In the present-day “Yellowjackets” timeline, Melanie Lynskey’s Shauna has tracked her carjacked minivan to a chop shop in the middle of a nowhere, and even though Shauna’s the one holding the gun, the guy running the joint isn’t the least bit scared and is borderline amused by this suburban housewife-looking lady who is demanding he return her stolen vehicle, which by the way is a hunk of junk. We won’t spoil what happens next, only to say this should be the scene that plays when the nominees are announced on the TV awards shows, and Lynskey’s name is among them, as it almost certainly will be.
It’s classic Shauna. It’s classic Melanie Lynskey. And it’s one of the many instances in Season Two of “Yellowjackets” that give us reason to believe Showtime’s surprise hit will continue to make waves, thanks to the brilliant cast and the long-form vision of creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, and showrunner Jonathan Lisco.
With influences ranging from “Lord of the Flies” to “Lost” to the 1993 film “Alive” and even a dash of “Desperate Housewives” in the later timeline, “Yellowjackets” is aiming for a five-season arc, and while there are few moments in this new season when we wonder if the writers have thought this thing all the way through, it’s not as if we’re being strung along. Season One provided some major answers to the first batch of mysteries — and based on the six episodes made available for reviewers, Season Two is following a similar arc.
To be sure, there are still far more questions than answers, and it appears as if the supernatural elements in particular will remain shadowy and elusive for a long time to come. But there’s a certain rhythm to the storytelling that also allows for a steady helping of “aha!” moments, when either the characters or the viewer (or both) learn certain truths about what’s going on. Alternately eerie, mystical, weird, jolting, darkly funny and just plain terrifying, “Yellowjackets” has solidified its standing as one of the most memorable series of the decade.
In the 1996 timeline, we pick up the story two months down the road, with the plane crash survivors hunkering down in the wilderness and struggling to stay alive in the face of a seemingly endless winter. It’s too cold to bury Jackie (Ella Purnell), who sits up like a human Popsicle in the company of the pregnant Shauna (Sophie Nélisse), who is having a very difficult time accepting Jackie’s death, even though she was the catalyst for it. (Let’s just say Purnell still has some dialogue in Season 2 and leave it at that.)
Meanwhile, Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) finds herself face to antlers with a majestic and gigantic and almost ghostly white moose who really would have been at home on “Lost.” (The visuals in “Yellowjackets” remain stunning at every turn.) Teenage Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown) is succumbing almost nightly to sleepwalking events that hint at the otherworldly nature of things, while Lottie (Courtney Eaton), aka the “Antler Queen,” has become an almost cult-like figure to her growing number of followers. This lot is so busy dealing with so much s- - -, survival sometimes seems like an afterthought.
We feel just a little bit of a letdown when the focus shifts to current day — not because the cast isn’t great, but because some of the storylines feel like placeholders, and the unsolved mysteries simply don’t have the same high-stakes, bat-bleep level of crazy we get in the 1996 adventures.
Still, there’s plenty to keep us involved here as well, thanks to the continuing strong work by Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress and Juliette Lewis as the adult versions of the teenage Yellowjackets, and the additions of Lauren Ambrose as the adult Van and Simone Kessell as grown-up Lottie, who is running a healing center that has all the trappings of a cult. (When Lewis’ Natalie wonders why everyone has to dress in purple, Lottie corrects her: “It’s heliotrope, not purple.” Ha! Just one small example of the quick and clever writing evident throughout the series.)
Shauna and her husband Jeff (a very funny Warren Kole) are kinda-sorta bonding over the whole murder cover-up deal, while dealing with their rebellious daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins, who also plays a rebellious daughter in the new Netflix series “The Night Agent.”) Newly elected state senator Taissa (Tawny Cypress) is still experiencing blackout episodes in which horrible things occur (remember what happened to the poor doggie?), and it seems only a matter of time before she does permanent damage to herself and/or others. On the lighter side Ricci’s Misty pairs up with fellow “Citizen Detective” Walter (Elijah Wood, Ricci’s long-ago castmate from “The Ice Storm”) to try find the missing Natalie, and their particular adventures have a “Only Murders in the Building” kind of vibe.
Season Two of “Yellowjackets” is filled with signature moments, whether it’s one of the strangest baby showers in television history (featuring a performance of a monologue from “Steel Magnolias,” I kid you not), or the teenagers gathering up dead birds while “Bells for Her” by Tori Amos plays on the soundtrack, or when Misty prepares Shauna for possible questioning from the authorities by conducting a mock interrogation and baking her a giant cookie cake with frosting that reads, “I Want My Lawyer.” It’s blazing good television, with each episode leaving us wanting more of the madness.
