The time has finally come to welcome the yellowjackets back to our screens with the premiere of Yellowjackets season 3 episode 1, "It Girl" on Paramount+. There's actually two episodes that dropped today, and you can find our review of the second episode, here. Plus if you're a Showtime viewer, you might want to turn back because we're definitely discussing spoilers here and the episodes don't air until Sunday night. Alright, let's get into our review of the premiere episode! SPOILERS BELOW.
Let's start in the past timeline. The girls have become efficient in their surroundings and set up huts, and each person has a different skill set they can lend in terms of survival, like hunting for example. The vibes are overall a bit more upbeat for once, that is until we get to Shauna. Van's story and everyone else's energy is juxtaposed with hers since she's of course still suffering the loss of her baby and best friend Jackie. It's definitely been a tough time for Shauna.
Plus, we get a hint of the tension that builds up within some in the group. More specifically, Shauna and Mari. I mean, she even bites her hard when they're playing a game of sorts. Like, chill out girl. And Melissa, who we haven't seen much of in the flashbacks, is sort of on Team Shauna for whatever reason. I have a feeling we're going to see more of her in season 3.
Elsewhere, there's a weird shrieking sound in the woods which could mean more trouble ahead in the stability the girls have found themselves in; coach Scott finds a survival pack with food and items; and Mari falls in the hole where that survival kit is and Coach Scott is there. How will Mari react? Right now, the girls are against the coach as they believe he's the one who burned down the cabin at the end of season 2. I mean, we believe that too. Though that hasn't been 100% confirmed yet so we'll see if there's a plot twist coming.
I have to say, it's nice to at least have Natalie around in the flashbacks. This season truly isn't going to be the same without Adult Natalie around. But, we'll get through it somehow you guys. Speaking of Adult Natalie, that brings us to the present.
It's six weeks after her death and we see Shauna, Jeff, Taissa, and Van attend the funeral. Misty doesn't show up and honestly just has a really rough time in this episode. I mean, she was the one who accidentally killed Natalie so... Natalie's mom gives a speech that really can't be called a speech. It was not a funny moment but I couldn't help but laugh at that. Another part that was funny to me was seeing Shauna stealing from Callie's smoking stash. Ha!
It was nice to see that moment where Callie and Shauna bonded, even though Callie did something very weird by ordering some intenstines and a liver - ew - to teach some girls a lesson who were talking about the yellowjackets in a bad way. You know, good job sticking up for your mom Callie. But did it have to be that way? Though with Shauna's history, she found it amusing and even though it was gross, it made my heart happy seeing mother and daughter bonding.
The cliffhanger of the episode is that Shauna gets mailed a cassette tape, and for whatever reason Callie decides to take it instead of delivering it to her mom. Though that begs the question, who sent it and why? And what's on the tape?
Overall Yellowjackets season 3 episode 1 wasn't a bad episode, per se. But I guess after such a long wait, I was hoping more would happen. It had more of a pilot episode feel to it than just a season premiere. I don't know. It's true season premieres are supposed to lay the groundwork for what's to come. But we really just saw everything we knew was going on, with some plot points moving forward slightly. Though it is a two-episode premiere so let's go see what happens in the next one! Episode grade level: C.
Yellowjackets season 3 releases new episodes Fridays on Paramount+ and Sundays on Showtime.