About Yellowjackets Season 2 – TV Series

Yellowjackets Season 2 TV Series Details

Yellowjackets is an American thriller drama television series created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson. It stars an ensemble cast led by Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Samantha Hanratty, Liv Hewson, and Courtney Eaton as a group of teenagers involved in a plane crash in 1996, with Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, Lauren Ambrose, and Simone Kessell playing their adult counterparts in 2021. Ella Purnell, Steven Krueger, Warren Kole, and Kevin Alves also star.

The series premiered on Showtime on November 14, 2021. It has received critical acclaim, particularly for its story and the performances of the cast. Its accolades include seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series and acting nominations for Lynskey and Ricci. In December 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on March 26, 2023. In December 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.

STORY

Episodes 01

“Friends, Romans, Countrymen”

Two months after Jackie’s death, the group of survivors are struggling to make it through winter. Lottie has taken on a spiritual leader role. Natalie and Travis are unsuccessful in hunting food and locating a missing Javi. Meanwhile, a pregnant Shauna spends her time talking to Jackie’s frozen corpse. During one visit, Jackie’s ear rips off and Shauna later secretly eats it. Van ties her wrist to Taissa’s at night to prevent her from sleepwalking. Misty, still ostracized after the mushroom incident, bonds with Crystal, a member of the JV girls team. Lottie talks Travis down from a panic attack with strange visions.

In the present day, Shauna and Jeff cover their involvement in Adam’s murder by destroying his personal art studio and burning his identification, along with Shauna’s journals. Callie uncovers the remains of Adam’s charred ID. Simone warns Taissa to stay away from Sammy; Taissa later finds the altar she unknowingly constructed in the basement. Misty begins searching for Natalie’s whereabouts and notices she was likely taken by force. She attempts to ward off a fellow Citizen Detective investigating Adam’s disappearance. Natalie finds herself held hostage in a wellness commune run by Lottie and manages to confront her.

Episodes 02

“Edible Complex”

Shauna continues to talk to Jackie’s corpse, even to the point of dressing it up with makeup; Jackie’s ghost taunts her about how hungry she is. Taissa insists that it is time to cremate Jackie and move on. Van saves Taissa from sleepwalking off a cliff; she recommends they talk to Lottie, but Taissa refuses. Natalie fakes Javi’s death to Travis by smearing a pair of his shorts with her own blood. Jackie’s body is burned on a pyre, but a deluge of snow slows the flame and cooks the body. Succumbing to their hunger, the team eats her corpse, while Coach Ben watches in horror.

In the present, Shauna is questioned by Kevyn about Adam’s disappearance. Callie flirts with a man named Matt who, unbeknownst to her, is a detective working with Kevyn. The anonymous Citizen Detective locates Misty at her job and invites her to join him on Adam’s case. Sammy visits Taissa unprompted, but when Simone arrives to pick him up, they cannot find him. Taissa and Simone are involved in a car accident after it is revealed Taissa had hallucinated Sammy’s visit. Lottie tells Natalie about Travis’s death, but Natalie suspects she is hiding the truth.

Episodes 03

“Digestif”

Taissa has no memory of eating Jackie and is horrified to learn she participated while in her fugue state. Natalie disposes of Jackie’s remains at the crash site; she encounters a white moose, but it disappears as she tries to shoot it. A sleepwalking Taissa tells Van about “The One With No Eyes”. Misty strengthens her bond with Crystal. A delirious Ben imagines life if he had stayed behind with his boyfriend Paul. The team throws Shauna a baby shower, but birds begin to fall from the sky when her nose bleeds on the symbol stitched into her blanket. Lottie suggests they are blessings from the woods.

In the present, Shauna and Jeff are carjacked, but Shauna disarms the perpetrator before he drives off. She tracks down the car at a scrapyard and intimidates the owner at gunpoint. Jeff attempts but fails to get Kevyn to back off from Shauna. With Simone in the hospital, Taissa is left to confront her fugue alter ego. Misty meets Walter, the Citizen Detective; the two interrogate Randy Walsh about Natalie’s disappearance. Lottie introduces Natalie to her support group, but her hallucinations begin to return.

Episodes 04

“Old Wounds”

When part of the team begins to favour Lottie’s mysticism over Natalie’s hunting skills, the two girls compete by going on separate hunts. Lottie quickly becomes hypothermic and has a vision of Laura Lee and the team. Natalie finds the white moose encased under a frozen lake; she and the team try to pull it out, but it sinks. She and Lottie tentatively make amends. Meanwhile, Van makes a map of all of the strange symbols Taissa has found and estimates where the last one could be; they instead find a disoriented Javi and bring him back to camp.

In the present, Shauna, pressed by Callie, confesses the truth to her about Adam’s death. Natalie bonds with Lisa, a cult member she had attacked earlier. Misty and Walter camp out at a bed and breakfast near Lottie’s compound. Lottie’s psychiatrist suggests she pay attention to her hallucinations. Taissa follows her fugue self’s intuition and hitchhikes to a small town in Ohio, where she sees Van for the first time in years.

Episodes 05

“Two Truths and a Lie”

Lottie hosts meditation sessions for the team; they help Taissa with her sleepwalking, but Shauna fears she is losing Tai’s support. Javi refuses to speak to the team, but tells Ben that his “friend” did not want him to return. Misty admits to Crystal that she destroyed the plane’s emergency transmitter; when Crystal reacts coldly, Misty threatens her and accidentally backs her off the edge of a cliff. Shauna and Tai get caught in a snowstorm and use Lottie’s meditation techniques to return to camp. Once inside, Shauna goes into labour.

In the present, Callie, realizing Matt is a policeman, tells him that Shauna was sleeping with Randy. Shauna stages a tryst in a motel room, but Kevyn and Matt uncover the ruse. Taissa tells Van her sleepwalking has returned, and Van offers her support. Misty and Walter find Natalie, who rebuffs them. Walter tells Misty his theories about Adam’s case; she sends him away and goes back to Lottie’s compound. Lottie helps Natalie recall the last time she saw Travis.

Episodes 06

“Qui”

The Yellowjackets volunteer Misty to deliver Shauna’s baby. Travis and Lottie create an altar and place offerings upon it. Shauna blacks out and gives birth to a baby boy. She has trouble breastfeeding due to her own starvation, but ultimately succeeds. Later that night, she hears chanting from downstairs and finds the team eating her baby. She then comes to, revealing that she had dreamed the previous events and her baby did not survive. Shauna holds her stillborn and grieves, insisting that she can still hear him crying.

In the present, Taissa notices Van’s past due notices in the trashcan, but Van brushes it off. Misty calls Tai from Lottie’s compound. Natalie and Lisa talk about forgiveness. Shauna and Callie are called to the police station for questioning; Shauna admits to her affair with Adam, while Callie falsely claims that Matt took her virginity. Jeff pushes Shauna to follow Tai and Van to Lottie. Shauna, Taissa, Van, Natalie, Misty, and Lottie all reunite at the compound.

Episodes 07

“Burial”

Shauna buries her stillborn child and grieves for him and Jackie. The team sets out on a half-hearted mission to find Crystal, unaware of what happened to her earlier. Van admits to Taissa her doubts about survival. Misty goes to the spot where Crystal died, only to find that her body is now missing. She then talks Ben out of committing suicide. After Shauna punches Misty and accuses everyone of eating her baby, Lottie encourages Shauna to let out her pain on her; Shauna beats Lottie unconscious while the team looks on in shock.

In the present, everyone is assigned a form of therapy at Lottie’s compound. Misty uses an isolation tank and talks to a human version of her bird Caligula; she later calls Walter and confirms his theories about Adam’s disappearance. Taissa and Van share a kiss, but Van reveals that she has terminal cancer, and will be dead within months. Lottie realizes her psychiatrist is merely another hallucination. The women discuss what they might have repressed from their time in the wilderness and dance around a campfire. Jeff calls Shauna and reveals that the authorities have found Adam’s body.

Episodes 08

“It Chooses”

The Yellowjackets struggle with hallucinations and paranoia. Coach Ben discovers Javi survived by living in a cave hidden underneath a tree. Lottie, grievously injured from Shauna’s attack, tells the team not to waste her body if she is to die. Taissa suggests they must find another way to survive, which culminates in the survivors drawing cards to determine who will be killed. Natalie draws the Queen of Hearts, but before Shauna can sacrifice her, Travis pushes Shauna out of the way; Natalie escapes the cabin and is chased through the woods. Javi, trying to help her, falls through the frozen lake; the Yellowjackets let him drown, leaving Natalie spared.

In the present, the police obtain a search warrant for the Sadeckis’ house, and Kevyn and Matt question Jeff. Later, Jeff reveals the truth about Shauna’s stillborn child to Callie. Walter emails the police, telling them he has information about Adam’s disappearance, before leaving for Lottie’s compound. In Lottie’s “Sharing Shack” Shauna admits that Jeff was the blackmailer instead of Adam, Taissa reveals she hired Jessica Roberts to investigate the survivors, and Misty reveals the truth of the reporter’s death. Lottie insists the wilderness is demanding a sacrifice, and presents a choice of six cups, with one containing phenobarbital, to the women.

Episodes 09

“Storytelling”

The girls return Javi’s body to the cabin, where they dismember and begin to cook him. Lottie is alarmed with the team’s decision to hunt each other, but Misty tells the team that Lottie is pleased. Coach Ben informs Natalie of Javi’s hiding spot, but she tells him that he no longer belongs among them as he is a good person. Lottie tells the group that the wilderness no longer needs her as their leader because they can all communicate with it now, and declares Natalie to be the new leader. While the Yellowjackets are sleeping, Ben lights the cabin on fire, forcing the team to evacuate and leaving them stranded with no shelter.

In the present, the women agree to proceed with Lottie’s ritual, but secretly plan to botch the ritual and have Lottie committed. Walter lethally poisons Kevyn at the compound and works with Jeff to frame him for a conspiracy, ending the investigation surrounding Adam Martin. Shauna draws the Queen of Hearts during the ritual. Callie shoots Lottie in the shoulder to protect her mother, and Taissa and Van reveal that they called off the crisis team they contacted for Lottie. Lisa arrives with a gun, Misty intends to inject her with phenobarbital, but Natalie throws herself in front, takes the injection, and dies in Misty’s arms. Lottie is taken away by EMTs, but tells the women that the wilderness is pleased with their sacrifice and will reward them.

CAST

Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse as the adult and teenage Shauna Shipman. In high school, Shauna is Jackie’s best friend but is having an affair with Jackie’s boyfriend, Jeff. She is accepted into Brown University prior to the plane crash. After the crash, she immediately adapts to life in the wilderness and forms a friendship with Taissa. She later discovers she became pregnant with Jeff’s child, forcing her to keep it a secret from Jackie. As an adult, she is married to Jeff and goes by Shauna Sadecki, but is unhappy with her life as a housewife and has a strained relationship with her daughter, Callie. She initiates an affair with Adam after they have an auto collision.
Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown as the adult and teenage Taissa Turner. In high school, Taissa is determined to win the national championship by any means necessary. She injures teammate Allie during soccer practice, believing she is not good enough to play in the tournament. She is secretly dating Vanessa prior to the plane crash and their relationship continues during their time in the wilderness. After the plane crash, she begins sleepwalking which later develops into psychogenic fugue, causing her to wander around the woods in the middle of the night. As an adult, she is married to Simone and owns a pet dog named Biscuit. In the midst of her election campaign for the New Jersey Senate, she begins having problems with her son, Sammy, and the resurgence of her fugue states jeopardizes her marriage.
Ella Purnell as Jackie Taylor (season 1; recurring season 2). In high school, Jackie is the captain of the Yellowjackets soccer team, Shauna’s best friend and Jeff’s girlfriend. She is accepted into Rutgers University prior to the plane crash. After the plane crash, she has the most difficulty adapting to life in the wilderness and adjusting to life without a high school social structure. Her relationship with her teammates steadily deteriorates and she begins to doubt her friendship with Shauna.
Steven Krueger as Ben Scott, often called Coach or Coach Ben, the assistant coach of the Yellowjackets soccer team. After the plane crash, his right leg is mangled in the wreckage and Misty amputates it to save his life. While being nursed back to health by Misty, he has to simultaneously deal with his injury and the fact that he is the only adult who survived the crash. He is put off by Misty’s affections, both because she is underage and he is secretly gay.
Warren Kole and Jack DePew (guest season 1) and Owen Gates (guest season 2) as the adult and teenage Jeff Sadecki. In high school, Jeff is Jackie’s boyfriend but is cheating on her with her best friend, Shauna. As an adult, he is married to Shauna, the father of Callie, and owns a furniture store.
Christina Ricci and Samantha Hanratty as the adult and teenage Misty Quigley. In high school, Misty is the equipment manager of the Yellowjackets soccer team. She is frequently bullied and shunned by her teammates, who question her mental stability. After the plane crash, she demonstrates knowledge and skills useful for surviving in the wilderness and pursues her crush on Coach Ben. She later forms a friendship with Crystal over their shared love of musical theatre. As an adult, she works at a nursing home and continues to display manipulative and sadistic tendencies towards her patients. She owns a pet parrot named Caligula and is a member of an online crime solving club called the Citizen Detectives.
Juliette Lewis (seasons 1–2) and Sophie Thatcher as the adult and teenage Natalie “Nat” Scatorccio. In high school, Natalie is frequently judged and harassed by her teammates due to her drug and alcohol abuse. She is best friends with Kevyn prior to the plane crash. After the plane crash, Natalie and Travis prove to be the most proficient with the hunting rifle and the two begin dating. As an adult, she maintains a destructive on-and-off-again relationship with Travis but later breaks up with him. She returns to New Jersey after finishing a rehab program paid for by Taissa, but struggles to maintain sobriety and begins contemplating suicide after Travis’s death.
Simone Kessell (season 2) and Courtney Eaton (recurring season 1; main, season 2) as the adult and teenage Charlotte “Lottie” Matthews, a member of the Yellowjackets soccer team who has schizophrenia. Her wealthy parents are responsible for providing the private plane that ultimately crashes. After the plane crash, she runs out of medication and begins experiencing disturbing visions, prompting her to seek spiritual guidance from Laura Lee. Her superstitions are gradually adopted by the survivors during their time in the wilderness. After the survivors are rescued, she is involuntarily committed to a mental hospital in Switzerland. As an adult, she becomes a healer and runs a wellness commune called Camp Green Pine. Although she seems to have been cured, her visions unexpectedly return for the first time in decades.
Lauren Ambrose (season 2) and Liv Hewson (recurring season 1; main, season 2) as the adult and teenage Vanessa “Van” Palmer. In high school, Vanessa is the goalkeeper of the Yellowjackets soccer team. She is secretly dating Taissa prior to the plane crash and their relationship continues during their time in the wilderness. After the plane crash, she is nearly burned alive in the wreckage but manages to escape. During an expedition, she is mauled by wolves which leaves permanent scarring on the left side of her face. Her belief in Lottie’s superstitions strains her relationship with the skeptical Taissa. As an adult, she owns a video store and has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Kevin Alves (recurring season 1; main, season 2) and Andres Soto (recurring season 1; guest season 2) as the teenage and adult Travis Martinez, Coach Martinez’s eldest son and Javi’s brother. After the plane crash, Travis and Natalie prove to be the most proficient with the hunting rifle and the two begin dating. He maintains a destructive on-and-off-again relationship with Natalie after the rescue, but when Natalie and Misty find him dead from an apparent suicide, Natalie suspects that he was actually murdered. Prior to his death, he was in contact with Lottie.

PRODUCTION

Development

The idea for the series was largely influenced by the Donner Party (1846–1847) and the Andes flight disaster (1972), both true stories about people who resorted to cannibalism to survive. In August 2017, Warner Bros. Pictures announced an all-female film adaptation of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a novel about a young group of boys stranded on an island. Ashley Lyle read the announcement and found that a lot of people were skeptical that young girls could descend into the same barbarism as young boys. With that thought in mind, she conceived the idea for the series with her husband Bart Nickerson as a “metaphor for teenage hierarchy” and placed a large part of the series in New Jersey, the state they both grew up in. The title, Yellowjackets, came up on a Google search for sports team names; Lyle said it was a “perfect fit thematically” as yellowjackets are “very dependent on a queen and the dynamics of the hive are very specific”. Lyle and Nickerson are also credited as showrunners alongside Jonathan Lisco, who was brought to the series by executive producer Karyn Kusama. Lyle added, “I just wanted to tell what felt like a very real story about teenage girls.”

Lyle and Nickerson pitched the series with a 35-minute presentation, which included talks about the first season’s ending and a five-season storyline. The series was originally going to take place in the 1970s and the 1990s, but both time periods were moved two decades forward to make the setting more familiar to viewers. Nickerson said the use of two timelines allowed for the studying of interpersonal dynamics and how trauma can affect one’s life. HBO was a contender to purchase the series but ultimately rejected it, in part due to its similarities with Euphoria, one of its own properties. Lyle says the smartest question she heard during the pre-production phase was from HBO’s Francesca Orsi and David Levine, who asked, “What are you trying to say with this show?” In his answer, Nickerson said the show was going to deconstruct the “organizing principles of a society”. Yellowjackets was eventually sold to The Mark Gordon Company, a production company owned by Entertainment One. The project was then pitched to Gary Levine, president of entertainment for Showtime Networks, who was immediately on board. On May 9, 2018, Showtime announced it had acquired the rights to the series.

When we were formulating and developing the idea we always saw this as a multi-season story and our goal in the first season is to very much answer certain questions, because I personally get very irritated with shows that drag everything on forever and don’t give you any answers. So, we wanted to answer some questions and ask some new ones, so that is hopefully what we accomplished over the course of this season. — Ashley Lyle

On December 16, 2021, after the first five episodes aired, the series was renewed for a second season. Levine said they had “not heard the pitch for season 2, the writers’ room has not even come together yet, they are going to come together in January. I’m sure Ashley, Bart, and Jonathan have some loose ideas but they hadn’t fleshed out their ideas and they certainly haven’t conveyed them to us.” On February 9, 2022, Levine said the creators had “always given us hints about things to come, but we haven’t done a long-range plan. We wanted to make the first season count. We’ve all buried ourselves in that first season and worked hard to make it the success it was. They [last week] went into the writer’s room and with Jonathan Lisco to start to unearth what can happen in season two. I love that they have some general idea of a five-year arc, but we take it one season at a time and get very granular about making it satisfying.” By May 2022, the writers were stated to be in the initial stage of writing the scripts. On December 15, 2022, three months ahead of the second-season premiere, Showtime renewed the series for a third season. Writing began on May 1, 2023, but halted the next day in accordance with the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. In June 2023, series co-creator Ashley Lyle confirmed that a bonus episode would air between the second and third season.