WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Yellowjackets season 1.Yellowjackets' two timelines are among the most compelling elements in the series but can be hard to keep track of.
The forest setting and the cabin in the past timeline offer a great deal of intrigue as well, as the girls question whether there may be supernatural forces at work in the wilderness. The two timelines keep the story unpredictable for all the Yellowjackets characters, as even those who survived the wilderness are at risk of dying in the present. Yellowjackets' season 1 ending raises the stakes in both timelines as pivotal characters are killed and kidnapped, and dark secrets about the survivors are revealed.
Jackie’s Yellowjackets Fate Explained: Is She Really Dead?
Her Ending Was Cold In More Than One Way
After a falling out between Jackie and Shauna, and the other girls turning on Jackie as well, Jackie left the cabin and spent the night outside in the bitter cold. In a later scene, Shauna is seen going outside to apologize to Jackie and take her back into the cabin, but this is revealed to be a dream that Shauna had. In reality, Jackie had been left outside in the cold throughout the entire night and froze to death due to the cold and the snowfall.
Yellowjackets' Pit Girl: Who Gets Killed & Eaten In The Opening Scene?
Yellowjackets episode 1's flash-forward depicted the girls eating one of their teammates, with only a few characters fitting the victim's description.
The discovery of Jackie's frozen corpse confirms that she is dead, leaving Shauna devastated and consumed with guilt about the role she played in her best friend's death. Earlier in the episode, Jackie's death is first confirmed by honoring her at the school's 25-year class reunion. While it is known that Jackie did not survive in the wilderness, the true circumstances of her death are not known by the public, who do not know about Shauna's betrayal.
Who Kidnapped Natalie & Why?
A Familiar Face Is Behind It
In the present day, Natalie descends to a dark place where she nearly takes her own life. Just as she is about to do so, a mysterious group of individuals wearing purple clothes break through her door and kidnap her. She misses the call from Suzie, who explains to her that she went into Travis' bank and found out that someone named Lottie Matthews was in his and is seemingly at the heart of everything happening in the present.
Natalie met Suzie in the years after returning from the wilderness.
This confirms that Lottie survived the wilderness as well, is still alive in the present-day timeline, and is the one who had Natalie kidnapped. Lottie's beliefs about the wilderness have apparently been ed on to others, as one of the purple-clad individuals sent to kidnap Natalie wears a necklace bearing the mysterious symbol from the wilderness. Between Lottie's involvement in Travis' death in Yellowjackets, kidnapping Natalie, and the final shot being her worshiping a bloody heart in the past, the adult Lottie appears to be a dangerous and influential figure and may have sinister designs where Natalie is concerned.
What's Up With Taissa's Shrine?
Biscuit The Dog's Fate Is Worse Than Anyone Could Have Imagined
Taissa's wife, Simone, discovers a shrine hidden behind a grate in the basement. The shrine contains the severed head of their dog, Biscuit, a heart, the wilderness symbol drawn in blood, and a broken doll. This provides a disturbing answer to what happened to Biscuit, who went missing earlier in the season. In both timelines, Taissa has been shown to struggle with an inner darkness that subconsciously takes over her at times, particularly when sleepwalking at night.
What's The Deal With Taissa's Son Sammy In Yellowjackets? Every Theory
Taissa and Simone’s son in Yellowjackets, Sammy, gets relatively little screentime. However, his strange behavior is the creepiest mystery so far.
When this happens, the kind, comionate, and principled Taissa seen for the majority of the show is no longer in control, as another side of her takes over that causes her to eat dirt and kill her own dog. The shrine's discovery is revealed alongside news that Taissa won the election to become a state senator. This leaves an implication that the sacrifices Taissa made for her shrine may have pleased the wilderness and helped her win the election, although much like the supernatural power of the wilderness, this remains unconfirmed.
Why Misty Killed Jessica, The Private Detective
She Dug Too Deep
Jessica initially entered Yellowjackets season 1 under the guise of a reporter seeking answers about what happened in the wilderness 25 years ago. She was later revealed to be a private detective Taissa had hired, as she wanted to learn what, if anything, Shauna, Natalie, or Misty had shared with others, as she did not want any compromising information to threaten her campaign. This did not end well for Jessica, as Misty kept her prisoner and eventually released her, only to lethally poison Jessica's cigarettes.
In the wilderness and civilization, Misty has a penchant for reacting to problems extremely and violently.
Misty felt that Jessica was a threat to herself and her friends. In the wilderness and civilization, Misty has a penchant for reacting to problems extremely and violently. After being separated from Natalie, Shauna, and Taissa for years, Misty is thrilled to be among her peers again and to feel as if she has friends. She was not going to let Jessica threaten that and therefore decided to kill her as a way of permanently eliminating this problem.
How Shauna Covered Up Adam's Death
Misty's Help Proves To Be Invaluable
Arguably the biggest twist in Yellowjackets season 1 is Shauna killing Adam, the fallout of which had to be dealt with in the finale. Shauna s her fellow survivors, with Natalie, Taissa, and Misty being the only ones who can understand and help her with what she did. Misty takes charge of the situation and protects her friends, directing Shauna and Natalie to cut up the body, while Misty and Taissa clean up the apartment and destroy all evidence.
Shauna is tasked with cutting up Adam's body because, during their time in the wilderness, she was best at using a knife and cutting up the animals they killed.
Adam's mangled remains are later placed inside the funeral casket of a patient who recently died at Misty's place of work. Adam's death is yet another dark secret that Shauna, Natalie, Taissa, and Misty all share, forcing them to continue relying on each other's discretion and unique skills. This secret is already in danger of being exposed, though, as Adam's disappearance has been reported on the news, and seen by Shauna's daughter, Callie, who knew her mother was having an affair with him.
The Real Meaning Of Yellowjackets Season 1’s Ending - Is The Wilderness Supernatural?
The Wilderness Still Has A Hold Over The Adult Yellowjackets
The Yellowjackets season 1 ending reveals the cycle of trauma that the characters are trapped in and struggling to break. In both the past and the present, Shauna is responsible for killing someone she cared about, with Jackie and Adam suffering the consequences of the hurtful and violent self-preservation she developed. Shauna has not grown from the mistakes she made with Jackie. This, and other traumas, continue to fester in her and the other survivors, with the cycle also continuing via Taissa and the darkness within her that led to creating the disturbing shrine hidden in her home.
Yellowjackets’ Major Unseen Characters Can Finally Answer A Shauna Question We’ve Had Since Episode 1
Several important figures have still yet to be introduced in Yellowjackets, and two key unseen characters can help solve a mystery about Shauna.
Even though they returned to civilization decades ago, the wilderness has never left the surviving Yellowjackets, continuing to haunt them, and in some cases, potentially help them as well. It has not yet been confirmed whether the wilderness actually is supernatural, but the season 1 finale makes a strong case for it, as Taissa's sacrifice is followed by her winning the election, and Lottie, who has always embraced the wilderness, is in a position of power and has followers doing her bidding. This vicious cycle will continue unless the surviving Yellowjackets find a way to break it.
What The Adult Lottie Twist Means For Yellowjackets Season 2
Lottie Is The Key To The Past And Present Stories
The Lottie twist is poised to have a significant impact on both the past and present timelines. In the past, Lottie is now guaranteed to survive alongside Shauna, Natalie, Taissa, Misty, and Travis. Her present-day followers wearing the wilderness symbol indicates that she does not lose faith in it. In the past, she had her own followers, as Misty and Van ed her in worshiping the heart and the tree. Lottie will likely gain more followers if her approach continues to help the girls survive.
Lottie being alive raises the possibility of other Yellowjackets having survived as well, as any of the girls still alive in the past timeline could potentially be seen as adults in the future.
In the present, Lottie is pictured as a potential new villain who has kidnapped Natalie for purposes that have yet to be revealed, with Misty, Taissa, and Shauna needing to learn what happened to their friend. Lottie being alive raises the possibility of other Yellowjackets having survived as well, as any of the girls still alive in the past timeline could potentially be seen as adults in the future. A reunion between Lottie and all the survivors seems inevitable by the end of Yellowjackets season 1, and no one is guaranteed to survive it.
Yellowjackets
- Release Date
- November 14, 2021
- Network
- Showtime, Paramount+ with Showtime
- Showrunner
- Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Jonathan Lisco
Cast
Shauna Sadecki
Tawny CypressTaissa Turner
WHERE TO WATCH
Yellowjackets is a television series exploring the survival ordeal of a high school girls' soccer team stranded in the remote wilderness after a plane crash. It interweaves psychological horror and coming-of-age themes, simultaneously depicting their harrowing transformation and its lasting impact on their lives 25 years later.
- Writers
- Liz Phang, Sarah L. Thompson, Ameni Rozsa
- Seasons
- 3
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