Yellowjackets Is Not About A 'Monster In The Woods,' Says Showrunner
Is there something supernatural in the remote wilderness? Or was the most evil creature of them all man this whole time? It's possibly the biggest mystery "Yellowjackets" fans have been trying to unravel since season 1. We already know the show's protagonists will eventually commit horrendous acts in their efforts to survive being stranded in the great Canadian north as teenagers. But is there also an entity in the wild egging them on? Perhaps, though it's pretty clear by now the members of Wiskayok High School's 1996 girls' soccer team are more than capable of breaking bad by themselves.
With season 2 right around the corner (read /Film's review here), co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco spoke to SFX Magazine about all those fan theories regarding that enigmatic sigil that keeps popping up on the series. If there is a sinister presence out there in the wilderness — something Lisco was very careful to avoid either confirming or denying — it's definitely not the beginning and the end of the Yellowjackets' problems. "It's not about an external monster in the woods who is going to eat our teens," he said. "And it's not exclusively about some supernatural force in the present which is making them do things."
The watcher in the woods
There's a telling moment in "The Banshees of Inisherin," wherein Brendan Gleeson's Colm postulates, "Maybe there are banshees, too. I just don't think that they scream to portend death anymore. I think they just sit back, amused." His meaning, of course, is that we humans don't need magical forces or otherworldly creatures to spur us into destroying ourselves. The same could be said for whatever may or may not be chillaxing in the woods with the Yellowjackets. For all we know, whatever's out there (if there's anything at all) is content to hang back and watch, bemused as these young women tear each other apart.
"The question of whether or not it is imposed by some dark force — and I'm not saying that's not possible — or whether or not it is alchemically generated by the proximity of these specific women together in the world, I think that's a really interesting question to continue to mine," Jonathan Lisco added. It's certainly encouraging to hear him say that, too. The worst thing "Yellowjackets" could do would be to repeat the mistake of other mystery box series and get caught up in its labyrinth plotting at the expense of its engrossing themes and ideas. Whichever way he and his co-showrunners ultimately go, Lisco assured they "don't want to manipulate our audience" and are "not playing games." What they're really invested in is exploring what makes the Yellowjackets tick (as they should be).
"We want it to be something that lives inside of people because they understand it on a deep, human level," he explained. "And they understand that the darkness and the light exists in all us of. This is a profound excavation of that question."
"Yellowjackets" season 2 premieres on Showtime on March 26, 2023.