The showrunners for Yellowjackets address how the show teases cannibalism and why they took the approach they did. First airing in 2021 on Showtime, the horror/mystery show tells the story of a high school girls' soccer team that is forced to go to great lengths to survive after their plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness. Yellowjackets takes place in the past as the characters are struggling to survive, but also sees some of the characters in the present, often dealing with PTSD and other psychological effects from the mysterious trauma they endured.
Yellowjackets has been a big hit with audiences and critics thus far, currently boasting an impressive 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The show is highly praised for the way in which it unfolds its mystery, particularly as it relates to the strange supernatural occurrences that plague the group and the main characters' descent into a more primal way of life. The question of whether the team engages in cannibalism is of particular focus in Yellowjackets, with the opening of the show seeing masked members of the team hunting someone and seemingly eating them. Yellowjackets features an impressive cast, including Melanie Lynskey, Ella Purnell, Tawny Cypress, Sophie Nélisse, and Sophie Thatcher, among others.
In a new interview with Variety, showrunners Jonathan Lisco, Bart Nickerson, and Ashley Lyle discuss the ways in which the show teases cannibalism and assure audiences that the idea will be more fully explored. They also discuss the ways in which the show approaches teasing things in general, promising that Yellowjackets won't ever artificially draw out tension and questions without good reason. Check out the full comments from the showrunners below:
Nickerson: We know they eat a person eventually. We, as a show, won't tease the audience with things. I hate that as a viewer. If things don't happen, it's not just to artificially elongate, like, 'Oh, we know you want this and so we're just going to drag it out.' Things that do take maybe longer than is always comfortable is about the story kind of unfolding and about getting more and more context for a moment.
Lyle: I think we also are very much drawn to a kind of existential tension and dread. As Bart says, we're not just teasing it out to elongate it and pad it. We like that feeling of dread and we think it's useful in the telling of the story because of how they're suffering and because of the PTSD that they're saddled with ultimately as grown-ups. In the midst of that, I think we can commit to delivering on our promise to answer questions eventually in a satisfying way.
While the show didn't fully explain what was happening and who was involved in the opening cannibalism tease, the showrunners' Yellowjackets season 2 comments suggest audiences will get a definitive answer eventually. As Nickerson explains, he understands that it's frustrating for viewers to have mysteries artificially elongated, so they're committed to ensuring that audiences are given answers after the context of a given moment is fully fleshed out. After all, showing the students in Yellowjackets participating in cannibalism is quite a leap from how they are first portrayed, and it's clear that the showrunners are making sure the decision is completely understandable to audiences.
The series sets up a number of mysteries in season 1, both in the past and in the present. Although some of the answers that are provided to viewers just lead to more questions, such as in the case of Taissa's disturbing shrine beneath her house in the Yellowjackets season 1 finale, it's evident that the showrunners will reveal more when the moment is right. Season 2, which is expected to go into production in late August, will likely provide answers to many of the questions raised in season 1, and, judging from the comments from the Yellowjackets showrunners, it's clear that the cannibalism storylines will eventually be fleshed out in a satisfying way.
Source: Variety