Blood Hive
Episode 5 of the Yellowjackets begins back in the forest. The girls keep themselves entertained, dancing to This Is How We Do It. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your reaction to this scene) the batteries run out. Creaking from above serves up a delicious tease that these girls may not be alone. ..
Nat and the other girls head to the lake to get more water. Lottie is already there, and she’s not happy about it.nat doesn’t pay much attention to it, beyond asking if the water is cold.
The women of the group are starting to notice that Jackie isn’t doing her part to lead them. Misty has stepped up and been a great leader, but Jackie has been slipping back into the shadows. If she doesn’t start contributing more, the other women may start to rebel. ..
Shauna has been having periods but she’s not sure if it’s because she’s not getting her period or because she’s using blood from a carcass to hide the truth. We find out later that Shauna is pregnant and her baby is due in a few weeks.
Shauna is torn between the hive mind and her best friend Jackie. For now, she’s loyal to Jackie, agreeing to her idea of a séance to communicate with the dead. ..
That night, Lottie appeared to be possessed, muttering in French that “he always wants blood” as their game took a turn for the worse. Lottie smashed her face against the wall, bleeding out, while Coach wound up vomiting downstairs. This does not appear to be linked to the séance though, as the tea Misty gave him looks to be spiked. ..
Coach questions her about her relationship with the quarterback, but finds out that he does have feelings for her after all. However, he wants to keep it a secret so the other girls don’t get jealous.
Shauna and Jeff continue to have problems in their marriage. They go to a masquerade party that night, but things get worse.
As fate would have it, Shauna runs into her daughter, Callie. She’s wearing Jackie’s football outfit and that immediately winds up Shauna. Jackie is the big elephant in the room here though, as we learn that Jeff and Shauna never talk about her.
Callie had a heart-to-heart conversation with her daughter the next day, after which she decided to blackmail Shauna in exchange for not having to abide by her curfew. ..
Shauna’s response to Jeff’s life is sharp and biting. She points out that divorce lawyers are expensive and Callie’s college funds will be used to pay them. This clever, scathing assessment of Jeff’s spiraling life knocks some serious sense into the girl.
Meanwhile, Kevin rings Nat and tells her that the toxicology report on Travis is clean. After hanging up, she reluctantly calls Misty. Nat calls on her expertise to hack into Travis’s files and see if anything is hidden. After antagonizing Misty’s contact with petrol and a lighter, they receive the police files. After Kevin hangs up with Nat, he decides to call Misty to see if she has any information on Travis’s death. When he reaches her, he finds out that she has been harassing someone with gasoline and a lighter recently. They then share the police file that they received from Nat. ..
With Misty’s help, they check the crime photos and notice a smudge that seems to be wax. Putting all the pictures together, the girls find another of those strange symbols that are etched on the trees in the forest. Given Travis never believed in the cult stuff, it backs up the theory that he was killed.
Taissa’s polls aren’t looking good. She’s down by 20 points in the suburbs and her angry reaction to Diane last episode isn’t doing her any favours. That stress manifests once more in seeing a wolf out in the street… and ominous red paint on the door reading “Spill.” ..
The culprit is actually Sammy, who has red paint under his bed. He also claims that the lady in the tree made him do it. Whether this is a red herring or a genuine bite of foreshadowing is one of the better inclusions in this show.
Taissa decides to fight back against Phil, giving a speech about fighting back. She even blames the red paint on someone else other than Sammy.
Nat eventually brings Tai to her place and shows her the crime photos. As they ring Shauna, they learn that Misty has already informed her and broken their trust. We pan out too see Misty is actually keeping an eye on Nat, courtesy of bugging her camera. Is she the real ringleader in all this? ..
The Episode Review
After last week’s misstep, episode 5 comes bouncing back again with a much improved chapter. There’s some great character development for Shauna and we see the extent these girls are willing to go to keep their secrets - and get ahead in life. Tai using her son’s painting to get a foot in the election is a nice touch, as it becomes increasingly clear that something is going on with Sammy. ..
Based on what we’ve seen so far, it seems likely that all the “spirits” we’re seeing in the present are just fragments of horrors from the time in the forest. They could well also show who has died - or how. Jackie isn’t in the present, so it’s fair to say she’s dead, while the wolf Tai is seeing could be responsible for killing Val. ..
The present day timeline continues to unravel the mystery as it seems like one among them is actually stalking and hunting the girls. Saying that Misty has orchestrated the whole thing is a little too easy, although I personally think it could well be someone else from the wilderness working with her in the shadows – Jackie perhaps?
The Yellowjackets series has been a lot of fun so far and the séance – and Lottie’s general oddness – combine to add just the right amount of horror to keep things moving forward. Let’s hope next week continues the good work done here!
