Warning! This review contains SPOILERS for Yellowjackets season 3, episodes 1 and 2, “It Girl” and “Dislocation!“In the nearly two years since theYellowjacketsseason 2 finale, it’s been agony waiting to see what has become of the team, past and present. However, the first two episodes ofYellowjacketsseason 3, “It Girl” and “Dislocation,” are a reset, not a continuation. It’s no secret that season 2 started losing the thread of what madeYellowjacketsso initially compelling, andthe first few episodes of season 3 feel similar to a soft reboot.Only time will tell if this is the pivot the show needs or if the girls will end up back where they started.
From the first moments of episode 1,Yellowjacketsattempts to answer some of the many questions it posed atthe end of season 2. I wasn’t a fan of the heavy-handed recap provided by Van (Liv Hewson) and Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) in season 3’s premiere. It delivered the necessary exposition as it quickly became clearthere was a significant time jump in the woods and the present,but there must have been a more graceful way to provide this information. The fact that it isn’t winter anymore was a good tip-off on its own.
Yellowjackets Season 3 Pushes The Plot Forward, But Leaves The Characters Behind
Despite The Intense Emotional Fallout Of Season 2, Many Characters Proceed With Business As Usual
As always,Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, and the rest of the adults are doing a fantastic job bringing the necessary humor to the series. However, while their younger selves are grappling with life and death, the adults are grappling with virtually zero consequences for their actions. Everyone is happily paired off romantically when the season starts, andthe legal issues plaguing the characters and getting pretty messy at the end of season 2 have been neatly wrapped up.Outside a few verbal acknowledgments, no one butMisty is particularly upset about Nat.
For a show about cannibalism, everything is just a little too tidy at the start ofYellowjacketsseason 3. It’s possible the writers are lulling us into a false sense of security, as they do set up a fair number of story elements that are sure to result in exciting blowouts. However, ifYellowjacketsdoesn’t take these conflicts as far as it can, we’re looking at a disappointing third installment. Despite my worries,I do have a lot of hope for this season and can see the writers know where season 2 started to go off the rails.
Unfortunately, time and again, we wait forYellowjacketsto deliver the payoff, give us an answer, or break the intensely built-up tension, but the show underperforms during critical moments.
Going intoYellowjacketsseason 3,Shauna remains my favorite character,so I’ll always be inclined to root for her, even at her most homicidal. Her emotional journey has consistently been one of the most compelling of the series, as the tangible grief and loss she’s faced, both in and out of the woods, has made her into a very complex individual. I’m excited about where it seemsYellowjacketsis taking her character. However, her conflict with Nat in the woods should be a gripping part of the series, but it’s being prolonged, forcing us to wait.
Unfortunately, time and again, we wait forYellowjacketsto deliver the payoff, give us an answer, or break the intensely built-up tension, but the show underperforms during critical moments.This is a recurring theme across the seasons, and I want to see the series shed it this year. If the crime elements from the last two seasons are being put to bed, then whatever replaces it in the present needs to shake up the status quo, as the first two episodes do little to progress the story.
An excellent development is that season 3 is clearly going to utilize the other team members who have been relegated to the background for the first two installments. At this point, enough characters in the woods have died to make it necessary for the series to start bringing new personalities into the fold. This couldn’t come at a better time, and so far, it seems as thoughYellowjacketsis taking advantage of the opportunity.New sides of the characters are coming out,and I want more of that.
Yellowjackets Season 3 Starts Picking Up Speed By The End Of Episode 2
There Are A Few Paths Forward For Yellowjackets Season 3 & I Want The Show To Take The Most Outrageous
What I saw from the first two episodes ofYellowjacketsseason 3 was an unfocused and uncertain show that wasn’t sure where to turn. There are kernels of good ideas that are coming to the surface and hint that it could become the series it’s always tried to be.I’m the most engaged whenYellowjacketsplays with surrealism, pushes its characters to truly unhinged acts,and gives me hints to help piece together the mystery. A puzzle isn’t any fun when you don’t have all the pieces, soYellowjacketsneeds to start connecting the many dots it’s laid out.
For all my mixed feelings about the series, I can’t lie; the final moments of “Dislocation” sucked me back intoYellowjacketsand made me excited to see more of the season. The series might have lost its vision in terms of the overarching arc and mystery, but it still understands its target audience and knows what they want to see.Yellowjacketshas all the tools it needs to craft an iconic season of television, but it’s up to the series to get us there.
Yellowjacketsseason 3 debuts new episodes weekly each Friday on Paramount+ with Showtime and on Sundays on Showtime.
