Editor’s Note: The following are spoilers for the second season of The Yellow Jackets.Like the very last episode yellow jackets The second season proved once again that tensions in the desert are on the rise. Still in the midst of a harsh winter, the Yellowjackets are running out of food and are basically locked in a cabin, not to mention the chaos and aftermath of Shona (Sophie Nelisse) pregnancy. As Shauna begins to come to terms with the pain of losing her baby, the rest of the group is tiptoeing around her, and for good reason. In the last moments of the episode, Shauna finally snaps, first punching Misty (Samantha Hanratty) and then beating Lottie (Courtney Eaton) to pulp. But did Lottie deserve it?
Shauna and Lottie have always been at odds
Since running out of antipsychotic medication after the plane crash, Lottie has had visions and premonitions, many of which have come true. She first sought spiritual guidance from Laura Lee (Jane Widdop), but after her death, when Lottie’s predictions came true, she began to gather her own group of believers, starting with Misty and Van (Liv Hewson). Although several girls, namely Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) and Taissa (Jasmine Savoy Brown) were skeptical as time went by and more and more of Lottie’s seemingly impossible premonitions came true, most of the Yellowjackets came to believe Lottie’s connection to the mysterious forces of the forest they were trapped in.
Although the group used to have more divisions between skeptics and believers, as Season 2 progresses, Shauna is the only Yellowjacket who still vehemently rejects Lottie’s spiritual leadership. She lashes out at Lottie when she finds herself whispering to her unborn child while she is still pregnant and feels betrayed by Taissa, her closest friend other than the now-deceased Jackie (Ella Purnell), for evaluating Lotti’s practice. Like Coach BenStephen Krueger) loses power over the girls, Lottie becomes the person they turn to for advice. Although Lottie did not have the natural leadership qualities that Jackie had, she stepped up when the situation worsened. When Shauna first directs her anger at Misty, blaming her for the loss of her baby, Lottie comes between them. She knows that Shona resents her and needs to let her anger out, so she puts her hands behind her back, orders the rest of the girls not to interfere, and allows Shona to hit her over and over until she passes out.
Shona’s flash waited a long time
While it’s pointless to compare the injuries of the Yellow Jackets, who all survived the plane crash and were forced to go to incredible lengths to survive, Shauna’s torment was the focus of the series. In the first season, her main inner struggle is guilt over having sex with Jackie’s boyfriend. This is a secret she was able to keep from Jackie until her pregnancy was revealed, and sensing that Shauna is lying to her, Jackie reads Shauna’s diary and finds out who the baby’s real father is. In the season one finale, this growing tension finally comes to a head in a massive brawl that results in Jackie’s death as she runs out of the cabin, freezing under the first snow. Shauna discovers Jackie’s body and blames herself for her death, adding to the pre-existing guilt.
At the start of the second season, Shauna upsets Jackie in the most unhealthy way imaginable, by talking to her frozen dead body as if she were still alive. But in the second episode, when Shauna desperately bites Jackie’s severed ear, we see how far their terrible circumstances take her. It’s the dead of winter and no game is in sight, so when the girls feast on Jackie’s charred corpse in the next episode, it becomes a turning point for everyone. It adds another layer of guilt, and despite never wanting a child, it becomes her only beacon of hope, making the loss in Episode 6 all the more heartbreaking. In reality, her child probably wouldn’t have lived very long anyway given the circumstances, but when her son dies at birth, Shauna looks for anyone and anything to blame him. Of course, this is no one’s fault, and it’s hard to imagine pregnancy and childbirth under worse circumstances, but Shauna directs her anger towards the two most obvious targets: Misty and Lottie.
We also see how Shauna’s grief over the loss of her child is intertwined with her ongoing grief over Jackie’s death. Although Shauna’s pregnancy was a direct result of her betrayal of Jackie, she is the only one Shauna wants to talk to afterwards, even going back to the barn where Jackie’s body was previously kept to cry and call for her. Shauna rebuffs Thaissa’s attempts to comfort her, still wishing she had her oldest friend by her side - and in a subtle but impressive detail, during the episode’s final scene where Shauna attacks Lottie, she wears a white shirt with a bow tie that can be see Jackie. wear several times during 1 season.
When Shona passes out during childbirth, she sees a disturbing vision of girls eating her baby with their mouths covered in blood, which certainly adds fuel to the fire. We know this never actually happened because we later see Shauna clutching the strip of fur the girls wrapped the baby’s body in, but the image is stuck in her memory considering they already ate Jackie not too long ago. And while she really knows she can’t blame them for eating her baby, she Maybe blame them for losing it.
Did Lottie deserve it?
Did Lottie deserve such a brutal beating by Shauna? The short answer is no, but Shauna’s outburst of rage is hardly surprising given everything she’s been through. It’s hard to watch, and if we hadn’t already met the grown-up LottieSimone Kessel), it wouldn’t be surprising if Shauna’s beating actually killed her. Lottie knew that Shauna needed this catharsis given all she had been through, and that Shauna holding back her anger would no doubt lead to more tension and problems in the group in the future.
Modern Shona (Melanie Lynskey) and Lottie don’t seem to hate each other, so somewhere along the way they most likely exchanged apologies and forgiveness. While it may have seemed counterintuitive and dangerous, Lottie allowed herself to take the brunt of Shauna’s anger, a testament to her intuition as a leader in her willingness to sacrifice her body for the welfare of the rest of the group. With just a few episodes left in the season and a lot of unanswered questions, only time will tell where Lottie takes them next, and whether Shauna will follow her, past or present.
New episodes yellow jackets Season 2 premieres every Friday on the Showtime streaming app and every Sunday live.
Source: Collider
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