Yellowjackets: Season 1 – Series Review

YELLOWJACKETS on Showtime is a new horror, drama, and mystery series. The first episode should get you hooked. As should the awesome cast! With elements of both Lord of the Flies and The Wilds, there’s plenty to keep you intrigued. Read our Yellowjackets season 1 review here!

YELLOWJACKETS is a new Showtime series where the genres are horror, drama, and mystery. From the opening scene of this series, I was absolutely hooked. It’s also from this very first scene that you’ll get a Lord of the Flies vibe. However, the all-female starring cast reminded me of The Wilds. A series that just wrapped shooting on its second season.

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In other words, you have plenty to look forward to with this one. Continue reading our Yellowjackets season 1 review below.

Psychological coming-of-age horror story

Yellowjackets is part survival epic and part psychological horror. The main story is set in the 1990s and revolves around that classic coming-of-age period of a teenager’s life. High School is about to end with the next step being college. Before they all get that far, the female soccer team is set to play their championship match.

Unfortunately, they never get that far since the plane crashes on their way there.

The story of how (some of!) the girls survived being lost for 19 (yes, nineteen!) months, is clearly a harrowing one. We meet the girls who survived as women in the present day. There is much they need to hide from the public about what happened in the freezing and brutal woods in order to survive.

Exactly what survival entailed is shown, in part, in episode 1. However, there is so much more to this story and plenty to keep you watching.

The most awesome cast!

This new Showtime series has done an excellent job of matching the younger actors to their adult counterparts. Already when seeing the characters as teenagers, you can guess who is playing the Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, and Christina Ricci characters.

In both the 1990s and present-day parts of Yellowjackets, the cast is absolutely awesome. As already mentioned above, we have Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, Castle Rock) and Oscar-nominated Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers, Cape Fear, Ma). Alongside Emmy-nominated Christina Ricci (Addams Family, Monster), and also Tawny Cypress (Unforgettable). All in the starring roles.

In other roles, you can look forward to experiencing Ella Purnell (Army of the Dead), Samantha Hanratty (Shameless), Sophie Thatcher (Prospect), and Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief). Plus Jasmin Savoy Brown (The Leftovers), Steven Krueger (The Originals), and Warren Kole (Shades of Blue). And, of course, fans of Santa Clarita Diet will be happy to see Liv Hewson.

Watch Yellowjackets on Showtime!

The new Yellowjacket series on Showtime was created and executively produced by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (The Originals, Narcos). Also producing are Jonathan Lisco (Animal Kingdom, Halt and Catch Fire), Karyn Kusama (The Invitation), and Drew Comins of Creative Engine.

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As a Scandinavian, I thought it was cool that Norwegian director Eva Sørhaug (Your Honor) directed three episodes in this season. All other directors attached are behind one episode each. Most prominently, Karyn Kusama is the director of episode 1, which is breathtakingly strong!

Make sure you’re watching Yellowjackets from the very beginning to avoid spoilers!

YELLOWJACKETS has 10 one-hour episodes that will premiere weekly on Showtime from November 14, 2021.

Details

Creators: Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson
Stars: Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, Sophie Thatcher, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell, Samantha Hanratty, Sophie Nélisse, Steven Krueger, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Warren Kole