If your memory about what happened in Season 2 of “Yellowjackets” is a bit fuzzy, we offer up this detailed recap in which the wilderness chose a sacrifice in both timelines and we had to say goodbye to two favorite characters.
Read on for MASSIVE spoilers about what all went down in Season 2 of the addictive Showtime series, which returns for Season 3 on Feb. 14.
Shauna had her baby
In the 1996 timeline, Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) went into labor but the baby, a boy, was stillborn. She hallucinated that he was born alive and then eaten by her teammates, but, as Christina Ricci promised viewers, no one actually ate Shauna’s baby.
The cannibalism begins
The starving soccer players finally resorted, if somewhat unintentionally, to cannibalism in the dead of winter. They had intended to burn Jackie’s body on a pyre but when snow fell on the flames, the pyre turned into a barbecue. Delirious from hunger, they woke to the the smell of roasted meat and, with Shauna’s statement that this is what Jackie would have wanted, they ate their friend.
A shocked Coach Ben (Steven Krueger), who was already starting to disassociate from their harsh reality, did not partake.
RIP to Crystal, Misty’s BFF
The always unpopular Misty (Sammy Hanratty) unexpectedly clicked with teammate Crystal (Nuha Jes Izman) and they became inseparable. But when Misty confessed she had deliberately destroyed the plane’s black box, preventing the from being rescued, Crystal was horrified. The conversation took place in a lonely spot in the woods at the top of the cliff, resulting in Crystal falling to her death. Misty returned to the cabin and lied that she and Crystal had become separated. Although the other survivors did an extensive search, they never found Crystal’s body.
The wilderness chose a victim
With their situation getting even more dire, the survivors decided they had to kill one person in their group so the others could eat them. Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) was the unlucky one to draw the Queen of Hearts card, but before Shauna could slit her throat, Travis (Kevin Alves) staged a distraction and urged Natalie to run for her life. In the ensuing chase across a frozen river, Travis’s younger brother Javi (Luciano Leroux) fell through the ice. Natalie tried to rescue him, but Misty stopped her, saying that if he died, she could live.
The women brought Javi’s body back to the cabin, where Shauna carved it up for everyone else to eat. Travis was grief-stricken, but joined in on the feast. Coach Ben, however, decided to leave the group and fend for himself rather than take part.
Lottie decided that since the wilderness had spared Natalie, she deserved to be their new leader, a role Natalie happily accepted.
The cabin burned down
Ben returned to the cabin to grab some firewood from the porch and saw the ceremony in which Natalie became the group’s new leader. He looked disgusted and the next thing we saw was the cabin in flames. The survivors barely got out alive, looking on aghast as their only shelter was destroyed.
The death of Shauna’s lover came back to haunt her
In Season 1, Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) accidentally killed her lover Adam (Peter Gadiot) after she suspected he was the one blackmailing her and her fellow Yellowjackets. Her friends helped her dispose of the body but, unfortunately, it was discovered in Season 2.
Detective Kevyn Tam (Alex Wyndham), a former classmate of theirs, began investigating Shauna as well as her teenage daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins), who had let it slip that her mother had been having an affair. With the cops literally at their door, Callie took her mother’s side, after demanding to know whether her mother really did kill Adam.
Van and Taissa reunited
As her marriage and her political career fell apart, Taissa (Tawny Cypress) reconnected with teenage love Van (played as an adult by Lauren Ambrose). Van, who had been out of touch with the rest of the survivors, revealed she has Stage 4 cancer.
Natalie was found … and lost
The Season 1 finale ended with Natalie (Juliette Lewis)’s mysterious disappearance. Who could have abducted her from her hotel room? Misty (Christina Ricci) made it her mission to find whoever had taken her best friend, which led her to collaborate with fellow “Citizen Detective” Walter (Elijah Wood).
They tracked Natalie to a wellness retreat run by Lottie (Simone Kessell), but when Misty showed up to “rescue” Nat, she insisted she wanted to stay and continue with Lottie’s spiritual exercises. Misty promptly checked herself in as well and eventually Taissa, Van and Shauna also ended up at the retreat.
An increasingly deranged Lottie began having visions again, which led her to believe that “It,” the entity from the wilderness, needed another sacrifice. The other women agreed to humor her as they began preparations for a new hunt. The chosen victim this time was Shauna, who fled for her life on the grounds of the retreat.
Callie and Jeff, Shauna’s husband, also arrived at Lottie’s as the police closed in to arrest Shauna. Callie, who had taken Shauna’s gun, shot Lottie as she was about to attack her mother. No one was seriously injured and the sacrifice was stopped.
A rifle-toting Lisa (Nicole Maines), one of Lottie’s followers, came across the scene and seemed to be on the verge of shooting. An always prepared Misty, who had a syringe full of fentanyl to stop Lottie if necessary, surged forward to inject Lisa. But Natalie stepped in between them, receiving the fatal dose instead.
Meanwhile, Walter shot and killed Kevyn after having doctored evidence to make it appear that the policeman had killed Adam. He threatened Kevyn’s partner that he could easily frame him if he didn’t cooperate with Walter’s version of events and he agreed to drop the investigation completely.
The season ended with Lottie — as she was being taken away to a mental institution — saying that Natalie’s death has pleased “It.” She told Van, “In time, you’ll see.”
The first two episodes of Season 3 of “Yellowjackets” premieres on Parmaount+ with Showtime on Thursday Feb. 14.
