‘Yellowjackets’ season 3 is all the buzz

I hope everyone who was furious about an all-female film adaptation of “Lord of the Flies” in 2017 regrets their objections now, because Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” has certainly proved them wrong.

The season three finale of “Yellowjackets” aired last Friday, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to gain back the hours of sleep I lost from staying up late every Thursday night since February.

Was it worth it? Totally. I even made a bingo sheet with my predictions.

Did I get a bingo? No, but I did fill 14 out of the 25 spaces, so I’d call that a win.

Season three drops us into the second spring/summer season for the teen “Yellowjackets,” having just survived a brutal winter. But some distrust in leadership begins to spread, and the tension could jeopardize their chance of rescue. In the adult timeline, we see that secrets left buried are uncovered as Shauna Sadecki (formerly Shipman), played by Melanie Lynskey, is convinced she’s being blackmailed again.

This season was pretty hard for Shauna enthusiasts (aka me), as she makes some pretty horrible decisions in both timelines. But, Shauna lovers were graced with some incredible performances by Sophie Nélisse, who plays teen Shauna, and Lynskey, who plays adult Shauna.

Nélisse has done an amazing job showing how Shauna’s time in the wilderness has completely changed her. She went from this doe-eyed, seemingly meek girl to a bloodthirsty dictator. And with each episode, Lynskey continues to amaze me. I’m in awe of how she can go from portraying an awkward mother who's struggling to do her best to an insane, raging psychopath.

Both Sophies blew away audiences this season. Sophie Thatcher, who plays teen Nataile Scatorccio, gave a beautiful, emotional performance as we watch Scatorccio be involuntarily thrust into leadership and forced to make tough decisions. At the same time, she had amazing comedic timing, especially when her voice had a New Jersey-Italian accent to it.

The actual plot of the show was interesting; I felt like some questions were answered while new ones were raised, which is enough to keep me invested. One particular plot point I loved was the relationship between Shauna and her daughter, Callie (Sarah Desjardins). I’m obsessed with their “like mother, like daughter” trope and the push and pull between them.

But this show — and this season, especially — still had its flaws.

There were a few minor issues here and there. I found it odd that the writers decided to fast-track an entire personality for Melissa (Hilary Swank), who was previously a nameless background character, instead of Mari Ibarra (Alexa Barajas), who has been fleshed out since season one.

Following the topic of Mari, I obviously cannot write this season’s review without addressing one of the most talked-about theories: pit girl.

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This season, we finally got the iconic “pit girl” reveal we’ve been waiting for since the cold opening of the pilot episode in 2021. I had a feeling it would end with this scene (it was one of my bingo spots), but my heart sank when I saw the white nightgown peeking out of Ibarra’s windbreaker.

I could rave on and on about the cinematography and how genius it was the way everything played out (it’s the film bro in me, I’m sorry). But I won’t, because I feel it’s more important to address that yet again, another BIPOC character received a brutal, violent death.

Yes, we got a satisfying answer to our question, but at what cost?

Although Ibarra’s ethnicity has never been explicitly stated, her actress is Mexican/Canadian. Because of this, most of the fan base has assumed Ibarra to be the same. “Yellowjackets” has a history of giving its BIPOC characters unnecessarily violent deaths. I won’t get too deep into this, as I could say a lot, but it’s something I want the writers to improve, come future seasons.

I also thought some plot points were resolved by simple throw-away lines that deserved more of a resolution. For instance, why did we learn that Taissa Turner was impeached through one line at a dinner? Why didn’t we get to see her fall from power?

I still think the writers have done a good job of leaving certain questions unanswered to allow for future seasons to build upon. Here's to hoping for a renewal for season four and that “Yellowjackets” won’t fall victim to the classic “streaming service cancels wildly popular shows that conveniently has gay and BIPOC main characters.”

Rating: 7.5/10
powerstj@miamioh.edu