There’s no doubt about it, the debut of Showtime’s survival dramaYellowjackets, which premiered last November, has already received cult status. It became one of the most talked-about series since its premiere, with each episode adding a twist or ending with a cliffhanger that further takes audiences into the mystery of what happened to the Yellowjackets soccer team while they were stranded in the forest. It left viewers wishing they could watch a new episode immediately instead of waiting the following week for those answers and new mysteries.
Yellowjacketsis about a group of high school girlsin a soccer team called Yellowjackets flying to a national tournament when their plane suddenly crashes in the middle of nowhere. The soccer team has to figure out how to survive the wilderness while awaiting rescue for nineteen months. The series flashes between the high schoolers in the wilderness in 1996 to some of the survivors as adults in 2021 as they navigate their lives. The series boasts an all-star cast including Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, Tawny Cypress, and Christina Ricci as the adult versions of Shauna, Natalie, Taissa, and Misty, while Sophie Nélisse, Sophie Thatcher, Jasmine Savoy Brown, and Sammi Hanratty play their teenage counterpart respectively. It additionally stars Ella Purnell as Jackie, Steven Kruger as Ben, and Warren Kole as Jeff.
The first season ofYellowjacketshas been raved by critics for the cast as well as the storyline, withShowtime renewingthe series for a second seasonafter its debut success. Without revealing any spoilers, here is whyYellowjacketsseason 1 is worth binge-watching while we eagerly await season 2.
Yellowjackets Season 1: A Genre Blend
The main storyline ofYellowjacketsseason one can be compared toLord of the Flies,such as how the soccer team will survive after their plane crashes. Most passengers on the plane were high schoolers and were forced to face intimidating or unbearable tasks that still needed to be done. With each episode, viewers watch as the girls learn new survivor skills while facing constant obstacles that make surviving difficult. After a time, food and water from the plane are gone, and there’s only so much rationing that can be done. For the ones that made it, viewers learn how they find alternative ways to acquire food and water.
Like another fan-favorite survival drama,Lost, when we flash forward to the adult versions of the survivors, it’s curious to know how they each moved on with their lives. Some seem to move on from the past while others don’t. It is revealed that the survivors do not share any further details about what happened in the wilderness with the public. All that is public information is that they were trapped for nineteen months and eventually rescued but refused to talk about what actually happened after the crash.
Related:Yellowjackets Creators Tease a ‘Darker’ and ‘Weirder’ Second Season
The plot inYellowjacketsunravels with each episode when they switch from 1996 to 2021, where it feels like the viewers are in on the secret of what happened to the survivors. AsVarietynotes, it blends teen tropes, horror, and psychological drama with a confidence that makes it hard to stop watching, even at its most gruesome.
The genre ofYellowjacketsis what also has drawn many viewers. While it technically is a survival drama, it’s also filled with some comedic relief and horror. It’s been compared to similar-like shows or movies such asLost, Lord of the Flies, Cast Away,andIt.It’s a series that is not for the faint-hearted, but if mystery and horror are, thenYellowjacketsis for sure a series to get into.
Yellowjackets Season 1: Critical Acclaim
The first season ofYellowjacketshas been met with critical acclaim. The consensus is that the cast’s performance is spectacular along with the storyline, receiving a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The series has been praised for the dual timelines that give viewers a chance to piece together the conflict and obstacles within each character. Melanie Lynskey has already won a Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series. It wouldn’t be a surprise to seeYellowjacketsreceive multiple nominations for the upcoming Emmys.
Related:Here’s What to Watch If You Liked Yellowjackets
Yellowjacketsis also a series that continued to trend on social media with each release of an episode, showing fan favoritism and anticipation for what will follow. AsWiredput it,Yellowjacketsis a mystery full of symbolism, clues, and Easter eggs that the internet loves to devour and hypothesize about. There have been countless Redditt and Twitter threads that theorize each character and their story arc that may or may not be true and will only be revealed until the following episode.
