Okay reader, I’ll stop re-reading my own Letterboxd reviews and chuckling to myself, and talk to you about my media diet, or whatever.
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| There she is... miss thing. |
I haven’t been watching that many movies lately. I’ve been pushed away from movies by an evil spirit - or the combo of unstoppable, alluring work, and the fact that I watched a boring movie recently (Tom Holland Spider-man Movie - sorry).
About a month ago, I developed a little bit of a repetitive strain injury from reading too much on my phone (I strained my poor thumbs), and I knew I had to give my hands a good, proper rest and watch something in utmost stillness. For a while, I’ve had Yellowjackets on the docket, so I watched the first season of that. And let me tell you, that thing was not what I expected. Spoilers incoming.
I was excited for teen girls stranded in the woods and some possible cannibalism. Yay, I thought, picturing that. Imagine my shock and confusion when instead, I got a goofy, way over-the-top supernatural drama where something mystical and insane happens every episode, and where we spend half of our time in 2021 with the bleak adult versions of the characters. I was not ready for there to be ghosts and ghouls. I was not ready for the magic mushrooms forest orgy. I was not ready for Natalie’s violently abusive dad to accidentally blast his own head off so that she didn’t have to murder him herself (he doesn’t show up in a single other episode btw).
I feel torn between hating this show, and accepting and enjoying its Scooby Doo antics.
On the pro side:
- Christina Ricci’s impressive performance as a self-assured and confident weirdo hated by the other survivors
- Sophie Thatcher shooting a gun
- the Christian character who inexplicably dies in a second plane crash after surviving the first
- adult Misty/Natalie buddy comedy moments
- “you’re the queer Kamala”
On the con side:
- Shauna and Jeff (I hate them deeply)
- dangerous levels of chaos that escalate so rapidly that the show immediately struggles to maintain its stakes
- largely dry and dull adult scenes
- they do Jackie unbelievably dirty
- “you’re the queer Kamala”
As you can see, it’s a tough call. I’m peeved because they froze poor Jackie to death, and I think that’s an undignified and embarrassing end for her. She should have at least gotten the chance to embarrass and harm Shauna for betraying her and getting big-time pregnant the night before the plane crash with Jackie’s own boyfriend (really, it’s a stupid show), but no, for some reason we watch Shauna cuss her out and then Jackie whimpers and marches outside to die in the incoming snowfall. That’s how we end the season. And it sucks.
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| Nooooo. Wake up girl! |
Also, Jeff is dangerously insane for so many reasons, but not least because he reveals to Jackie’s mother’s face (a grieving woman!) that he and Shauna were sleeping together while Jackie was still alive and in a relationship with him. Okay weirdo!
Overall, I think there are some intractable problems with the writing, the often cartoonish tone, and the hit-and-miss quality of the acting, but there are some really fun sequences, compelling reveals, and as always, my favourite freak, Misty. I might be duty-bound to watch the second season just for her. My little devil. My icon. I love her.
She did nothing wrong.
