If a nightmarish survival scenario, dual timelines, hints of the supernatural and a cast of fascinatingly complicated characters sounds like a fun time, you’re in for a treat. One of the best seasons of television I’ve seen in years just landed on Netflix and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a must-see TV series.
Yellowjackets first aired back in 2022 on Showtime where it quickly found a cult following thanks to its twisty-turny story and compelling cast. The series follows a high school girls’ soccer team across two disparate timelines.
In the first, the girls crash-land in a vast wilderness on their way to a soccer tournament. Here, they not only face starvation and the elements, but strange visions, creepy discoveries and other horrifying encounters which often leave both the characters and the audience wondering whether some supernatural forces are at play, or if there are more mundane explanations for all the bizarre things that happen. The mystery is compelling.
In the second timeline, we follow several of the girls decades later. We know that at least some of the characters survive, but we’re not entirely sure who or—perhaps more importantly—how. These middle-aged survivors have deep, dark secrets and harbor old griefs and terrible guilt. Bit by bit, both stories unfold in tandem. It’s one of the most ominous, gripping seasons of TV I’ve ever seen, with plenty of shocking revelations, sordid betrayals and and even some welcome humor thrown in for good measure.
It’s the cast, however, that really elevates the show. Ella Purnell (Fallout, Arcane) stars as Jackie, the captain of the soccer team and a natural leader who finds herself out of her element in the wild. She’s best friends with Shauna (Sophie Nelisse) though their friendship is tested as they struggle to survive. Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) is the black sheep of the team, and probably my favorite character in the series. Other teenage survivors include Travis (Kevin Alves), Lottie (Courtney Eaton), Van (Liv Hewson) and Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown)—as well as Misty (Sammi Hanratty) who I can only describe as the wild card, though perhaps there are more than one. The team’s assistant coach, Ben (Steven Krueger) also survives the crash, though he’s a changed man.
Meanwhile, in the modern-day timeline we mainly follow Shauna (Melanie Lynksey), Taissa (Tawny Cypress), Natalie (Juliette Lewis) and Misty (Christina Ricci). Like I said, it’s a stellar cast. The actors in both timelines are phenomenal and both stories—which weave together in fascinating ways—are great from start to finish, each with its own mysteries to unravel and calamities to endure.
On top of this, the original score for the first season of the show is one of the most intense and haunting scores I’ve heard in a television show.
Only Season 1 is out now on Netflix, and here’s where I have to throw in a pretty big caveat: The first season is much, much better than the second, which remains on Showtime/Paramount+ though it will come to Netflix at a later date. Frankly, as a standalone season, Yellowjackets is absolutely brilliant and one of my favorite modern TV shows. The second season wasn’t all bad, but it was nowhere near as good as the first, and it really felt like many aspects of the story fell apart rather spectacularly. I think I was so let down because I was such a huge, huge fan of Season 1. But the Season 2 finale genuinely upset me, unlike the brilliant finale to Season 1 (which wasn’t even its best episode).
I still recommend you watch the first season and if you like it, you can always make up your own mind about Season 2. I’m still hopeful that Season 3 will get the series back on track, but no matter what I’ll always be a superfan of the first season, which I’ve already watched three times over. It’s one of the best female-led shows out there, in large part because it never engages in silly girlboss tropes and treats each of its characters like well-rounded (and deeply flawed) human beings. It’s great. Do yourself a favor and give it a shot. It made my Best TV Shows Of 2022 list as well:
Have you watched Yellowjackets? What did you think? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
