‘Yellowjackets’ Is Coming Back For Season 2
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The following story contains spoilers for Season 1 of Yellowjackets.
A good rule of thumb for modern TV is to expect the unexpected—just look how many of our favorite new shows of 2021 turned out to be things we had no idea were coming at the start of the year. One to make that 2021 list that will also make our 2022 list is Yellowjackets (gotta love those late-year season starts!), a show which came basically out of nowhere to become a wildly buzzy (pardon the pun) hit, filled with great acting, an engrossing story, tons of mystery and intrigue, and an absolutely banging soundtrack.
Yellowjackets captured the attention of the obsessive pop culture crowd much in the same way that Lost did nearly two decades ago—people looking any and everywhere for any possible clues as to what exactly is going on in both our 1996 and present day storylines. The Yellowjackets Subreddit, as you must expect, is lit.
But why Yellowjackets? There are a lot of mystery shows out there, and they certainly don't all get fans—and especially new fans, as Yellowjackets isn't based on any sort of existing intellectual property—this excited. And the answer to that is pretty simple: the show comes at the intersection of exceptional writing (it never feels fake or stale), J.J. Abrams Mystery Box-style plotting, and grounded, believable performances from both (past and present) cast groupings. Watching these people play this story out is just plain fun—even though the characters, clearly, are not having as much fun as those of us watching at home.
Anyway, here's what we know and can surmise about the forthcoming Season 2 of Yellowjackets.
Watch Yellowjackets on Showtime
Will there be a Season 2 of Yellowjackets?
Yes! Yellowjackets was officially renewed for Season 2 in mid-December, only about halfway through its first season run. The show had already begun to catch fire among fans and critics, and has only grown due to word of mouth in the weeks since.
“Yellowjackets has been an unadulterated sensation for Showtime,” Showtime entertainment president Gary Levine said. “We are overwhelmed by both the acclaim and the audience response to our series, including several ‘Best of 2021’ lists, a 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and snowballing viewership. Clearly there is a hunger for originality and audacity, and our incredible showrunners Ashley, Bart and Jonathan, along with their pitch-perfect cast, have delivered that and so much more. I can’t wait to see the surprises they have in store for us in season two.”
And if the show keeps its exceptionally high level of quality—and audiences remain as interested as they are at the moment—then Season 2 is still only the beginning. In an interview with THR's TV Podcast, creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson said that they have plans for the show to go on even longer than that. “We pitched it as a five-season idea,” Nickerson said.
Series star Melanie Lynskey, who plays present Shauna, said at the Vulture Festival Yellowjackets panel that she discussed longer term plans (including as far down the line as Season 5!) with Nickerson and Lyle.
When will Season 2 of Yellowjackets come out?
That still remains to be seen. With all the different sets and locations involved, Yellowjackets likely isn't the easiest show to produce. But outside of any delays due to Covid-19 or any other unforeseen reason (fingers crossed), we'd fully expect Season 2 to be ready to go right around the same time in 2022: late fall, early winter.
What will Season 2 of Yellowjackets be about?
That's a good question. It feels safe to say that the show will continue to follow both timelines, in 1996, with the Yellowjackets stuck in the woods, and in the present, with our survivors way down the line.
We know that the team (and Travis, and Coach Ben, and Javi) were in the woods for 19 months, and we've only just scratched the surface of their twisted story out there. We saw the opening scene Season 1, with someone in a nightgown getting caught (and presumably killed) in a trap, and eventually (we think?!?!) eaten by the people in furs led by the antler queen. And we also saw early on that that psychopath Misty is one of those people wearing furs. That part 100% tracks, to be honest.
The Season 1 finale didn't resolve who this nightgown person was. But we certainly saw the starts of whatever cult worshipping thing was happening out in the woods: Lottie, who last week donned her Antler crown for (presumably) the first time, with Van and Misty just behind her. Clearly this will be continued upon in Season 2.
While the Season 1 finale gave our 1996 storyline a major, major shake-up—Jackie, banished from the house by her fellow Yellowjackets, froze to death just outside the cabin—it was the penultimate episode that seemed to tell us more about the events to come. In that story, we saw what happened when (or, at least, the first time) everyone ingests the mushrooms that Misty gave to Coach Ben: they trip balls. And that tripping made a bunch of the girls act really weird, starting to make the same kind of animal noises that we heard in the first episode as the nightgown girl ran through the woods. We also saw Shauna almost murder Travis, and saw Lottie putting the antler crown on top of her head. As the conclusion of the finale showed, this crazy, crazy story seems to be only just beginning (and there are certainly more twists coming).
Our present-day story will certainly be continuing as well; we know that each of our four main women has their own thing going. Shauna had an affair and then killed Adam, who in the end didn't seem to be all that guilty. Now, after the women disposed of Adam's body (thanks to Misty's continually useful set of skills), Shauna apparently is getting on much better with Jeff than ever before? Weird. But her daughter, Callie, knew about her affair, and now knows the guy she had an affair with is missing. Right at the same time as her parents being strangely close. Something to watch there.
After what was probably basically 26 years of spiraling since the crash and the time in the wilderness, Nat is spiraling more than ever after Travis' death—which she still isn't convinced was a suicide. She was about to follow in his supposed footsteps when just before pulling the trigger, people from some sort of facility, wearing the symbol from the woods that we've seen so much all season long, burst through the door. Just as this happens, we hear from Suzie, the woman who Nat has asked to look into Travis' bank accounts, leaving a message on Nat's phone—which has been left behind. Who the hell is Lottie Matthews? That's Suzie's question that Nat won't hear for a little bit, but tells us that our Antler Queen is alive and causing all sorts of trouble in the present day. That will be an enormous Season 2 storyline.
Tai's at all sorts of crossroads; she had the outside look of happiness and success, and now has won her state senate race in a shocking upset. But in reality, she's destroyed her marriage—and her probably-soon-to-be-ex wife has just found a secret room with a dog head, a voodoo doll, and a heart in it. That is certainly not going to end well. And let's not forget the fact that Taissa also has a fugue state mind where she sits in a tree and eats dirt in the middle of the night.
And Misty...oh my, where do we even start with Misty? Other than the fact that she's just a completely deranged psychopath (and the best character on the show, Emmy for Christina Ricci please), she's also just disposed of Adam's body only to presumably kill someone else: Jessica, with a Fentanyl-laced cigarette, sounds like a guess in a deranged modern version of Clue, but it's only really Misty's latest happening on Yellowjackets.
Who will be in the cast?
It's safe to expect that most of our main characters will return in their same form. That means Melanie Lynskey (Shauna), Juliette Lewis (Nat), Christina Ricci (Misty), and Tawny Cypress (Taissa) should all be back. It would also make sense that Shauna's husband, Jeff (Warren Kole) remain in the show as well. We also expect the stranded characters to remain part of the story, including Misty (Samantha Hanratty), Nat (Sophie Thatcher), Shauna (Sophie Nelisse) and Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown). Lottie (Courtney Eaton) seems primed for a big role yet again, and Van (Liv Hewson) is basically unkillable, so both of them are likely to return as well.
The Season 1 finale lets us know that Lottie is still alive in our present-day storyline, and it seems likely that she'll be meeting with Nat some time very soon. It would make sense for the show to follow suit with much of its cast and bring in a major 90s star for the role—may we suggest Uma Thurman? Lewis (in From Dusk Til Dawn) and Thurman (in Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill) have both worked with the famous writer/director, and she would be a natural fit along the rest of this case. And let's not overlook the fact that it would be just plain fun.
Unfortunately, with the events of the Season 1 finale it would seem like our time with Jackie (Ella Purnell) has come to a close; there's always room for more flashbacks or ghostly visions (hell, Jane Widdop found her way into the finale as Laura Lee), but that seems likely to be Special Guest Star territory, and not totally relevant to either storyline going forward.
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