Yellowjackets boss says cannibalism ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ ahead of season two
Cast of hit series Yellowjackets. (Showtime)
Yellowjackets is coming back for a second season, and it sounds as if it will be gorier than ever.
The Showtime series, which gained a 100 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes for season one, is an audacious Lord of the Flies-esque tale, following a group of high-school girls stranded in the wilderness for 19 months after their plane crashes in 1996.
Season one kicked off with the brutal death of a teenage girl, who was impaled with spears before being eaten, and the second series is set to be at least as unhinged.
“If we do our jobs right, the eating of a person will not be the most transgressive thing that these young women do in the wilderness,” co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco told to EW. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“If season one was about our teen characters learning to adapt to their harsh surroundings, season two is where it all explodes.”
And if the cast’s experiences on set are anything to go by, it is going to be brutal. “It was just so intense,” Lauren Ambrose who plays adult Vanessa, said about filming, “How are we ever going to recover from that?”
While Simone Kessell, who plays adult Lottie, added: “I feel like I’ve been in a car accident. I’m still, like, shaking from it. It’s insane.”
Throughout season one, Yellowjackets flashed forward to 2021 to delve into the traumatic aftermath of the group’s experience.
In the future, we met housewife Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), outcast Misty (Christina Ricci), traumatised Natalie (Juliette Lewis) and the queer woman Taissa (Tawny Cypress).
About the grown-ups, who are barely holding it together in their rebuilt lives, Lisco said: “In season one, they were running away from what happened in the woods. I think this season they’re going to get caught. Their only path to continued survival is to integrate their worst selves into who they truly are.”
Although we still have the whole of season two to look forward to, the creators are already thinking about a five-season arc.
“This isn’t really one of those set-up shows where it can go anywhere. So far, we’ve been really on track. Season two is largely what we always planned, but you do make a lot of discoveries along the way and so it’s always a little bit surprising,” co-creator Ashley Lyle said.
And fellow creator Bart Nickerson admitted that the twists and turns of the show are a surprise even for them. “The architecture that we started with is still holding up, but all the rooms are turning out pretty different in this exciting way,” he said.
Season two of Yellowjackets is due to begin on 24 March.
The series features LGBTQ+ characters such as Taissa, who is played as a teen by Jasmine Savoy Brown.
