Yellowjackets - What We Know So Far
Watching a disparate group of people survive the perils — and rejoice in the pleasures — of the outdoors has been fascinating television fodder for decades. Whether it's the relatively safe (but still intriguing) stakes of survival on the reality TV series "Survivor," the gripping supernatural twists to staying alive on "Lost," or more recently, the YA drama-tinged thriller "The Wilds," nothing gets an audience's blood pumping quite like seeing a group either unite or fall apart under the pressures to stay alive and get help.
Soon, Showtime will be adding a new title to this unique TV subgenre with the arrival of "Yellowjackets," a survival thriller which follows the dual timelines of a teenage members of a girls soccer team as they survive after a plane crash and the lives of the handful of survivors who made it back to civilization 25 years later. "Yellowjackets" was picked up by Showtime back in 2019 (via Deadline), with the additional announcement that Karyn Kusama ("Jennifer's Body") would direct the pilot. The series, which feels like a mix of "Lord of the Flies" and "Big Little Lies," was created and executive produced by Ashley Lyle ("The Originals") and Bart Nickerson ("Narcos"). While Showtime has officially picked up the series (via Deadline), and the pilot has been shot, filming on the rest of the first season will take place in Vancouver, Canada, until the end of September (via Variety Insight).
Showtime released the first teaser for "Yellowjackets" in early August (via YouTube) and in doing so, gave audiences an exciting first look at what will be a must-see series. Based on this teaser and previous reporting, here's what we know so far about "Yellowjackets."
What is the release date of Yellowjackets?
No official release date has been set for "Yellowjackets," but thanks to the trailer, we do know the survival thriller will premiere on Showtime sometime in the fall. There's no clear season tie-in here — as opposed to, say, guessing the show would arrive in October if it were horror-based — which makes the premiere window even tougher to nail down. While we know filming on the majority of Season 1 will run until late September 2021, we don't know much about the filming sequence for the episodes, making for a trickier time guessing the release date. To be safe, it's likely "Yellowjackets" will get a mid-October premiere at the earliest.
In addition to this release date, we know that "Yellowjackets" will be on the air for two-and-a-half months. The first season of the Showtime show will be comprised of 10 episodes, with each episode clocking in at an hour in length. Given the size of this first season and depending on when "Yellowjackets" premieres, this show could be a prominent show in the early fall that will keep tongues wagging with theories about any and all mysteries presented throughout.
Who is in the Yellowjackets cast?
The cast for "Yellowjackets" features a crackerjack trio of actresses audiences first fell in love with in the nineties, who will be leading a strong supporting ensemble. Leading the cast of "Yellowjackets" is Christina Ricci, Melanie Lynskey, and Juliette Lewis. All three actresses will be playing an adult version of a teen Yellowjackets team member. Ricci will play Misty, with the younger version of Misty played by Sammi Hanratty ("Shameless"). Lynskey will play Shauna, and the younger version of the character will be played by Sophie Nélisse ("47 Meters Down: Uncaged"). Lewis will be playing Natalie, with the younger version of the character played by Sophie Thatcher ("Prospect").
As for the rest of the "Yellowjackets" cast, the supporting line-up includes: Keeya King ("The Handmaid's Tale"), Ella Purnell ("Sweetbitter"), Tawny Cypress ("House of Cards"), Pearl Amanda Dickinson ("Legion"), Tony Cornelisse ("Parks and Recreation"), Jasmin Savoy Brown ("The Leftovers"), Stephen Krueger ("The Originals"), Peter Gadiot ("Supergirl"), Liv Hewson ("Santa Clarita Diet"), and Warren Cole ("Shades of Blue").
What is the plot of Yellowjackets?
Per the "Yellowjackets" Showtime page, the plot of the upcoming thriller is revealed to be this:
"Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, 'Yellowjackets' is the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they've attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over."
Now, what that plot fails to mention is just how quickly the surviving group of Yellowjackets teammates devolve into what appears to be a semi-feral, near-tribal society as means of surviving.
This particular element, which seems reminiscent of "Lord of the Flies" (a reference point for the show), is teased in the trailer for "Yellowjackets." At once point, we see a shot of at least three teenagers wearing huge, furry masks, animal skins, and animal horns. It's unclear what's going on, but it teases just how far the survival portion of the "Yellowjackets" story will tip into madness. We also have no idea how each of the adult characters relates to one another more than two decades after the crash, nor do we have information about how they choose to live their lives after the crash.
We can expect the answers to these questions, as well as any others that pop up in the premiere, to be answered throughout Season 1.