What I’m Watching: Yellowjackets (Season Premiere)

Yellowjackets: Season 2, Episode 1 “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” (B+)

The “previously on” segment of this show really made it seem like quite the horror series, emphasizing its creepy nature. The way in which it uses humor is also quite alarming sometimes, like seeing Shauna talking to a dead Jackie she was pretending was still alive and then, in the final scene, chomping on her ear. I’m excited about the promotion of cast member Courtney Eaton, who plays Teenage Lottie, to series regular, especially since she was very impressive in a film I saw at SXSW called “Parachute,” and what a great choice to play the adult her: Simone Kessell. She seems to be running something that looks and feels a lot like the rituals we saw acted out long after the crash back when they never expected rescue, and Natalie is not a willing participant in whatever’s going on there. Misty was all about tracking her down, finally realizing that she had been taken against her will, and reciting the motel manager’s social security number was an appropriate response to him identifying himself as the lookout when she asked who he was. Taissa got a vicious response from Simone when she tried to act normal, not realizing what Simone had found, and we’re starting to see more disturbing behavior from a teenage Taissa around an unworried Van. Shauna and Jeff do have an interesting relationship in the present, and it’s a shame that their daughter resents that and may be their undoing given what she knows and shouldn’t know about Adam.