Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7 Review: Croak

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7, “Croak,” sees the teens get a taste of the outside world while Taissa resorts to desperate measures. It also answers one crucial season-long question: Why are the trees screeching? 

The Trees Are Croaking 

This series loves to play with our sense of reality, especially when under immense duress or forced to endure trauma. The mind is quite powerful. For most of Season 3, our titular teens believe the screeching is the Wilderness communicating with them. However, the appearance of Hannah and Edwin, the frog scientists, and their guide, Kodiak, is proof positive that this isn’t true. 

Ever heard of the Arctic Banshee Frog? Apparently, they get pretty loud during mating season. If there’s one thing Yellowjackets does well, it makes us question whether what we’re seeing/hearing is real or not.

That said, there’s usually a logical explanation for almost everything — at least so far — and I love that. To me, it’s much more fascinating to have the supernatural elements be fabrications of the survivors’ imaginations. 

An Action-Packed Affair

The beginning of “Croak,” where we get to know the newcomers, feels like the start of a horror movie. You’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know there’s no way they’ll escape the Yellowjackets — their deaths are an inevitability. That said, Lottie killing Edwin from the jump is a shock to the system. It kicks the narrative into high gear. 

Additionally, it’s interesting to see the teens from an outsider’s perspective. It’s a collision between the Wilderness and civilization, much like how the adults in the present timeline are tapping into that base, primal behavior they exhibited out there.

This begs the question: Has It always been inside them? Are they really It? 

The story maintains steady momentum from beginning to end, especially in the ’90s timeline. There’s an undercurrent of tension amid the action. We know Hannah won’t leave the Wilderness alive, but you still root for her survival. Despite being an adult, there’s an innocence to Ashley Sutton’s portrayal of Hannah. 

No Time Like the Present 

Meanwhile, the present timeline also gets a much-needed plot boost, although it feels a bit less focused than the ’90s timeline (although more so than usual).

The Yellowjackets are finally back together for a road trip to Virginia, where Shauna plans to have a civilized conversation with Hannah’s daughter, who might be trying to kill her. There’s certainly more humor and levity in this arc, but that’s not out of the ordinary for this show. Christina Ricci, in particular, is always a hoot as the undeterred Misty. 

Unfortunately, Van takes a turn for the worse, which isn’t totally unsurprising. After all, sometimes, people with terminal illnesses often show signs of improvement before that steep decline. Taissa, however, is willing to put her faith in the Wilderness into action by balancing the scales for the love of her life. 

Into the Fire 

Van’s impending death will undoubtedly leave a gaping hole. Lauren Ambrose is a wonderful talent who really feels like an extension of the equally talented Liv Hewson. Van’s hospital hallucination incorporates fire, a common thematic element we’ve seen more than once throughout the series. 

Whether it’s almost burning alive in the wreckage of the plane, being left for dead on a funeral pyre, watching the cabin burn, or hallucinating about fire in the caves, Van boasts a connection to fire. Fire represents passion, destruction, transformation, and creation. In a way, Van was forged by fire.

She emerges from the flames of the plane. She survived almost burning to death on the funeral pyre. It shaped who she is, and it boasts religious ties, which makes sense for Teen Van, given her initial belief in the Wilderness (now, not so much).

Additionally, in “Croak,” Van finally realizes that she’s been interacting with Other Tai this whole time. This could fling the doors wide open for Other Tai, development-wise.

Who knows? We might see more of a struggle between our Tai and Other Tai. It’s a fascinating mystery that’s really bearing fruit this season. 

Waiting in Virginia 

Shauna decides to sleep outside Hannah’s daughter Alex’s house with her trusty butcher knife at her side. We’ve yet to meet Hilary Swank’s character, and she could easily be Alex.

However, another prevailing theory is that Swank is Melissa, despite Tai stating that Melissa and Gen are dead. Yellowjackets takes great pleasure in messing with our heads, so I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them turns out to be alive.

Hilary Swank = Melissa wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, and it would make sense, given her relationship with Shauna in the ’90s timeline.

Regardless, Shauna most certainly won’t remain calm and in control, which will make for wildly entertaining TV. This show is at its best when its women are untethered, uninhibited, and free to express the full range of human emotions — visceral, raw rage included. 

Stray Observations: 

• Here’s a fun fact: Kodi’s first line is, “I guess it’s like what they say: The heart wants what it wants.” One of Jeff Winger’s final lines in the Community series finale is, “The heart, which cynics say is code for ‘penis,’ wants what it wants.” This definitely feels intentional. Now Animal Control needs to find a way to work that in for McHale in Season 4. 
• Shauna’s gleeful reaction to Lottie burying an ax in Edwin’s head is so messed up, especially juxtaposed with Nat’s rightfully shocked response. 
• Misty, in the past and present timelines, had the best quotes in “Croak.” “He died of natural causes” and “I am not family, but we have a very intense trauma bond.” Her “past is prologue” bit to Shauna is also great. Listen, even if Ben died of natural causes, y’all didn’t have to display his head on a tree stump. 
• Shauna having a gentle, reasonable conversation with someone she perceives is out to get her? When pigs fly. 
• I don’t believe this is the last we’ll see of the broken sat phone. The tech-savvy of the teens might try to fix it. 
• Jeff’s objective this season is to stick it to the Joels whenever possible. He’ll even take potential bed bugs in his hotel room as a win over them. 

---

What did you think of Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

Critic Rating:

Audience Rating:

 

Yellowjackets drops new episodes every Friday on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, with network airings every Sunday at 8 pm EST/PST. 

Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!