Holy shit, I just finished binge watching Season One of Showtime’s series Yellowjackets and wow, just wow. What a ride. Horror is not my genre and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it through this series, but the story is so enthralling that I needed to see more. I’m jonesing for the hit of Season Two. It’s that good — even if I had to bring my dogs to bed with me because I’m now scared of the dark and I will never go camping alone in the woods again.
I came for the lesbian characters, and I stayed for the whole Yellowjacket world. This psychological thriller kept me on my toes without any real lulls. I think that’s one element of this show that is so captivating. It genuinely surprises the viewer. The interconnection of stories, the humanness that intertwines through the gripping survival tale, make for a rich tapestry to get lost in.
After a plane crash while en route to a national soccer competition, set in 1996, the group of high schoolers and a coach are left to fend for themselves in the wilderness and figure out how to make it out alive. Every decision has consequences and the longer the brood is stranded, the more twisted their lives become.
Teens Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown,) and Van (Liv Hewson,) rely on their love for eachother to make it through some gruesome moments and the most traumatic chapter of life they will ever endure. Their young lesbian relationship is tender in its purity and pulsing teenage hormones, but quickly matures into a much deeper union and partnership as they are continually jolted into adulthood in their macabre reality.
Liv Hewson has shared excitement at being embraced by the rapidly growing fandom as the show has rocketed into success. “First of all, being adored by gay people on Twitter is all I’ve ever wanted in my life. So I’ve been enjoying myself,” Hewson gushed.
“Van crops up a lot as a strong comedic voice in the ensemble, which I had a lot of fun with as a performer. I think people respond to that – not just about Van, but the show generally. Yellowjackets is this bleak tragedy and it’s all going to end in tears, but there’s sharp comedy in it, which I think people respond to? I respond to it. It’s my favorite thing about it,” Hewson goes on to say. Van’s blunt and charismatic character will offer many lesbians a glimpse of themselves. The same can be said for Taissa’s strong independence.
The last episode of season one leaves adult Taissa (Tawny Cypress,) and her wife, Simone (Rukiya Bernard,) struggling to comprehend the residual effects of the trauma Taissa endured. Expect a complex look at the inner workings of a loving but troubled marriage — i.e. a real look at what marriage entails when people come with baggage.
Taissa is one of the prominent characters, as the girls — grown to women — navigate the hauntings of their childhood. Tawny Cypress is joined by Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis and Melanie Lynskey for a truly incredible cast of women. One can only imagine what actresses may join in to fulfill the roles of more grown survivors. Yellowjackets was renewed for a second season in mid-December of 2021 after only five episodes of season one’s ten had been released, proving itself as the sensation it’s become.
No official details on a season two release date have been made, but speculations have been made for November 2022. Season two writers have presumably begun spinning the web of the first winter stranded and perhaps getting to the most horrifying iluded act: cannibalism.
Flashes of the atrocities they commit against each other foreshadow what’s to come until their eventual rescue, 19 months after the accident. The hints of a possible supernatural element build but there’s no real confirmation as this season ends. Season two has everything to offer, as so many dark and twisty avenues are left to explore. We have yet to discover if Van survives the wilderness and every lesbian and bisexual fan is waiting to learn the rest of her story.
I’ve purposefully made a point not to give away any spoilers. Yellowjackets is too incredible a trip to take any suspense and reveals away from you. Every morsel should be savored. I’m going to leave it at that.
