Blog Post One "Yellow Jackets"

 For my blog post I am choosing the television show "Yellow Jackets". Yellow jackets is a story of a high school soccer team whose plane crashes in a desolate remote area, and they are stranded and forced to fend for themselves. There are currently 3 seasons of yellowjackets, and the final season just finished airing in spring of 2025. The cast of the show ranges from teens to adults from the years 1996 to 2021. The adult actors include Melanie Lynskey - adult Shauna - (others may know her form TV series like two and a half men and young Sheldon) Juliette Lewis -adult Natalie- (others may know her from classic films like Natural Born Killers, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape).

 

The cast does not end there as there is quite a lineup of actors and actresses in this show.

This show does not really fit into one specific genre as it is a mix between horror and some psychological thriller aspects to it as well. There is a survival element as well as mystery. The program aired on Paramount plus and for the final season three, a new episode aired every Friday evening.  The episode I am evaluating is titled “Croak’. During this episode the main character “Shauna” betrays the group as they finally find a way out of the forest that has held them captive for over a year. While they thought they were being rescued by random frog researchers, Shauna decides to kill them and make sure the rest of the girls have no choice but to stay abandoned and live life as they have been. Remaining slaves to the forest and the mysterious forces within it.

Some interesting behind the scenes information about the show would be that during the cannibalism scenes of the show the teen actors and actresses actually had a hard time eating the prop food and most gagged and some thew up during the filming. The prop “meat” was made of jackfruit and rice paper soaked in BBQ sauce. Another interesting fact about the show Yellowjackets, is that it was inspired by the Donner Party disaster of 1846-47 and the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.

Though some of the scenes were interior sound studios the majority of the outdoor scenes in the show are filmed on location in Vancouver and British Columbia. As far as similarities and differences between shows like yellowjackets there is a certain tone of survival and trauma similar to shows like “Lost” and “The Wilds” they are forced to do things they may have never thought possible in order to survive. Also, like “Lost” they are survivors of a plane crash as well. Unlike the show “Lost” where it is mainly a male dominated cast yellowjackets focuses on a group of young women. For me personally while watching the show the stereotypes that I witnessed were your typical high school student click type of stereotypes. Though this was a soccer team so many of them were friends you still had differences among them. Natalie for example was more a punk rock type of girl whereas Shauna was portrayed to be something of a sheltered “good girl” if that makes sense. After doing a little research some people say that the stereo types of the show go deeper than just high school clicks but for me that was my perspective.

The primary target audience for yellowjackets is a diverse group probably individuals ranging from young adults to middle aged adults with an emphasis on women. I feel that the twists and turns of the show and moral grapple that it gives the viewer resonates with people who have experienced or are struggling with mid-life reflections or existential questions.

If I were a visitor to the U.S and happened to watch this program I might foster the idea that American girls are unstable, they may lack a moral compass, and that ethics are not important to them. The Shows strengths in my opinion include the complexity of the characters, how they dive into the pasts of most the characters and give a great background of them which really gives them purpose and gives us a sense of compassion. The show does a great job of showing how difficult survival can be in the wilderness with nothing but yourself and a few people around you. How hard the elements could be to deal with, the reality of wildlife and the danger of the elements, as I mentioned before with the complexity of the characters, the way the story line and go back and forth from teenage years to adult present time in a dual timeline worked well for the show as well. There are many strengths about the show, but for me ultimately it comes down to the performance of the actors and how well they portrayed their characters. The more you dislike someone in a show the better they are at their job. With that being said I really REALLY dislike Shauna lol. As far as weaknesses go for me the only things I would have to say are maybe a little much blood and guts at certain times, and just some unanswered questions left for us. Maybe that means there’s more to come but that is what I would have to say.

Jeanine T. Abraham of Medium.com says that “yellowjackets is exhausting to watch and has gotten so dark that I don’t want to experience the world” I can’t say I agree with this statement 100% because I do look forward to a new season however, I can see where she is coming from. As I mentioned before maybe some scenes were a little too much and the show does get very dark.

I did watch this program on a regular basis and this year when the final season came out my fiancé and I definitely watched it every Friday when the newest episode would come out. I haven’t really met too many other people who have heard of the show to be honest and neither of us follow the show on social media. After doing this assignment I’ve learned that there is a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to television shows and the art of it all. There are layers and layers and watching the show is just the surface level of it all. It is like a whole orchestra that needs to come together perfectly at the right time to create a masterpiece. If that doesn’t happen, well. It fails.

 

Yellowjackets: Watch Series on Paramount+