Yellowjackets Season 2 Episode 9 Review: Storytelling

Yellowjackets Season 2 Episode 9, “Storytelling,” says farewell to a beloved character and highlights the next catastrophe in the teens’ fight for survival.

There’s a lot to unpack from the season finale between the gruesome disembodiment of Javi, Natalie’s death, Ben burning the cabin down, and Walter’s newfound involvement with the adult crew.

Natalie Pays the Ultimate Price

Natalie’s death has been heavily foreshadowed for most of the season, but how it’s approached and executed is severely disappointing and shocking.

After spending the majority of Season 2 working on growing as a person and fighting her addiction, Natalie is forced to die at the hands of fentanyl, which feels like such a massive slap to her character’s face.

Telling the police that Natalie OD’d is the safest plan for the adults to avoid further investigations, but it doesn’t negate how morally unjust it is. Natalie is more than her addiction; she has worked tirelessly to unpack her past traumas and deserves to be remembered as more than just a drug addict.

She spent her entire life tortured by actions she was forced to execute under duress, only for her to fall at the hands of yet another debilitating crutch. Natalie deserved a better fate.

Lisa’s involvement in Natalie’s death only further plunges the metaphorical knife into our hearts. Holding on to her guilt for Javi’s death and her actions in the wilderness, Natalie sacrificing herself to save Lisa was her way of finally paying for not acting accordingly to help save Javi.

It’s disheartening for Lisa’s entire character presence to simply be a way for Natalie to improve herself before meeting an unfortunate fate.

As a whole, Natalie’s death sequence is unbearably upsetting, no matter how predictable, especially as she hallucinates the younger versions of herself, Javi, and Lottie.

Juliette Lewis is a powerhouse actress with so much raw talent that she exudes through the screen each week. It will be tough to watch Season 3 and deal with her disappearance.

With Natalie being the first adult to bite the bullet, despite Shauna drawing the Queen card, my theory is that either Shauna or Lottie will be the next to go.

Jealous Much?

“Storytelling” goes more in-depth, depicting the gravity of Shauna’s presence and how vital she is to the teens’ survival. Nobody else besides her is willingly offering to bleed, de-bone, and cut apart their friends.

With Jackie’s death, at least there wasn’t any room for anyone to get their hands dirty. With Javi, it’s an entirely different story. She must separate all her emotions from the situation and focus on the overall goal: their survival.

Shauna covering her eyes as she bleeds Javi’s body is a beautiful depiction of her feelings towards the situation. Yes, it is for their survival, but crossing that line inherently changes someone, and she takes the brunt of the trauma without much recognition.

When Lottie instigates her change of leadership speech, Shauna’s eyes light up with such intensity as if she’s under the impression all of her hard work will finally be rewarded.

Lottie: “I never wanted to be in charge. It chose me, I think, because I was the only one who knew how to listen. But I can’t hear it anymore. I think that’s because it doesn’t need me anymore. You all learned how to hear it, to feel it. Maybe what it wants for us now is a leader who can help us survive for the rest of the time we’re out here. And that isn’t me. The wilderness chose who fed us. It’s already chosen who should lead us. Natalie.”

Instead, Lottie swiftly names Natalie, lighting a fire of jealousy within Shauna. Truthfully, I’d also be upset if I just had to put in work chopping up a friend and then was passed up as the leader. How much more does she have to do to prove her worth? If anyone is rightfully the next to lead out in the wilderness, it would be Shauna.

No More Shelter

The cabin burning down in the ending frames of the season is one of the more shocking twists and forces the audience to sit and think about Ben’s actions. It’s not as cut and dry as it seems.

Based on his actions, it’s implied Ben decides to burn the cabin down after witnessing Lottie appoint Natalie as their new leader. Hypothetically, it could make sense for his opinions of Natalie to change after hearing she willingly let Javi die in her place after finding Shauna standing over his torn body, but it still feels out of character.

His only real friend/acquaintance out in the wilderness has been Natalie. She’s treated him with the utmost respect and bonded with him on a more mature level, so it’s hard for him to switch up so quickly.

My best guess is we won’t see much of Ben in Season 3 because he killed himself after setting the cabin on fire. Ben burning their shelter in an attempt to prevent his body from being eaten afterward is the only rational thought that comes to mind.

Stray Thoughts:

• It’s so infuriating that Javi was the first to be sacrificed after hiding for most of the season after they went on their first craze in season one.
• Travis taking a bite out of Javi’s uncooked heart makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for him as a character. It was not needed.
• Lottie’s face as Taissa tells her she’ll be going away is absolutely soul-crushing. The slight look of disappointment and sadness on her face clearly indicates that she’s heard those exact words in the past, only for them to be a lie. I hope Season 3 has plenty of scenes of Taissa and Van visiting her while she’s incapacitated.
• One of Season 3’s first scenes better be of Taissa with Simone and Sammy because the way those two were written off with the quickness is frightening. Simone was sent to the hospital halfway through the season and promptly forgotten about.
• Honestly, I could care less about Walter and his impact on the storyline. It’s no disrespect towards Elijah Wood, but I do not look forward to seeing the character more in Season 3.

What did you think of this episode of Yellowjackets? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Yellowjackets Season 3 will air sometime in 2024 on Showtime. 

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