The Yellowjackets finally did the thing.
After Yellowjackets teased a descent into cannibalism for a whole season, the team finally sinks their teeth into Jackie (Ella Purnell) in Season 2 episode 2, aptly titled “Edible Complex.” The scene is as gruesomely chaotic as you’d hoped it be, with the girls succumbing to the smell of Jackie’s roasting body in their own twisted version of a last supper. While Jackie’s demise was heavily foreshadowed in Season 1’s finale and even Season 2’s first episode, attentive fans could have seen this coming from the show’s pilot episode thanks to a neat little clue — Jackie’s necklace.
Credit: Screenshot Hulu/SHOWTIME.
The show’s very first episode begins with a grim scene that gave us a glimpse of what the team would turn into after months in the wilderness. A faceless brunette girl, unofficially dubbed “Pit Girl” by fans, is shown running — or perhaps being chased — through the snowy woods, before she falls to her death in a pit of wooden spikes. Her body gets dragged off by figures in uncanny costumes to what can only be described as a cult ritual led by the “Antler Queen” (whom we now presume to be Lottie (Courtney Eaton). While we don’t yet know the identity of Pit Girl, the camera lingers long enough on her body to show she’s wearing Jackie’s necklace. Considering Jackie’s munched-up fate, it’s possible her necklace has taken on a whole new meaning.
We first realize the necklace is originally Jackie’s when she lends it to Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) before their fateful flight takes off, as a good luck charm that’ll protect her. Well, the team’s plane crashed right after the exchange, so perhaps it’s more of a hex than anything else. Plus, since Jackie was wearing the necklace when she died and we see Pit Girl later wearing that same necklace, it’s entirely possible that it’s become a symbol of something much more for the girls. The necklace could also a way to identify their next victim, not unlike the way cows are tagged before heading to slaughter.
We’re also seeing a new side to Lottie’s spiritualism this season as she refines her different rituals and beliefs, as well as getting the others to join in. And if we understood anything from Lottie’s cryptic French declaration in Season 1’s finale — “Shed blood, my beautiful friends, and let the darkness set us free” — it’s that blood must be sacrificed for them to survive, and that everything the forest gives them must be returned to it in some way.
Understanding Lottie’s belief system is important because while Jackie’s body was burning, something in the forest dumped an avalanche of snow in just the right place to snuff out the pyre, slow-cooking Jackie’s flesh instead. The smell of roasting meat and their starving bodies’ response overrode any lingering disgust over this major taboo. The team takes this as a sign from the wilderness, justifying that it wants them to eat her, so using Jackie’s necklace as a tag could be another aspect of the ritual Lottie cooks up (so to speak). Placing her necklace on each of their victims could also be an honorary tribute that’s part of a larger sacrificial ritual. It’s kind of like the May Queen’s getup in Midsommar, a costume you traditionally wear for a rite of passage.
By marking each of their victims with Jackie’s necklace, the Yellowjackets aren’t just identifying who they’re going to eat next; they’re also simultaneously honoring the wilderness for showing them the way.
While a lot is still unclear in the world of Yellowjackets, one thing’s for sure: Whoever’s caught wearing Jackie’s necklace next should be worried.
Yellowjackets Season 2 is streaming on Showtime, with new episodes streaming weekly on Fridays. Episodes also air every Sunday on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET.
