Yellowjackets Theory: Ben Will Finally Give In To The Cannibalism
Contains spoilers for "Yellowjackets" Season 2 Episode 2 — "Edible Complex"
The "Yellowjackets" moment every fan has been either waiting for or dreading is finally here: Cannibalism is now in play. In the second episode of Season 2, "Edible Complex," the girls' soccer team — trapped in the woods with very little food in the dead of winter — eats one of their own, though not in the way you might have expected.
This isn't actually the first instance of cannibalism in the new season of "Yellowjackets." At the end of the Season 2 premiere, a young Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) snacks on the ear of her dead, frozen best friend Jackie (Ella Purnell, who appears in some fantasy sequences), but the full-on flesh-eating really gets going in Episode 2. After the girls try to burn Jackie's freezing body on a makeshift pyre, they basically end up barbecuing her instead ... and the tempting smell drives the girls to start snacking.
The girls go for it, along with Travis (Kevin Alves), but one among them doesn't enjoy the, uh, meal. In fact, he's horrified. That lone holdout would be the team's coach, Ben (Steven Krueger), who watches, frightened, from the cabin as the girls eat. It looks like he'll come around, though. Twitter user @aantlerqueen pointed out that there is a moment (perhaps from the future) where we see him eating, in fact: "who do we think they eat next? because ben isn't next. and they're definitely looking at each other right????"
When will Ben eat people?
Eventually, Ben's going to get hungry — and he'll have to start joining the girls as they continue their cannibalism. We still don't know who gets eaten after Jackie, but it doesn't seem that it's Ben, so who will he help cook up next?
@aantlerqueen also said, using the same screenshot, "i don't think he's next because we haven't gotten this scene yet. i think he definitely gets pressured into joining them." This doesn't come as a huge surprise, considering that it's so cold that the camp doesn't have any reliable food sources — and as we saw in the series premiere, the group of girls go so far as to set up traps for their own so they can kill and eat each other to stay alive.
When it comes to Ben, some fans think he'll be on the chopping block pretty soon. @jackietaylcrs, though, had a positive spin on it: "coach ben is toast HOWEVER atleast we know he lasts long enough to shave his face so that's a win in my book. can't wait for clean ben era it's been something we needed for a while."
What will happen to Ben as Yellowjackets continues?
Here's the problem: We haven't seen Ben in the 2021 timeline, which doesn't bode well for his fate in the woods. After losing his leg in the plane crash that stranded the titular Yellowjackets in the woods, Ben has tried — and often failed — to corral the girls as they all fight for their survival, but throughout Season 1, it became increasingly clear that he doesn't actually have much power over any of them.
It does seem increasingly likely that Ben, who has faced more physical struggles than most in the wilderness, will fall prey to the girls, but how and when is the question. It's also still possible that he pops up in the modern timeline, but nobody has so much as mentioned his name, which definitely isn't a good sign for him. Ben's story is still ongoing on "Yellowjackets," but it definitely could come to an end at any time.
"Yellowjackets" is airing its second season on Showtime now.