Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched Yellowjackets’ latest episode.
With its latest episode, Yellowjackets gave viewers one of its most disturbing juxtapositions yet, with the present-day survivors all together and yukking it up at Lottie’s cult compound, all while Shauna was beating Lottie to the point of near-death in the flashback timeline. The violence on display was beyond extreme, especially for a show that kicked off Season 2 with roasted Jackie serving as a cannibalism buffet, and seemed all the more out of place due to the lack of any perceived angst between the two women later in life. The ‘90s-set ass-whipping also sparked questions about how Lottie could have possibly survived those injuries at the time, and seemingly without suffering any long-term effects. But I think that can all sort of be explained away by the final shot of the episode.
How Did “Burial” End?
Having kicked and punched Lottie to the point where the possibly schizophrenic teen wasn’t even recognizable anymore, a still-angry Shauna made sure her former teammate was indeed still alive before gruffly going outside and plunging her bruised and bloodied hands into the snow surrounding the cabin. And for everyone who may already be familiar with my past ideas about sentient tree moss being the mysterious entity, and why I think the unidentified Pit Girl’s sacrifice in the pilot was as much about bleeding her out as it was about eating her flesh, this latest theory won’t be too far-flung an idea.
Why Is That Final Moment So Important?
As it has been shown time and again — both through intended actions from Lottie & Co. and through unintentional moments such as the seemingly dead Van bleeding onto her pyre wood — characters’ blood holds some kind of power over whatever is in the area. Specifically, it seems as if the wilderness responds positively to those whose blood is offered up in whatever capacity, and that it can somehow fulfill requests and provide necessary means for survival. From the batch of dead birds that fell following Shauna’s nosebleed to Javi being found (among other examples), the mysterious entity that’s keeping them there appears to be capable of either reading their thoughts or just inherently knowing what’s “best” for the group.
As such, I believe something similar will definitely play out after seeing those final moments in the episode, especially considering Shauna had both Lottie’s and her own blood on her hands when she pushed them into the snow. Not that I know if having multiple specimens changes the overall effect, but I’d think the more, the merrier.
In the flashback with her parents after the teens were rescued, Lottie didn’t seem to have any physical evidence of lasting head wounds or injuries. (Her lack of communication during that time is presumably another story entirely.) And so I fully believe that the teen will either be healed completely the next time we see her, or she’ll at least be well on the road to a full and unnatural recovery.
The Biggest Yellowjackets Questions We Can’t Stop Thinking About
I believe the only way for Shauna to truly put any stock into the spiritual nature of Lottie’s group is for her to be directly responsible for something happening herself. And I can’t think of a better way to pull that off than for Sophie Nélisse’s character to be the direct reason why Lottie’s injuries are reversed in record time.
Did Shauna And Lottie Plan It Ahead Of Time?
Because of the uncharacteristically vicious way Shauna unloads on Lottie with both her fists and her feet, without anyone else stepping in to save the latter from what would feasibly be life-altering injuries, my suspicions were on high alert. When one considers just how weak and frail the girls are meant to be this long after first being stranded, I’d logistically imagine half of Shauna’s attack would have been enough to put Lottie down for the eternal count. But even with TV magic in the mix, I think the beating went too far for anyone to realistically think that Lottie would be able to live without constant medical supervision from that point forward. Which would possibly mean that the fight happened with the preconceived notion that a blood sacrifice would be used to rectify the situation soon after.
It’s kind of a ridiculous idea on the surface, since it’s hard to imagine Shauna would be cool-cool-cool with her baby being used as argument fuel. But it’s possible that side of it wasn’t discussed ahead of time, and was merely the easiest way to provoke such a devastating reaction from the still-grieving teen.
Or even if a bloody-knuckled thrashing wasn’t specifically talked out previously, the teammates could have talked out some hypothetical ideas about how to prove blood sacrifices are real, and how to use them advantageously. And then, in the heat of the moment, it was decided that Shauna Vs. Lottie would be the optimal way to put the idea to the test, while also allowing the former to draw out some of her exponentially expanding rage.
If all of my notions here are dead wrong, it adds even more confusion to the moment where Shauna brusquely makes sure her punching bag was still alive before she goes outside to cool her hands down. As well, I would be all the more confused about why Mari and others didn’t step in before Lottie’s face was pummeled to mulch, if not for having faith in the idea that their friend would be restored by bloodletting for the wilderness. (I love Yellowjackets an extra 10% for allowing some of the preceding sentences to exist.)
Is anyone else on the same page here, or does the rest of the fanbase think the fight was an impulsive display of emotions that won’t lead to magical adjustments to bone structures and facial wounds? We’ll hopefully find out soon where things go when Yellowjackets returns with Episode 209, which will be streaming early through Showtime’s app or with a Paramount+ subscription with a network add-on. While waiting, be sure to give the (genuinely real) phone number to Lottie’s cult camp a call, as there’s a fun message for fans to hear.
