Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Season 2 of Yellowjackets.After a dramatic first season, Yellowjackets returned last month, and the series is not pulling any punches. Season 1 saw the team crash in the wilderness and start learning how to survive on their own, as their present-day selves were targeted by a mysterious blackmailer, bringing old traumas to the surface. Last week's episode finally broke the seal on cannibalism for the team, but was it a good idea to go there so early on in the season?
The Season 2 premiere kicked off weeks after Jackie's tragic death and showed that winter had indeed come. If you'll recall, the series originally opened with an ominous sequence of a girl being hunted, killed, and eaten by her fellow teammates, who had apparently descended into a cultish cannibal tribe, donning masks and animal skins as they ceremonially eat one of their own. Since the beginning, fans have been waiting to find out how the group would go from melodramatic teen athletes to eating one another, and it seems that winter is the catalyst for their descent into murderous hunger.
Cannibalism Wasn't on the Table in Season 1
The first season had very little in terms of foreshadowing what we knew was to come. The team learned to hunt and figured out how to live off the land. Aside from a few tragic incidents and a drug-fueled close call with murder, cannibalism didn't appear to be something that was on the table for anyone. However, things changed quickly when the first snow fell, and Jackie (Ella Purnell) froze to death in her sleep after being ostracized by the group and spending the night outside. In Season 2, weeks have passed since her death, and Jackie's frozen corpse has been sitting in the shed as they can't bury her in the frozen ground. The loss has obviously taken a psychological toll on Shauna (Sophie Nèlisse), who has been spending her days in the shed, talking to a hallucination of her dead best friend, but the group finally reaches a breaking point after they discover Shauna's grief has gone a little too far.
After learning that she has been braiding Jackie's hair and doing her makeup, the team decides to do what they should have done weeks ago and burn Jackie's body. Shauna protests, but ultimately Jackie is placed on a pyre, which Shauna lights. In another creepy, possibly supernatural coincidence, a snowdrift is blown from a tree onto Jackie's burning body. The snow prevents her body from being cremated, and instead, she is slow-roasted until she is a nice golden brown. Upon discovering this, hunger takes over and the group has their first meal of human flesh. This is by far the most important moment of the series so far, as they take the first step into what we know will become a living nightmare. So, what does this moment mean for the rest of the series, and did it come too soon?
Season 2 Is No Longer a Slow Burn But a Fast Simmer
Season 1 was definitely a slow burn for the events that take place in the wilderness, but apparently, Season 2 is ready to pick up the pace. Beyond the obvious storyline development, it also has implications for the future of characters whose fates are, as of now, unknown. The character that Episode 2 bodes the worst for is Coach Ben (Steven Krueger). For the most part, Ben has kept his cool despite being the only adult trapped with a bunch of high schoolers in the wilderness. Oh, and he lost his leg. Aside from a few minor freak-outs about being poisoned — notably by Misty (Sammi Hanratty), he has been pretty chill in the face of everything that has happened.
Even though he is their coach, Ben hasn't been much of an authoritative presence from day one, and his reaction to their feast may have sealed his fate. While the rest of the team indulges in Jackie's all-you-can-eat buffet, he watches in horror before running into the cabin and closing the door behind him. In the episodes to come, the team will most likely struggle to come to terms with their actions, but this may have been the final straw for Coach Ben. With only one leg and no other adults to side with him, he may be next on the menu if he's the only one unwilling to accept their decision to do whatever is necessary to survive. We haven't seen anything to imply that he is one of the survivors in the present day, and the events of Episode 2 will certainly alienate him from the group.
Did the Show Introduce Cannibalism Too Soon?
All of this still begs an important question: was it too soon to introduce cannibalism? Well, the short answer is: probably not. Even though Season 1 did a great job of leaving fans on the edge of their seat, waiting for the other shoe to drop as the group faced bodies in the attic, plane crashes, wolf attacks, a river of blood, and more, it isn't necessarily a bad thing that Season 2 is only descending into further madness. We know what lies ahead from the opening scene of the premiere, and there is a lot of ground to cover between the team having their first taste of human flesh and hunting each other in terrifying costumes. At this point, things are just starting to go south in terms of the group dynamic and the need for food, and there will surely be lots of regret and conflict born out of last week's events that will have to unfold before we see more cannibalism.
Besides, when you take into account how the past and present narratives are intertwined, the present has been moving much faster than the past storyline. Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) has unmasked the group's blackmailer, killed her boyfriend (Peter Gadiot), and performed a cover-up all in the time it took to get to last week's meal, so in order to keep the present narrative from running out of runway before the series ends, the events that take place in the wilderness need to start moving a little faster. Whatever lies in store for the rest of Season 2, it isn't boding well for anyone. It will be interesting to see the inevitable fallout and how the group will break apart as they descend into cannibalism. So far, Season 2 is promising much more conflict for fans to enjoy. There are some new characters, after all, which means there is still plenty of cannon fodder left for more bloodshed at the cabin.
New episodes of Yellowjackets Season 2 premiere every Friday on the Showtime streaming app and every Sunday on-air.