Each week, Jenn and Joe discuss the latest episode of Showtime’s Yellowjackets S03. Spoilers ahead!
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- S01/S02: Murder Made Fiction Patreon
- S03: Episode 1-2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Episode 3.08 “A Normal, Boring Life”: With a possible escape from their nightmare, the Yellowjackets learn not everyone may be in a rush to leave. In the present, the unexpected return of an old teammate sends Shauna spiraling in ways that should probably concern everyone.
JOE
Well, Jenn, I guess Yellowjackets pulled a fast one on us after all. We predicted earlier this season that Hilary Swank was playing Melissa, but then last week’s episode threw us for a loop by suggesting that she was dead.
The reality is that “Croak” writers Alisha Brophy & Ameni Rozsa and “A Normal, Boring Life” writer Julia Bicknell aren’t exactly playing fair. Or perhaps it’s a testament to the other prevailing fact that we’ve come to realize in S03: Shauna (Sophie Nélisse and Melanie Lynskey), in either timeline, is so fucking scary and unhinged that characters would rather fake their death than have her know they’re alive.
But let’s back up: as predicted, Shauna infiltrates the home of Alex, the daughter of scientist Hannah (Ashley Sutton), who is gay, has a young daughter and is apparently married to Melissa, now going by the name Kelly.
Sidebar: it is *a choice* by the costuming department to still have Melissa wear a backwards baseball cap more than 25 years later. I get the need to help the audience understand that this is the same character, but come on
The rest of the episode plays out a bit like Kill Bill, with Shauna in the Beatrice Kiddo role and Melissa as Vernita Green. In a kind of in-joke, Shauna does, in fact, sit down with Melissa for that “gentle, reasonable conversation” she promised the others: the women set up at the kitchen island with their knives in plain view and hash out how this came to be.
Perhaps Bicknell is trying to throw us for another loop, but one of the main narrative purposes of “A Normal, Boring Life” is to undermine Shauna’s credibility. As Jeff (Warren Kole) and Callie (Sarah Desjardins) realize, and as Melissa explicitly states, perhaps no one is out to get Shauna. As we recall, the brake lines in the van weren’t tampered with, and it’s feasible that a walk-in freezer locked and that someone left a phone with a popular ringtone in a bathroom.
There is a curious insinuation that the DAT tape – the one with the incriminating evidence of Edwin’s abrupt murder by teen Lottie (Courtney Eaton) – was meant to be accompanied by an explanatory note, but Shauna (and, by proxy, the audience) don’t know anything about that. (Methinks Callie was involved in that because she was the one who initially opened the tape).
All of this suggests that Melissa is right when she accuses Shauna of wanting to blow up her own life because, unlike the ballcap-wearing lesbian, Shauna cannot abide the boredom of her domesticity in the suburbs. It’s not out of the realm of the possible, especially given how erratic Shauna has been behaving.
Of course, that just sets Shauna off more, leading to a pretty surprising/upsetting scene in which their fight only ends after Shauna bites off a chunk of Melissa’s shoulder and dangles it above her face, demanding she eat it or Shauna will tell Alex who she really is.
Combined with the events of ‘97, which ends on its own cliffhanger as the group prepares to leave with its captive rescuers…until Shauna insists they’re not going anywhere, and what we have is Shauna acting dangerously unhinged in both of Yellowjackets’ timelines.
So Jenn, let me ask you the question I posed in our DMs: are the writers out to purposefully make the audience turn on Shauna? Because it’s becoming increasingly hard to support either version (despite Nelisse and Lynskey’s inherent talents and likability).
And in other parts of the show: are you vibing with the continuing adventures of Dark Tai (Tawny Cypress) at the hospital? Were you intrigued by Travis (Kevin Alves) and Akilah (Nia Sondaya)’s back and forth while leading Kodi (Joel McHale) through the woods? And did you delight or cringe at Jeff’s desperate pitch to the Joels to side with him over FurnitureFam.Net because “haven’t you ever fallen in love with an unhinged woman?”
JENN
Joe, I’ve been basically onboard for everything that’s gone down this season, from the strange (screaming frogs) to the spooky (slap bracelet hallucinations) to the implausible (those Pier1 lanterns), but this episode may be a bridge too far.
As a self-described cannibalism freak, I love how this episode ends. Is this double cannibalism? Forced self cannibalism? Is Shauna finding new and creative ways to butcher her meat? Whatever the case, it’s certainly fucked up and I did not anticipate the episode ending with blood dripping from Lynskey’ mouth.
But I just do not like this turn for Shauna.
The idea of wanting to blow up your life is something I spend a lot of time thinking about (and a big part of the reason I no longer drink), but I just don’t know if this feels earned. We’ve been on Shauna’s side for the last two seasons. I get that losing her baby and her best friend has caused a lot of unresolved trauma, but I just don’t think the Shauna I know would go this far over the edge. It just feels a little messy and manufactured to me.
The only thing I like about this high-stakes conversation is the revelation that Melissa (and her god-forsaken backwards hat) started having dreams about their time in the woods despite essentially having no connection to the group. It seems to me that being together causes whatever they connected with in the wilderness to stir and I wonder if we’re heading for a Girls-style ending where they realize that it’s best for everyone if they cut off all contact.
I’m also frustrated by what feels like foot-dragging to save Van (though I do love Cypress’s stunned “does that count?” after screaming “FUCK” in the face of a man with terminal heart disease).
*Also the lack of Walter (Elijah Wood) content is maddening.
But what saves the adult timeline for me is Kole’s hilarious Jeff. His wailing on the bed and failed attempts to get Misty (Christina Ricci) to talk are pitch-perfect and lighten up what feels like a placeholder episode. I do NOT like, however, his continued groveling for the Joels and his blatant throwing of Shauna under the bus, as hilarious as the reasoning may be. Shauna’s take-down of these little dilettantes was good, not bad. They’re assholes who deserve to be put in their place and Jeff is better than their stupid hotels.
Turning to the ‘97 timeline, I’m not surprised that Lottie has chosen to stay and Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown)’s reason to join her breaks my heart. But I wish they would just say, “we can’t go back because they’ll tell everyone we eat people and killed the Frog Scientist.” Shauna does mention it, but this idea that “it just feels wrong” seems egregiously thin.
This does set up a showdown between former leader Nat and new leader Shauna that I’m excited to see play out. And further informs why no one wants to be around her in the present. Some of these girls are going to die because of this decision combined with Lottie’s ax-happy actions from the previous episode.
Side note: I LOVE that Eaton’s face is still covered in blood.
Surprisingly it’s Travis who saves the episode for me. I love his desperation to escape the woods and get away from the girls, which PS. further cements my belief that he actually burned down the cabin. He also reveals that he doesn’t believe any of the lore they’ve created.
While it’s fine to go with the flow to get through the day—and let’s be honest, to avoid the wrath of the girls who ate his brother—he thinks (knows?) it’s all a bunch of stories they’ve created to protect themselves from the devastation of reality. I also find it interesting that he immediately turns on Kodi to save his own neck. He will do whatever he has to do to survive. And I love it.
With two episodes to go, I guess the real question is: what answers can we hope for? Will we find out who killed adult Lottie? For the record, my money’s still on Callie.
Is someone actually trying to kill Shauna? Perhaps Walter? Will Other Tai stay in control and is Van actually going to die? What’s up with these aggressive moths and will Melissa actually eat a piece of her own arm? What do you think? Will we get any answers in the penultimate episode?
JOE
I sincerely hope that Van isn’t going to die because I would hate to lose Lauren Ambrose from the ensemble (not that the show has really ever figured out what to do with her).
Perhaps my slight ambivalence is the feeling that the show is spinning a) on its wheels, b) away from what it used to be, and/or c) away from what I hoped it would be.
You’re right that stuff like Travis negotiating the gender politics to ensure his own survival, and the continued tension between Antler Queens is dramatic enough to continue watching. I just wish that my viewing experience wasn’t continually tempered with “ohhh, that’s interesting. Wait, why the fuck do they want us to turn on this character now?!”
Look, I looooove Lynskey and I’ve been impressed with Nelisse. But this whole third season has felt like an attempt to get the audience to turn on the character and I don’t fully understand it. I legitimately don’t know what, if any, answers we’ll get in the remaining two episodes, but I’m feeling more uncertain about the show than I ever have before. What is the game-plan here? In previous seasons and with other shows, the lack of certainty would have been exciting.
With this season, I’m just feeling a lot of trepidation about what comes next.
Jenn, back to you: do you think we’ll get answers and resolutions to these arcs? Is there any possible timeline in which Shauna doesn’t kill Melissa/Kelly? (Will Alex and the daughter walk in on them a la Kill Bill?) Are you interested to see how Shauna’s ultimatum at episode’s end will divide the group? And who will die next?
JENN
Ok I feel the need to confess something important. I’ve only seen Kill Bill once and it was a long time ago. Like, college, a long time ago. I also don’t think I’ve ever seen the second one. So I’m not totally sure—unless Melissa secretly has a barbed mace tucked inside that backwards cap—but I don’t think this ends with them being best friends. It would feel like a huge waste of Swank’s time and talents to introduce her so late in the season just to kill her off so I’m betting she survives at least until season four.
Now Alex is a different story. And given Shauna’s current mean (read: murderous) streak, I wouldn’t be surprised if she kills their kid too.
You’re right that recent events have squandered two seasons worth of understanding and goodwill towards this complicated character. It feels like a contrived dip in likability designed for maximum redemption in later seasons, but I’m not digging how much Unhinged Shauna has defined this season.
I’m also nervous about Van’s future, especially considering Lottie’s unceremonious end. And this past episode has had an aimlessness that I didn’t expect this late in the season. That said, I’m willing to give my cannibal sisters the benefit of the doubt and hope they can get their shit together for episode 9.
Yellowjackets airs Fridays on Paramount+ on Showtime (and/or Sundays depending on where you’re watching)
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