Devout fans of "Yellowjackets" are familiar with the series’ penchant for providing more questions than answers. Who is pit girl? Or the Antler Queen? Or the man with no eyes? What are those strange symbols that keep appearing on trees and envelopes and slap bracelets? Is "The Wilderness" even real, and what defines that realness? But outside of the plot, grounded in our reality, is this: Why has a disturbing show full of violence, confusing supernatural elements and extremely “unlikable” characters garnered such a passionate fanbase largely comprised of young marginalized viewers?
"Yellowjackets" follows two timelines. In the late 1990s, a New Jersey high school girls' soccer team crashes in the middle of a remote Canadian forest and, driven by hunger and an eerie spiritual connection dubbed The Wilderness, begin to ritualistically hunt and eat each other to survive. In the 2020s, some of those girls have now grown into adult women navigating daily struggles alongside lingering trauma from their nineteen stranded months. Among the central cast we’ve followed from both timelines are Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Taissa (Tawny Cypress), Natalie (Juliette Lewis), Misty (Christina Ricci) and, as of Season 2, Lottie (Simone Kessell) and Van (Lauren Ambrose), a collection of deeply imperfect women who we first meet as deeply imperfect girls.
