KMUAN #-001: thoughts on Yellowjackets S1??

DISCLAIMER 1: I was gonna post this in October, but that month is lowkey cursed to where I’m never productive outside of work

Disclaimer 2: 

Ok so between the 1 time that MTV or the SyFy network in my region premiered the pilot episode of Yellowjackets after 10p.m. I’ve seen random minor spoilers I couldn’t avoid & spoilers I peeped because I want to see the gay stuff that my favorite online creators were gushing about. 

I noticed that when Netflix announced it was bringing YJ onto the streaming platform I was searching various queries w/ the word ‘lesbian’ in it. I knew from random tweets & word-of-tweet(?) that there’s a subtextual shipping of Shauna Shipman & Jackie. 

So I noticed a few fan accounts tweeting that if Netflix Yellowjackets fans were watching, remember that Jackie is not a mean girl, she is in fact a girlfailure and also a lesbian who’s in love with Shauna???

SPOILER ALERT: I really had a hard time sympathizing with Jackie. I hate it because yes, I want Yearnful lesbian Jackie, but it’s my first watch-through of Season 1, so I probably won’t “see it” yet. 

EPISODE 1

I saw the pilot episode for Yellowjackets premiere on MTV I think, late at night. Gobsmacked from the beginning. Such a great exposition (setup the story).

Okay they solidified some comp het Jackie upfront. Homegirl is not having fun alone with Jeff. Her facial expression while brushing her teeth in the bathroom afterwards is miserable. 

Also Shauna is so angstily pining for her, but I also thought she didn’t like Jeff because he’s the boyfriend in between them. 

Also Adult Shauna as a lowkey miserable stay-at-home mom? Kind of heartbreaking but I’m here for it. 

Side note: Jessica Roberts’ actress is really pretty. Like she looks lowkey gorgeous during all her screen time. 

Taissa trying to ice that freshman girl out but it resulted in her breaking her freaking shin?? Crazy. Kind of diabolical. Kind of proves Taissa’s a bit of a rebel leader. Also kind of nuts. Love that about her. 

Honesty? Shauna secretly banging Jeff behind Jackie’s back? Kind of wild. I kind of hazily mis-remembered it as Shauna caving into some insecurity in comparison to popular, pretty Jackie & banging Randy Walsh, because they had a whole conversation about him before the party. 

I have a sneaking suspicion the girl running in the cold opening who falls into the trap & gets cannibalized is in fact Jackie. 

Feeling sorry for Misty because she’s the nerdy, enthusiastic water girl team member. But also I’m not because something’s off about her. 

EPISODE 2

Oooh the actual crash. Damn. 

The postcards. Damn. I think the cannibalizing cult is pre-existing in the forest and they absorbed the team of girls into their group. The scene where they caught that girl running. They seemed a bit deep into it for a team lost for 19 months. 

Honestly I like Adult Misty Quigley better when she & Nat are citizen detectives. 

Shauna discovers Jeff’s phone with a text from Bianca. I already suspected she was gonna sleep with the Adam guy in retaliation for this. She wasn’t for the sex homework assignment anyways. 

Taissa’s son Sammy putting up those creepy drawings to block out the bad lady in the tree. Part of me wondered if something or someone from the forest found Taissa & is terrorizng her son. Or if Misty is in on the symbol postcards & blackmail, and she’s facilitating psychological torture for Taissa’s son. 

EPISODE 3

Feeling bad for Misty’s unsuccessful dating life, but she doesn’t seem too sad about it. Seems to like the weird guys she meets. But also there’s something quirked up about her that prevents romance. 

I did feel bad when Kevyn Tran straight-up ignored Misty to talk to Natalie. Dying pick-me girl in me. Sorry. I know she’s used to it, but it probably still hurts. 

Natalie & Travis appear to be a starcrossed canon pair. I feel for her. She’s had a hard life from before they got stranded. 

RIP Travis. I do think someone from that forest cult un-alived him. Maybe connected to the Jessica Roberts person. 

I mistook Misty urging Natalie to leave before the police arrive as sus because what if she’s really involved??

EPISODE 4

Travis is one angry dude. Wasn’t even happy to be going on a trip to nationals. Hates his dad, yet wants the family ring from his father’s body. I wish there were more flashbacks for him. But he appears to not be main cast-ish. 

Loving Shauna being a big sister to Ravi. People just kind of forget about little bro. 

Shauna & Adam reliving silly teen stuff, I like. The affair part, eh, not-so-much. I get it. Shauna’s life isn’t looking good internally. Jeff and his store. Callie’s always out. Shauna’s alone most of the time. Affairs aren’t right but I get it. 

Taissa rejecting that political Anna Wintour-looking lady is probably gonna bite her later. Iwonder if they’ll have a campaign debate or town hall scene where Taissa breaks her facade and answers honestly about “what really happened out there?”. 

Also we know what happened. They starved & then they ate each other. 

Jackie Taylor. Van. Lottie. Have not been introduced as adults in 2021. Ravi hasn’t either so I’m worried. 

EPISODE 5

The séance scene wow. I’m suspecting the cannibalizing cult thing has more supernatural folk horror origins than a pre-existing cult brainwashing them. 

Maybe something in the air or just the place overall drives them mad. Not other cannibal people in the forest. 

I do adore Jackie suggesting activities that would’ve been normal teen girl stuff if they were back home. Like the sleepover seance & going to the lake. Gotta give her her tens for that stuff. Shauna’s right. Jackie’s gift is just being there encouraging people. 

Lottie being kind of supernaturally clairvoyant? I like it. 

Taissa being the brave one sleeping in the attic after Lottie got possessed & spoke in French? Great. Like how Shauan eventually stayed up there with her. 

I’m glad Taissa knows about Shauna’s pregnancy before the other girls or Jackie. I don’t need her getting slutshamed. Even though she got pregnant via Jackie’s boyfriend. Enjoying their dynamic. 

Ooh Callie catching Adult Shauna & Adam at a nightclub. Yikes. Also Callie noticing Shauna’s miserable yet unapproving of the affair? I get it, girl. 

But also Shauna really pinning Callie into silence about it the next morning. That was jedi manipulative mom moves, girl. 

Okay so MIsty’s watching Natalie & Taissa find out about the postcards & the 50k. Gives me the impression she’s in on the group sending them blackmail. 

Sidnote even Shauna is rude to Misty. I know she was kind of gross in her behavior back then but whoa.She’s helping them but is also weird. 

EPISODE 6

Misty kidnaps Jessica Roberts. Nice. Wasn’t expecting it to be successful? 

Also I do think Jessica is involved in something more than just snooping for who’d blab during Taissa’s campaign. Taissa isn’t aware of Jessica’s involvement. I have no proof, these are blind predictions. 

Jessica knew that Travis’ bank account was drained the day after his apparent suicide. 

But also Misty’s main lead is that too. So maybe she’s just as lost as the other Yellowjackets. But she is creepy when left to her own devices. 

Lottie’s visions. Ooh she’s got a gift. I know I sound crazy & she probably did have a condition requiring meds. But Lottie sensed the bad vibes early on, so why wouldn’t she be right about “it” wanting blood? 

Sidenote: I like how the girls don’t bully Laura Lee for being super Christian. That’s refreshing & I don’t like Bible-thumping mega-church Christians much. Glad they could joke along with Laura Lee after she admitted she called her piano teacher a c*nt in her head lmao. 

Taissa is the “bad lady” in the tree. Kind of knew but was kind of hoping someone else was terrorizing the family. Explains her eating dirt at night. 

Also the wolf Taissa hallucinates. The man with no eyes who attacked her grandma. Very supernatural elements. It’s like there’s nothing physically there to haunt them, but she’s haunted about anything to do with the crash. 

EPISODE 7

Taissa’s venture south to find anyone feels like a needless plot point. Because all it got was Van getting mauled by a wolf. It explained Adult Taissa’s wolf fear & brought the girls right back to the cabin feeling worse. 

It’s realistic but damn. These are just teen girls. 

That red colored river matched Lottie’s vision. But also maybe there’s a factory and that’s chemical contamination. Maybe exposure makes them loopy and suggestible to cannibalism? I dunno anymore. 

Also Jackie should probably change her mindset about being stranded. I know where she’s coming from. This is stupid and it does suck. But damn. I’m kind of siding with Taissa & Coach. There’s a chance they might not get rescued until after winter. 

Also noticing there’s no title cards signaling what month or year it is. But winter is coming. 

Jackie revealing Shauna’s pregnancy after Laura Lee announces she’ll fly the dead man’s plane? Wild. I get the impression Jackie knows that Shauna’s pregnant by Jeff and just isn’t taking it out on her. 

Wasn’t there a scene where Jackie reads Shauna’s journals secretly?

Aw I like Adult Taissa, Shauna & Natalie. Don’t like how they treat Natalie like this drunk unruly kid. Makes sense because Taissa paid for Natalie’s rehab from the beginning of the season. 

Which is sweet, because Taissa & Shauna were on this strict don’t speak to me policy about the Yellowjacket women. 

Shauna? Really?! You brought Adam into the house, had sex in your bed & Jeff is home first thing. 

Also where’s the scene of Jeff actually working in the furniture store? He just leaves and goes to the hotel with Bianca, but never actual scenes working. I know it’d be unnecessary unless it gives more info but eh, makes him look sus. 

Makes me think about the TikTok theory that mattress stores are actually fronts for the mafia or money laundering (allegedly. Don’t come for me). 

Kind of raw of Natalie to insult Kevyn after being caught using his gun. Part of me fell for it just as Kevyn did. That high school crush blinded him. 

EPISODE 8 

I’m glad neither Natalie nor Travis force each other past their sexual boundaries. That’s refreshing considering they’re teenagers. 

I audibly said “No!” when the plane Laura Lee flew exploded. RIP Laura Lee. 

I did like her and she was super Christian.

That does not happen for me. Super christian characters tend to be written in ways that read as unlikeable. She was so sweet and gentle towards everyone (leading the funeral services & baptizing Lottie), but also stern when things got serious (the seance). 

Natalie blackmailing Suzie from Narcotics Anon. Dark stuff, man. Also the line about how she hates ever knowing her? Damn. 

Taissa making Simone & Sammy leave for fear of hurting them is so raw. I know that hurts. She just wanted a family & public office. And her state could hurt both aspects. That’s painful.

I wished she’d seek therapy like they did for Sammy. But since she’s a local public figure with the Yellowjackets crash attached to her, that’d be hard with patient-doctor confidentiality. 

EPISODE 9 

Okay so Jackie declaring she’s going after Travis so she doesn’t die a virgin, reeks of comp het a little? I can see this is just a teen feeling horny because they’re stranded. But also she admitted she hardly likes Jeff. which is kind of comp het (generally). 

Love the Doomcoming set-up. So cute and rustic. It’s giving isolated female-driven cult but also wants to have a vibe. Go team!

Also appreciating that Coach is playing along with Misty’s secret boyfriend thing. I’m glad Misty hasn’t crossed Coach’s boundaries since that morning incident.  

Jackie was the only character who didn’t eat the shrooms soup!! 

That’s kind of a narrative set-up for her. Because every team mate kind of has i t out for her, for not helping around & being super loud and whiny about being stranded. 

This has been a long-time coming. Regardless of how long they’ve been stranded. 

So that’s why the “Jackie is not a mean girl… she’s a girlfailure” tweets were floating around on twitter. 

Maybe I need something to hit me over the head about the lesbian part. 

They haven’t had a lot of screen time together post-crash. Partly because Shauna’s being distant because she’s hiding a pregnancy from Jackie’s boyfriend. 

They have a tender friendship, but I don’t catch the subtext until I see a Tumblr gifset about parallels. 

EPISODE 10

Okay so Lottie becoming this chosen one type prophet. The bear killing. I can see there’s this supernatural folk horror in addition to this horror of being stranded with winter approaching. 

Javi’s missing. Great. He might be dead. Because we haven’t seen his adult counterpart in the present. 

Jackie had every right cussing out the team for trying to stag hunt Travis, and do what?? SA him??

I know they were high on shrooms, but that’d be what’s in their subconscious. 

The Shauna & Jackie confrontation/argument. I saw gifsets of this on Tumbrl. Jackie’s wounded “Fuck you.” that’s how I found out there’s this gay angst thing going. 

Also ooh the news reported that Shauna’s extramarital lover/murder victim is missing or hasn’t been heard from just as soon as the family settled into “Let’s act normal, this is fine.” 

Ooh the Shauna-Taissa-Natalie-Misty entrance to the high school reunion. Iconic. They’re hot. They’re cagey. They’re traumatized. Trauma bonded. They ARE the moment. 

Ooh Taissa’s wife (forgot her name sorry) found this tunnel and THE FAMILY’S DEAD DOG IS SITTING ON THIS ALTAR THING NEXT TO THE SYMBOL OF LOTTIE’S CULT. 

*Wikipedia page says it’s a human heart. I think it’s the dog because I thought I saw fur or hay. I dunno. 

Ooh Taissa??? She won the Senate.  Is Taissa still affiliated with this cult. Did she sacrifice the dogs in exchange for winning. Is SHE STILL AFFILIATED WITH LOTTIE’S CULT??

Okay LOTTIE’S SURVIVED THE WINTER AND THE CULT EXISTS. AND THEY KIDNAPPED NATALIE. 

LOTTIE EMPTIED TRAVIS’ BANK ACCOUNT!! DID THE CULT MURDER TRAVIS???

Final thoughts

Okay so wow. Something about how violent the situation they’ve experience is. It felt very raw watching it. 

Um, kind of expecting more gay angst a la Jackie & Shauna. It is there because there are countless edits and parallel gifsets on Tumblr and Twitter showing their doomed toxic yuri dynamic. 

But I think seeing this before watching YJ maybe overhyped the Jackie Taylor is a lesbian headcanon. When you watch the series it’s not exactly canon or text. Duh. but she’s —

It’s there but not there. 

I’m not crazy, I agree that Jackie Taylor is a lesbian. And if she survived she’d be in an upper middle class marriage to Jeff & quietly falling apart because this isn’t what she wants. 

Also the series was jarring. Like this shit was lowkey hard to watch because I kind of kept going. Like even when I was at work, I’m like I gotta get home and watch Shauna be unhinged. 

I love it. 

Debating if I should wait a whole year to see season 2 be uploaded to Netflix, or do a free trial of Paramount Plus. 

I dunno. Thanks for letting me talk. Jackie is gay. Shauna’s obsessed with Jackie. Good night.