Christina Ricci Didn't Know What She Was Getting Into Going Into Yellowjackets
What would Stephen King and Gillian Flynn get if they wrote a story together? My bet is that it would look a lot like "Yellowjackets." The Showtime series bounces between two timelines. In 1996, the "Yellowjackets" high school soccer team is stranded in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash. In 2021 New Jersey, the survivors still haven't gotten over what happened during those 19 months they spent stranded. With two widely different settings, the series mixes together folk horror and sensational domestic drama.
The series' most memorable character so far is Misty Quigley. In 1996, she's a nerd who doesn't know how to fit in, but her seeming innocence hides a manipulative sadist. By 2021, she's an elder care nurse, not out of the goodness of her heart, but because the job allows her control over vulnerable people. Misty is like if Carrie White grew up to be Annie Wilkes.
She's played by Sammi Hanratty in 1996 and Christina Ricci in the present. Fitting the '90s-set flashbacks, the "Yellowjackets" main cast is populated by young stars of that era: Juliette Lewis, Melanie Lynskey, and Ricci herself. Since she and her co-stars were acting in the more grounded side of the story, Ricci didn't anticipate just how weird "Yellowjackets" would get.
Unexpected folk horror
In an interview with GQ, Ricci discussed "Yellowjackets" and how even when the cameras started rolling, she wasn't sure where the show was headed. "I didn't really know that it was going to be folk horror," she said. "You have to understand, we had very little information in the beginning; people played it all very close to the chest, what was going on for the rest of the season."
Ricci says that she and the other adult cast knew something "culty" had happened to their characters, but none of the specifics. This meant they acted while in the same shoes as the viewers who watched. Ricci adds:
"I happen to be someone who is really fascinated by cults, so I was intrigued by all that, and intrigued, also by the idea of Misty in that situation, and all the potential manipulations that could occur."
When season 1 of "Yellowjackets" ends, the horror (and cult) is just beginning. The pilot offered a glimpse of the endpoint, including confirmation that the survivors partook in cannibalism. At the center of the cult is a veiled figure wearing an antler crown. It hasn't been confirmed who this figure is but as season 1 went on, evidence piled up to suggest it could be Lottie Matthews (Courtney Eaton), who begins displaying psychic powers in the woods. Misty was shown to be part of the cult in the pilot. Given what we've seen of her so far, it might not be strange for her to act as Lottie's right-hand woman.
"Yellowjackets" season 2 is likely to premiere in 2023. We'll just have to wait and see how much of the mystery is unveiled or how far the flashback storyline progresses. I'm just happy that Misty Quigley will be along for the ride.