It’s just been seven months since the season one finale of Yellowjackets aired on television, yet it seems like an eternity. Recent casting news for the upcoming season of the thriller-drama, which includes Lauren Ambrose as Adult Van Palmer, Simone Kessell as Adult Lottie Matthews, and Elijah Wood as new character Walter, a citizen investigator, has helped to generate some anticipation. Thank goodness, Season 2 has officially begun filming.
On the afternoon of August 30, the news was posted to the show’s official Twitter account. Clapperboard for the premiere of the new season was included in the post.
The picture also indicated that Daisy von Scherler Mayer would be the episode’s director and that Shasta Spahn would be the episode’s cinematographer. An accompanying caption stated, “Going wild After a brief hiatus, work on Season 2 of #Yellowjackets has resumed “…a bee (or yellowjacket) emoji at the very end of the tail. Also, the official account tweeted back to a fan, “everything will just be absolutely tranquil and not at all frightening!” in a sarcastic tease for the upcoming season. Oh, sure. Following a teenage girls’ soccer team (and their assistant coach, Ben) as they crash in the Seattle wilderness en route to a tournament in Seattle in the 1990s, Yellowjackets debuted in 2021.
After being lost in the woods for 19 months, the sisters (and Ben) are driven to extreme methods by their need to stay alive. While we haven’t seen them consume any human beings just yet, the pilot episode does have flash-forwards that hint at this potential future plot point. Also included in Yellowjackets are the girls as adults, where we see how they deal with the trauma they endured in the forest in varying ways. This contemporary timeline helps not just to tease and generate suspense for the teens, but also for the spectator, who is left to speculate about everything from the Antler Queen to Misty’s (Sammi Hanratty) relationship with Ben to who eats who.
The first season concluded with a spectacular showdown. After an adolescent argument, Jackie (Ella Purnell) decides to sleep outside in the bitter cold of the 1990s. Sophie Nélisse’s character, Shauna, is devastated and begins to blame herself for what happened. Meanwhile, a few of the young women have begun to make sacrifices to the forest’s mysterious forces in the hopes of winning its favour. A present-day Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) puts an end to her adulterous affair after confronting her lover about his knowledge of her past. She and her fellow forest dwellers take care of the body and then head to their 25th high school reunion. At a later point, Natalie (Juliette Lewis) is abducted by an odd bunch, and a voicemail indicates that Lottie is probably responsible for it and, more significantly, that she is still alive.