Showtime’s Emmy-nominated series Yellowjackets, which premiered on November 14, 2021, weaves a haunting tale of survival, trauma, and the supernatural across dual timelines. Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, the psychological thriller follows the members of a high school girls’ soccer team whose plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness in 1996. The series features a stellar ensemble cast including Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, and Tawny Cypress as the adult survivors, and has garnered critical acclaim including seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations for its unflinching portrayal of adolescent trauma and its lasting psychological impact into adulthood.
The narrative alternates between the immediate aftermath of the crash, where the teenagers descend into tribal factions and ritualistic behavior, and the present day, where survivors struggle with dark secrets from their past. When mysterious postcards bearing an occult symbol begin arriving and a team member is found dead, the women are forced to confront what they did to survive. Central to both timelines is the enigmatic Lottie Matthews (Simone Kessell and Courtney Eaton), whose apparent psychic abilities raise questions about the true nature of the wilderness they endured and what they may have awakened within it.
Survivor Secrets Emerge
Deep in a forest, a mysterious girl runs for her life while serenaded by terrifying sounds. She falls into a tiger pit as a cloaked figure watches ominously from the edge. In the present day, Jessica Roberts (Rekha Sharma), a reporter from the Star Ledger, meets with several teachers at Wiskayok High School regarding the plane crash that involved their female soccer team, the Yellowjackets, while en route to Nationals in 1996. None of the teachers seem to know what happened afterward. Jessica contacts Shauna Shipman (Melanie Lynskey), one of the survivors, and asks about the incident; however, Shauna provides little information.
Meanwhile, Natalie Scatorccio (Juliette Lewis), another Yellowjacket survivor, has recently completed rehabilitation for alcohol and drug addiction. She experiences recurring visions of the girl in the tiger pit being consumed by a group of cloaked individuals. After her meeting with Jessica, Shauna reaches out to Taissa Turner (Tawny Cypress), also a Yellowjacket survivor who is now running for state senate, and warns her about the reporter to prevent their wilderness secrets from being exposed.
In 1996, the Yellowjackets board a plane alongside their coach, Bill Martinez (Carlos Sanz), his two sons, Travis (Kevin Alves) and Javi (Luciano Leroux), as well as the assistant coach, Ben Scott (Steven Krueger), only for the plane to crash midway through their journey. Some time later, a cloaked group of cannibals is revealed. As they consume their meal, one of them removes their face covering, revealing herself to be teenage Misty (Samantha Hanratty), another Yellowjacket survivor.
The plane crashes in the Ontario wilderness, killing several team members and injuring others. Among the dead is their head coach. Assistant coach Ben Scott is trapped under debris, resulting in a severely injured leg. Misty, who had previously been overlooked by her peers, utilizes her first aid training to take decisive action. She amputates Ben’s crushed leg using an axe and cauterizes the wound, effectively saving his life.
In the present day, Shauna experiences a minor car accident with a stranger named Adam Martin (eter Gadiot), with whom she exchanges contact information after a brief conversation. Meanwhile, Natalie, having received a postcard bearing an occult symbol from the Ontario wilderness, visits Misty (Christina Ricci) with a rifle, suspecting her involvement. Misty reveals she also received a similar postcard, leading both to assume that someone else must have talked.
During their conversation, Misty shares her research on other survivors, including Travis’s identification. Still in love with Travis after all these years, Natalie attempts to reach him using the number on his ID but fails. At Shauna’s home, she discovers text messages on her husband Jeff Sadecki’s (Warren Kole) phone suggesting an affair.
Uncovering Travis’s Fate
The following morning, Natalie’s car malfunctions as she attempts to locate Travis, and Misty offers to drive her. In flashbacks to the wilderness, Misty overhears two girls praising her survival skills. Attention-hungry and determined to maintain her newfound relevance, she destroys the plane’s black box upon discovering it, eliminating their hope for rescue.
When Natalie discovers Misty tampered with her car, she confronts her and learns that Misty did so because she feared Natalie wouldn’t have allowed her to accompany her had she asked directly. They proceed to break into Travis’s empty house to search for clues. Misty finds a receipt that could lead them to Travis’s workplace, as well as a note. However, they are arrested for breaking and entering.
Misty uses her one phone call to contact Kevyn Tan (Alex Wyndham), a police officer who was Natalie’s close friend in high school. He secures their release, after which they head to Travis’s workplace. Meanwhile, Shauna tracks Jeff to a hotel where she intends to confirm her suspicions about his affair. While having a drink with Adam, whom she coincidentally meets at the hotel bar, Shauna spots Jeff leaving with a woman, confirming her suspicions.
Back in the wilderness, the stranded group discovers a house on a hill. Teenage Charlotte “Lottie” Matthews (Courtney Eaton), who has been behaving erratically since running out of medication for her schizophrenia, tells Taissa she finds the house disturbing, but they enter regardless. Later that night, as the girls sleep, Taissa awakens to creaking sounds in the attic. Investigating, she finds Lottie staring at a skeleton chained to a chair, with a mysterious symbol inscribed on the floor beside it—the same symbol that appears on the postcards they received in the present.
In the present day, Natalie and Misty find Travis hanging from the roof at his workplace and are forced to flee when police arrive. Though they initially assume suicide, Misty gives Natalie a note she took from Travis’s house stating, “Natalie was right.” Natalie admits to Misty that she doesn’t know what Travis was referring to, but she doesn’t believe he killed himself.
Back in the wilderness, Coach Scott teaches the teens to hunt with a rifle and sends Natalie and Travis to find food, as they demonstrate better aim than the rest of the team. In the present, Natalie asks Kevin to help investigate Travis’s death, and he agrees. Unknown to them, both Misty and Jessica are conducting surveillance on their meeting. When Natalie discovers Misty has been following her, she angrily confronts her. Misty, in turn, confronts Jessica for similar behavior and warns her to back off. Meanwhile, Shauna and Adam grow increasingly closer and more intimate.
Mysterious Occult Signs
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In the forest, Lottie finds the occult symbol carved on a tree, while Jackie Taylor (Ella Purnell) discovers a plane they believe belonged to the dead man in the attic. Laura Lee (Jane Widdop), with minimal flying experience, attempts to pilot it and nearly kills teenage Vanessa “Van” Palmer (Lauren Ambrose) and Jackie when the aircraft becomes entangled in the trees. Lottie interprets this as a sign that the forest never intended for the dead man to leave.
In the present, feeling excluded, Misty calls Shauna and informs her of Travis’s death. Upon learning Travis’s toxicology report shows no evidence of drugs, Natalie dismisses the possibility of suicide. Determined to learn more about his death, she asks Misty to hack into Kevin’s email to obtain Travis’s death report after Kevin refuses to share additional information.
At Taissa’s home, she’s awakened by her agitated dog and glimpses what appears to be a wolf through the window, though it may be a hallucination. Later, she discovers the word “SPILL” written in paint on her door. That evening, she finds the same color paint under her son’s bed. When questioned, her son explains that the person responsible is a woman he had seen standing by the tree outside his window.
Back in 1996, the girls, seeking entertainment, conduct a seance in the attic of the cabin. The atmosphere shifts dramatically when Lottie begins speaking fluent French—a language she’s not known to master—uttering phrases that, when translated by Jackie, suggest a hunger that requires blood to be spilled.
In the present, Misty successfully obtains Travis’s death report and discovers the mysterious wilderness symbol formed by drops of candle wax distributed across pictures of his corpse. When Natalie invites Taissa to review their findings, they receive a text from an unknown number demanding cash to keep their wilderness secret hidden. Though Misty isn’t present during this conversation, she has planted a hidden camera in Natalie’s house and monitors their discussion.
Lottie’s mental or supernatural issues are traced back to her childhood when she saved her parents from having their car crushed by a truck. Upon returning home that day, her mother became convinced that Lottie possessed psychic abilities. Years later in the wilderness, Lottie alone witnesses the specter of a deer with bloody antlers while foraging for food with the other girls.
Wilderness Horrors Return
When Shauna arrives at Natalie’s house in the present, she learns about the postcards Natalie, Taissa, and Misty received, although she didn’t receive one herself. They connect the postcards to the blackmailer and decide to track him by following the money they plan to send. Back in the past, Shauna, who is pregnant, is determined to hide the identity of the father from Jackie, as it’s Jackie’s boyfriend, Jeff. Like a prophecy fulfilled, Lottie’s vision about the deer materializes when Natalie and Travis bring the same deer to camp. However, it proves inedible as it’s infested with maggots.
In the present, Misty kidnaps Jessica, who persistently inquires about the group’s past. Concurrently, the blackmailer contacts Natalie and Taissa, arranging a time and place for the money exchange. As Taissa prepares for the drop-off, she notices a bite mark on her arm and dirt in her teeth, indicating she has been sleepwalking and consuming soil—behaviors she exhibited during their time in the wilderness. This revelation confirms she is the figure her son observed outside their home.
In the wilderness, a small group of girls prepare to search for help. Before they leave, Lottie, having experienced a nightmare, gifts Van a piece of the deer’s bone. While most of the girls are away, teenage Shauna finally tells Jackie about her pregnancy but lies about who is responsible. Meanwhile, in the present, the kidnapped Jessica tells Misty that Taissa had sent her to test the girls’ ability to keep their secret, as its revelation could jeopardize her political aspirations. Elsewhere, Shauna, Natalie, and Taissa locate the blackmailer but fail to apprehend him. When Shauna returns home, she finds Adam waiting and they become intimate, but she must hide him in her closet when Jeff unexpectedly returns.
Back in the past, Taissa fails during her watch duty when she falls asleep and sleepwalks up a tree. Consequently, a pack of wolves infiltrates the camp and attacks the girls. Though they manage to repel the attack, Van is seriously injured. Presuming Van dead, the girls attempt to give her a proper burial through cremation, but she regains consciousness as the cremation begins. Upon returning to the cabin, they clean and stitch her wounds.
In the present, Shauna’s daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins) discovers Adam’s existence and confronts her mother. While monitoring Natalie through the hidden camera, Misty rushes over to prevent her from relapsing. When Natalie subsequently discovers the hidden camera, she becomes furious. Prior to this, Jessica had informed Misty that Travis’s account had been cleared and closed after his death, information which Misty shares with Natalie as they argue.
Some time later, Natalie contacts a female banker named Suzie (Colleen Wheeler) to help identify who cleared and closed Travis’s account. Back in the wilderness, Laura Lee, frustrated with recent events, attempts to fly the dead man’s plane in search of help. Tragically, the aircraft explodes midair, killing her and extinguishing their hopes of rescue.
Truth Violently Unfolds
At present, after noticing glitter in her closet, Shauna is reminded of the blackmailer who ran through a boutique and picked up glitter while evading them. Since Adam had been in the closet, he becomes her prime suspect. She also discovers her journals—containing details of her time in the wilderness—are missing, prompting her to confront Adam at his house. When he denies her allegations, the situation escalates, and she stabs and kills him.
In the wilderness, Jackie suggests throwing a party, and the girls agree. The gathering takes a strange turn when the mushrooms Misty had reserved for Coach Scott are inadvertently used in the communal soup. Under the influence of hallucinogens and following Lottie’s lead, Shauna nearly kills Travis but is stopped by Natalie and Jackie. The following day, Travis and Natalie discover that Javi is missing.
Meanwhile, in the present day, Shauna returns home to find not only that her journals are safe but that her husband Jeff was the blackmailer all along. Jeff explains he blackmailed them because he needed money to settle his debt with a loan shark. Shauna then confesses to killing Adam and reveals she’s been having an affair with him. To compound matters, she had wrongly suspected Jeff of infidelity. Despite having read the journals, Jeff still loves Shauna, and they agree to frame Adam for the blackmailing and dispose of his body. Shauna enlists the help of the other women, with Natalie bringing in Misty to assist in disposing of Adam’s remains.
In the wilderness, after the events of the party, a bear enters the girls’ camp, inexplicably kneels before Lottie, and is stabbed to death, providing food just as Lottie had envisioned for the starving girls. During the meal, Van acknowledges Lottie’s psychic abilities, and they offer a new prayer to the forces Lottie believes are present. As they eat, Shauna and Jackie engage in a heated argument, revisiting the previous night’s disturbing events and revealing that Shauna had slept with Jeff—a fact Jackie discovered by reading Shauna’s journal. During the confrontation, the other girls side with Shauna, forcing Jackie to leave the cabin.
In the present day, after telling Jessica about their wilderness experience, Misty pretends to release her. Unknown to Jessica, Misty has poisoned her cigarettes, causing her to die while smoking and driving away. Later that night, as Taissa celebrates winning the election, her wife Simone discovers a secret room in their house. To her horror, she finds the severed head of their dog, its heart, and their son’s mutilated toy in front of the occult wilderness symbol drawn in blood.
Back in 1996, the girls wake up the following morning to discover it had suddenly snowed overnight and that Jackie has frozen to death outside. In the present, Natalie’s inability to find evidence suggesting Travis was murdered leads her to believe he committed suicide. This realization plunges her into depression, and as she prepares to take her own life, a group of people wearing the mysterious symbol abduct her. Simultaneously, Suzie leaves Natalie a voicemail stating she’s identified who cleared Travis’s account and asks, “Who is Lottie Matthews?”