Commentary on the "Yellow Jackets" finale

Commentary on the "Yellow Jackets" finale

If, like me, you woke up on this bitterly cold Sunday morning and thought, "Oh, God, I finally get to find out what happens on "Yellowjackets," you're not alone... Showtime's "Yellowjackets" season 1 The finale, titled "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" (Latin for farewell to life and worldly things), was a feast (pun intended) of gory descriptions and shocking revelations. WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of "Yellowjackets" and references to death by suicide. Also, about the murder.

So let's talk about it. But first, some background: "Yellowjackets" has already been renewed for a second season and was originally planned as a five-season series that would be a female-only adaptation of "Lord of the Flies. Several storylines were handily put together. Jackie died of natural causes. The finale ultimately raised more questions than it answered, neatly setting up the long-awaited next season.

The creators of "Yellowjackets" had promised that the season one finale would provide answers. Critics speculated roughly whether Jackie was the character in the first episode who was supposedly eaten dead in a spike pit, whether Jackie had given birth to Travis' child in the wilderness, or whether a very lively Jackie would show up at the high school reunion.

In the finale, the girls were led to believe that they had drugged and killed Jackie, but it turned out to be Shawna's dream. However, when Shawna woke up, it was hours after she and Jackie had gotten into a heated fight in the cabin, Jackie had stormed out, and a little pathetically tried to build a fire to keep warm. Jackie was stubborn and had previously refused to re-enter the shed and was seen shivering by the sad little fire.

The first snow of the season not only kills Jackie, but also serves as a not-so-subtle metaphor. All of the horrific flashbacks we've seen so far - the Antler Queen and her minions, the spiked pit, the bodies hung up to possibly be eaten - take place in the snow, indicating that it is winter when the shit really happens. Until the snow falls, the girls (and token boys) are engaged in a kind of extended miserable summer camp situation, save for the angry wolf and the blown up plane, but in winter they are forced to embrace their more primal urges.

Upon learning that Tyssa had won the state senatorial race, his wife Simone stumbled upon a more gruesome discovery. Deep in the basement of the family home, Tyssa, or maybe Sammy, I bet you, Tyssa. Taissa had set up a spooky shrine to the wilderness gods that Lottie and Van had become increasingly obsessed with in 1996-7. Taissa told Simone that she had accidentally run away the family dog, which is still with them. (Taissa's current extracurricular activities seem to include ritual sacrifices in addition to hiding in trees and eating dirt.

The Antler Queen, or at least who the show wants us to think is the Antler Queen, aka Lottie Matthews, is alive and well. Nat was in a motel room with a gun to her neck and seconds before she died by suicide, she received a call from a rehab enemy she had been blackmailing to look into Travis's back accounts. After Travis' death, it was discovered that it was Lottie who had drained his bank accounts. Lottie's relationship with Travis was less visible in the wilderness, except when she led a group of girls to hunt and butcher Travis.

The simple answer is that Lottie killed Travis. Lottie's upbringing suggests that she grew up wealthy and Travis was probably not wealthy at the time of his death.

This was only briefly touched on in the finale, but is worth talking about given the fan theories about Javi. Just in case: we don't know what happened to Javi, but a significant portion of the internet believes he is Adam (clues supporting that theory: Javi is an up-and-coming artist, Adam is an established artist. Javi looks up to Shauna and Adam becomes her boyfriend.)

The season finale shows Travis desperately searching for his brother. His brother is missing somewhere between the girls hunting Travis and Shawna and Jackie fighting. Jackie is the evidence of this.

Perhaps the biggest mystery of the finale: who kidnapped Nat while wearing the necklace with the "symbol of the girl on the hook" that is at the heart of this season? Everyone living today wants to know what the Yellowjackets did to survive in the wilderness. Whether cultists, believers in the paranormal, or enthusiasts, they want answers from Nat and, as we see from their aggressive responses to her, they will stop at nothing to get them.

Watch Yellowjackets on Showtime.

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