Yellowjackets is a survival thriller television show that premiered in 2021. The story features two timelines: 1996 and the present day, 2021. It revolves around the younger and the adult versions of the characters. Yellowjackets are basically the name of the Wiskayok High School’s girls’ soccer team that gets selected for the Nationals, and while flying to Seatle, their plane crash lands in the wilderness. Some of the people on board die instantly, and those who survive have to spend 19 months in the forest. Throughout the series, we get to witness several sequences that make us wonder if it is a supernatural show. However, Yellowjackets was promoted as a survival thriller project. Is Yellowjackets supernatural? Let’s find out.
Yellowjackets Wants Us to Believe in the Supernatural Aspect
The plane crashed in the second episode of Season 1, and that was when we realized it would be a series in which we would see the characters struggling to escape the chaotic situation. However, after Misty destroys the flight recorder, things take an uncanny turn. It seems the wilderness wanted them to stay there. The team suddenly encounters an abandoned cabin in the midst of a forest. The former owner of the cabin died in the cabin, leaving a message that the wilderness couldn’t let him leave. Don’t you think such things happen only if it’s a horror show?
Okay, so Lottie already predicts that taking refuge in the cabin is a bad idea, but the team decides to ignore her. After they start living there, one day, Taissa encounters the dead body of the former survivalist upstairs. Lottie again says, ‘Bad things happen here.’ But again, no one really cares.
One night, while engaging in seance, when Javi asks if we all die in the woods, Lottie starts screaming, looking towards the window. After that, she suddenly starts talking in French. However, as Lottie wasn’t well-versed in French, the scene made us believe that the girl was possessed by a spirit. Maybe it was the man who lived in the cabin. Lottie smashes her head on the wall, and after that, she doesn’t remember what happened or what she was up to.
Taissa suddenly starts sleepwalking out of nowhere, and Travis hallucinates Lottie while getting intimate with Nat, also suggesting there is something going on in the woods. When Laura Lee finally departs on the dead man’s private plane to find help, her teddy bear catches fire out of nowhere, and she turns into ashes up in the air. It looks like the wilderness wants them to stay and suffer.
After Jackie’s death, getting frustrated with Shauna’s unsettling behavior, when the team decides to burn the body, it ultimately ends up getting cooked. A pile of ice falls on Jackie’s body like the wilderness decided to roast the body instead of burning it. Suddenly, the wind starts blowing in the direction of the cabin, and the girls can’t resist cravings and end up eating their own friend. In Episode 3 of the second season, while the girls celebrate Shauna’s baby shower, a flock of birdies starts crashing outside their cabin, making us believe that there is some evil presence around them.
Then, coming back to the present timeline, we see strange things happening with Taissa. Even after 25 years, she sleepwalks, and this time, she has gotten even more dangerous. She kills her own dog and hides its head in the basement of her house. The scene where her reflection keeps staring at her from the mirror when she is looking at the other side also hints at the supernatural aspect.
The Aforementioned Events Could Also Be a Coincidence Because..
Since 2021, several theories have revolved around Yellowjackets. Following the first two seasons, a handful of Reddit users started talking about it. While some made us believe it was a supernatural story from the beginning, others stated it was Mercury poisoning that affected the lives of the survivors. The forest where the plane carrying the Yellowjackets crashed was home to cinnabar mines. So, it’s possible that the Red River encountered by Misty and the gang was the result of Mercury poisoning.
In fact, Misty also says that mineral deposits result in the change of water color. Hence, it’s possible that red mercury could have changed the water color. Mercury poisoning makes people hallucinate, so it makes sense why almost every person starts seeing illusions.
Now, if we talk about Lottie’s visions or Taissa’s sleepwalking, it may be due to the stress and trauma triggered after getting stuck and starving in the wilderness. Since they have shared trauma, they find something to believe in, no matter how stupid or supernatural, to find a purpose to live. They also did awful things to survive, and to get over that guilt; they unconsciously started believing that the wilderness was making them do this.
Regardless, these are simply theories, and we don’t know for sure if the Yellowjackets are collectively sick or if there’s actually some supernatural aspect to the story. Hopefully, we’ll get some answers in the third season.
