover up her own penchant for blood sacrifice.
The truth is that Tai still clings to the ways of the woods, and that everyone would eventually either join or flee from. It's especially shocking since young Tai's firm rejection of all things supernatural. She can't shake the fact that she changed her mind so thoroughly, thousands of miles away from the woods.
It's all fine and well, but both past and present timelines leave more pressing matters to attend to. Javi's disappearance was the most chilling, and Nat and Travis were still in the woods when we last saw them. Is Ben going to be killed in a crime of passion and offered up to the altar of Lottie? Did the people who kidnapped Nat kill the man? When do we get Season 2?
It will be a long time before we get any answers.
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