| “ | Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! | „ |
| ~ The Yellowjackets chant |
| “ | All I know is that what happened was a tragedy, a terrible tragedy. I probably shouldn't say this, but some of these kids? No real big loss if we're honest. But those girls were special. They were...they were champions. | „ |
| ~ Wiskayok High School's principal on the Yellowjackets |
The Wiskayok High School Yellowjackets are the titular protagonists of Yellowjackets. A high school girls soccer team from Wiskayok, New Jersey, the team were the pride and joy of Wiskayok High School and were set to compete in the Nationals in Seattle in 1996. However, after their private plane crashes, they are stranded deep in the Canadian Wilderness, forced to resort to extreme measures to survive and collapse into savage cannibals. 25 years later, the few survivors struggle to adjust back to society amidst blackmail and murder.
Members[]
The seven main survivors are Yellowjackets Shauna Shipman, Taissa Turner, Natalie Scatorrico, Vanessa "Van" Palmer and Charlotte "Lottie" Matthews, the team's equipment manager Misty Quigley and Natalie's boyfriend Travis Martinez. Deceased members include, but are not limited to, team captain and Shauna's best friend Jackie Taylor and the deeply religious Laura Lee. Also on the plane were the two coaches, Travis's father Coach Bill Martinez and assistant coach Ben Scott, and Travis's younger brother Javi.
History[]
Despite conflict over Taissa accidentally breaking teammate Allie's leg, the girls set off to Seattle to play in Nationals in a private plane charted by Lottie's father. Unfortunately, their plane takes a detour due to bad weather and crashes in the Canadian Wilderness. Most of the girls survive, but the only male survivors are Travis, Javi and Coach Ben. The Yellowjackets find shelter in an abandoned cabin and learn to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, Shauna had gotten pregnant from her affair with Jackie's boyfriend Jeff Sadecki before the crash, Jackie slowly becomes more rude, annoying and lazy and Misty becomes obsessed with Coach Ben.
The Yellowjackets later find an abandoned but still working plane. Despite Coach Ben's warnings, Laura Lee foolishly commandeers the plane in an attempt to find civilisation and call for rescue. It takes to air, but explodes shortly after, killing Laura Lee. The surviving Yellowjackets throw a "Doomcoming" party in Laura Lee's memory, during which Tai and Van come out as a lesbian couple to unanimous support from the rest. Mari mistakenly adds Misty's shrooms, which Misty planned to use to drug and rape Coach Ben, into the stew. The Yellowjackets get high and Lottie, Shauna, Mari, Akilah, Tai and Van corner Travis and Jackie in the cabin, lock Jackie in the pantry and start kissing and fondling Travis (except Tai and Van, who make out in the corner and leave). Initially enjoying the attention, Travis panics when he starts envisioning the girls as monsters. When they attempt to tear off his pants and rape him, he runs away. The girls catch up and tie him up, but Jackie and Nat save him. Frightened by the events, Javi runs away.
The next day, the Yellowjackets berate Misty for inadvertently drugging them. Their argument is interrupted when they are approached by a confused bear, which Lottie kills for meat. After Jackie exposes Shauna's affair with Jeff, Shauna gets into a heated argument with her. Hurt, Jackie storms out, sulks by the campfire and falls asleep. That night, a snowstorm covers the area in snow and freezes Jackie to death, to Shauna's horror. Unable to bury her due to the frozen ground, the Yellowjackets store Jackie's frozen corpse in the meat shed, presumably to return to Jackie's family after their eventual rescue. Unable to let go of her best friend, Shauna regularly visits Jackie's corpse, lovingly braids her hair, does her makeup and imagines having conversations with her.
The rest of the Yellowjackets tolerate Shauna's creepy and unhealthy attachment to Jackie's corpse for two months until Tai finds Jackie's corpse braided and made up. Revealing it to everyone else, Tai forces Shauna to cremate Jackie atop a makeshift pyre. The fire roasts Jackie's corpse to perfection, letting off a fragrant scent that draws her starving friends out. The girls and Travis messily devour Jackie's corpse as Coach Ben watches in horror. After getting over cannibalising their captain, the Yellowjackets send Natalie to drop off Jackie's bones at the plane site. Javi returns afterwards. Shauna gives birth to her son shortly after, but he is stillborn, devastating her.
After Shauna lashes out at Lottie in a heartbroken rage and seriously injures her, the Yellowjackets decide to draw cards to determine a human sacrifice so that Lottie will survive. Natalie is selected to be the sacrifice, but escapes with Javi. As they run across a frozen lake pursued by the girls, Javi breaks the ice and falls in. Natalie attempts to pull him up, but Misty drags her away so Javi will be sacrificed in lieu of her. The girls wait until Javi freezes to death before retrieving him and carrying him back to camp to a distraught Travis. After letting him mourn and cradle Javi's body, Shauna cooks Javi and serves him to her team. Natalie is then appointed "Antler Queen", but that night, someone (presumably Coach Ben, to avenge Javi's death and/or prevent them from killing him next) burns down their cabin, with them barely escaping in time.
After 19 months, the Yellowjackets are finally rescued.
Present[]
25 years after their rescue, Tai is a New Jersey State Senator, Shauna is married to Jeff and raising a daughter named Callie with him, Misty is a registered nurse and Natalie is undergoing rehab. They end up blackmailed by an anonymous blackmailer, later revealed to be Jeff. Shauna mistakenly kills a man she was having an affair with. Misty and Natalie find Travis having seemingly committed suicide.
Lottie, now leading a cult out of a wellness commune, kidnaps Natalie. Shauna, Tai, Misty and Van arrive to rescue her, but end up bonding at the cult compound before they decide to sacrifice Shauna. During the chase, Misty accidentally kills Natalie.
Gallery[]
The surviving Yellowjackets at the start of Season 2