‘Yellowjackets’ Deep Dive Pt. I: A Nihilistic Morality Tale
NOTE: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD, THOUGH I TRY TO KEEP THEM VAGUE
The castaway narrative will forever intrigue the masses. Jonah and the Whale, Robinson Crusoe, Moby Dick, and Lord of the Flies — these survival stories show what happens when men of a certain status and hue are stranded in a world untouched by industry and Society (TM). Their broken spirits and fragile masculinity often leave these men as beat-down shells of their former selves and begins their descent into the Hearts of Darkness. Depending on the author’s worldview, this last part can be deliberate or accidental.
Lost followed this formula to a certain degree and Survivor makes it into an elaborate game. Cast Away, on the other hand, did away with the group politics that many stories have, however, few went back to these literary traditions in the same way Yellowjackets does.
Yellowjackets takes all these tropes — seclusion, comradery, human nature, and the heart of darkness, and flips the formula into new and interesting ways that both keep you guessing and comment on the genre as a whole.
One of the biggest changes is the setting. It’s not an island, but an endless Canadian wilderness. There are three male survivors in the bunch, but the girls are the ones who take charge of the dire situation. Immediately, you can see the difference. Despite a foreboding first scene, the girls are less concerned with crowning a leader, letting the men take over, and dividing and conquering amongst themselves. Their struggles in exile are less about who’s in charge and more an extension of problems back home.
The Mary Sues are the first to crumble under the island’s weight while those who had the most baggage appear most well-adapted. By making their time in exile the secondary story, however, we get a fresh look at how that time away both changed their lives and led them back to similar paths that, all things considered, aren’t that far off from the ones which they were already headed down. Shauna goes back to wearing a mask while hiding dark secrets, Taissa keeps her strong will intact and becomes a girl boss running for Senate, Natalie, perhaps the most well-adapted to the life in exile, has to go back to the mess of a life she had before the crash; and Misty stays Misty from beginning to end. The others are left in the clouds are done away with off-camera.
This isn’t Tom Hanks sleeping on the floor after he can’t get used to life away from purgatory, nor do the bountiful time jumps serve the same function as Lost. None of these women grow up to be well-acclimated members of society, but they live in a Society (TM) that treats their harrowing 19-months in exile as tabloid fodder and political ammunition. For the most part, they are broken souls who put on masks that make them appear well-acclimated.
For most of the show, the young girls that we see in exile are making the best out of their situation. Much as Dickinson translates classic teen tropes to the 19th century, here we get proms, parties, and standard teenage fare out in the wild. Add to that the heavy-handed needle drops and ideal stunt-casting, and this is a show that wears its lack of genre on its sleeve.
However, by keeping things strangely light during the everyday interactions, the dark and psychedelic twists and turns show that the girls are less poisoned by their time out away from Society (TM) and more poisoned by the society they escape. From their sudden turn to puritanical witch hunts to their complicated relationship with nature, most problems that they have out there have less to do with seclusion and more to do with the poisoning they took back home.
This makes Yellowjackets a total retcon of conventions learned from previous entries to this genre, and as a result, we learn that while we inarguably live in a Society (TM), Society (TM) also lives in us.
(Stay Tuned for part II)
