Like the sting of a nasty little cannibalistic insect, Yellowjackets has been itching at me ever since that addictive pilot episode. This is the kind of show that invites fan obsession, like Lost with a teen coming-of-age twist.
With the finale airing worldwide just a few days ago, the entirety of Yellowjackets season 1 is now available to watch on Paramount+ for Australian audiences. You’ll want to sign up and spend your seven-day free trial on this show: it totally lives up to the buzz.
Yellowjackets: Season 1
Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, the thriller series takes place over two eras: in 1996, a champion girls’ soccer team is stranded in the wilderness after their plane trip to a national competition goes horribly wrong. Right from the pilot episode (directed by Jennifer’s Body auteur Karyn Kusama), we know that all those hormones, hunger, and survival instincts devolve into cult-like violence. Maybe even cannibalism…
In 2021, four of the tragedy’s survivors are trying to keep their lives together. Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) is an unsatisfied housewife, Taissa (Tawny Cypress) puts on a good façade to run for state political office, Natalie (Juliette Lewis) just got out of rehab for the umpteenth time, and Misty (Christina Ricci) is a nutty care nurse whose life may have actually peaked out there in the woods.
So what happened in between these two thrilling timelines? Who will be the first to die (and perhaps even to get eaten)? Who is hunting down and threatening the Yellowjackets in the present day, taunting them with a mysterious symbol?
And most importantly…how the hell did this show pull off such perfect casting?! It’s enough of an achievement to cast young actresses that look and act exactly like their older counterparts, but for all of those grown-up actresses to be nineties screen icons?? Damn, Yellowjackets. The series’ confirmed second season better hurry up and give us more Lynskey, Ricci, Lewis, and Cypress, stat. And some more throwback jams on the soundtrack please.
