The buzziest questions we have before the ‘Yellowjackets’ finale
By Scottie Andrew, CNN
Note: Spoilers abound for the first nine episodes of “Yellowjackets” — proceed with caution!
Buzz buzz buzz.
“Yellowjackets,” the searing Showtime series that takes the hellishness of adolescence (and womanhood) to a new level, wraps up a season of nastiness, backstabbing and literal stabbing this Sunday.
But, with so many loose ends dangling, much like the body of the deer our Yellowjackets slaughtered and feasted upon, we’re absolutely ravenous for more information about Shauna, Taissa and Nat … and Misty, too, that terror. Like the conniving Jessica Roberts, we’ve got a lot of questions for the survivors of that doomed flight, so here are a few of the queries that keep us up at night.
We’ll channel Lottie for our premonitions– all of hers have come true so far, no? — though we know we likely won’t get all the answers we crave by the finale. But please, “Yellowjackets,” give us something to chew on while we wait for season two.
Who killed Travis?
Poor Travis. From watching his father fall from a plane, to asking his love interest to dig up his dad’s body to fetch a ring, to being hunted by a bunch of teenage girls tripping on ‘shrooms, the most brooding of the three male survivors has had a rough go of it in the woods. He makes it out, that much we know, only to be found hanged at the end of episode three. Nat is 100% certain Travis wouldn’t have done this — the two made a pact once that they’d never take their own lives. And so far, Nat tends to be right.
Our premonitions say … The jury’s still out, but … maybe Misty? She found Travis’ last paystub that led them to the farm where he worked — and where he died — and we know Misty had been tracking down Travis as a “citizen detective” before. Maybe promising deets on Travis — and then killing him — was a way to sucker Nat in and then untether her from one of the few living people who loved her. Misty is clearly hurting for connection, and so is Nat, and Misty is clearly cruel enough to murder her way into a forced friendship.
Are any other Yellowjackets alive?
Taissa, Shauna and Nat made an oblique reference to other Yellowjackets being out there in episode six, when they gather to discuss who’s blackmailing them (at least that’s one answer we’ve got). Who’s left, and are they as irrevocably messed up as our central foursome?
Our premonitions say … Likely. The finale is at least partly set at what appears to be a high-school reunion, and what fun it would be if we see an adult Jackie waltz in to make a mess our leading ladies will handle next season. For Shauna’s sake, let’s hope Jackie is not alive to torment her — Shauna’s visions of her former BFF already have that covered. For Melanie Lynskey’s sake, let’s hope we do! We want to see the shades of that performance.
What does that symbol mean?
It’s everywhere — drawn on the backs of the postcards the survivors were blackmailed with, carved on trees in the Canadian wilderness and even scrawled onto the floorboards of the creepy cabin where they sleep. It haunts them in present day, so we know it must mean something very bad.
Our premonitions say … We’ll wait for the show to explain this one, though Reddit sleuths have some grisly theories. It kind of looks like a crude drawing of a girl you’d see on a restroom sign — circle for a head, triangle for a dress — with a line drawn through it, which seems to imply death.
Is Lottie the “antler queen”?
We’re introduced to a cabal of cannibals in the pilot’s first few minutes, dressed in animal hides, and the presumptive leader is wearing antlers. We’re still not sure who’s under those furs — though we DO know Misty is among them, since she’s the only one who removes her mask — but Lottie dons a crown of antlers throughout episode nine, and she gets up to some pretty gnarly business while she’s wearing it.
Our premonitions say … Maybe? The moment when she first wears the antlers felt like a coronation — one the show has been hinting at for a few weeks, by positioning Lottie in front of antlers on the walls of the cabin. Or maybe someone challenges or kills her for it by the time we see the “antler queen” in the pilot.
Is Taissa really sleepwalking, or is she possessed?
We still don’t know whether the show is embracing the supernatural or whether our heroes — and we, the viewers — are confusing their post-traumatic stress for something more sinister. These flashes of the occult really could be manifestations of their pain, mental and physical.
Our premonitions say … Hard to say. Maybe Taissa is actually possessed by the spirit of some evil entity — or maybe, Taissa copes with her intense stress by climbing trees and eating dirt (and maybe her dog, Biscuit?) in her sleep. Let’s hope the finale gives us a semblance of an answer here.
Who’s getting eaten?
We know it’s coming, right? The girls are hungry — last week, they were eating grubs and drinking rotten berry juice — and they keep warning us that winter is knocking on their cabin door. A girls soccer team’s gotta eat sometime.
Our premonitions say … Van, already maimed, could sacrifice herself so that her friends and beloved Tai may live — that would be a tearjerker. Or maybe Coach Scott will meet his end as dinner — it wouldn’t be surprising if Misty barbecued her crush. We may not see the girls start hunting anyone yet, although they did go after Travis under the influence of ‘shrooms. Maybe we’ll see more of that carnage in season two.
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