With mealtime over, how will the girls live with themselves? One would assume eating a friend and leader might upset the balance of things. Then again, she had been dead for two months. Camp Yellowjackets deals with the fallout of the Seared Jackie entree in “Digestif.”
Yellowjackets – “Digestif” – The Recap
1996
Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) waits in the cabin away from the girls. To escape the moment, he flashes back to a time with his partner. They discuss meals, spices, and the family cookout. Maybe Ben cannot fully get it out of his mind after all.
The next morning, Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) watches over the remains of Jackie. She’s been picked down to the bone. Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) steps outside to get a breath of fresh air. She notices Jackie’s corpse and reacts as if she did not partake. Van (Liv Hewson) runs out and tries to calm her down, but Taissa does not believe she ate Jackie. She runs from the cabin and vomits into the snow. She remembers nothing and screams into the wilderness.
The cabin remains silent as the girls pack. Finally, Lottie breaks the silence, making a joke about breakfast. No one was ready for it, and the awkwardness hangs over the room. Natalie offers to move Jackie to the plane, so they can bury her with the others in the Spring. Ben continues to feel isolated and says it’s a good idea to make it look like she died in the crash.
Present Day
Lottie (Simone Kessell) continues to work with her cult. Natalie (Juliette Lewis) wanders the grounds and watches their rituals through the windows. She eventually comes near Lottie’s cabin but is stopped by Lisa (Nichole Maines). When Natalie asks who lives there, Lisa tells her to stay away. Lisa decapitates a chicken with an ax while they speak, but Natalie remains unfazed.
In the hospital, Taissa (Tawney Cypress) watches over Simone. After the accident, her wife remains hospitalized and requires blood transfusions. In her haze, Taissa drew the symbol from the woods on Simone’s hand. She explains it to the nurses as a sign of good luck. When they leave, she wipes it away.
Misty (Christina Ricci) walks from her car and goes out to a dock. She meets Walter (Elijah Wood) on a boat, and the two prepare to question a witness to Natalie’s kidnapping. Misty realizes the witness is Randy and quickly hides. Before she does, Walter gives her his phone number so they can use his earbuds for communication during the interview. This also allows her to feed him questions. After Misty hides, Randy comes on board. Walter begins the interrogation.
Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) and Jeff (Warren Kole) sit at a diner, but Jeff appears depressed. As a waiter walks up, Shauna asks Jeff what’s wrong. He blurts out “Strawberry lube” (the waiter turns away). He realizes that a gag gift could have opened their relationship to different sexual experiences, but he chose to be boring. Shauna downplays it, telling him it’s not his fault. She admits that she enjoyed the unpredictable version of herself and that’s why she did it.
On the way home, Jeff takes off driving. He says they’re going to Colonial Williamsburg, VA to be spontaneous. However, he almost hits a pedestrian. They jump out of the car, but when Jeff starts calling the police, the pedestrian pulls a gun on them. Shauna wrestles it away from the carjacker, but Jeff forces her to lower the gun. The car jacket steals their van and drives away. They fight, and then she pockets the gun.
Natalie looks over the corkboard. Lottie tells her to sign up for a class because everyone on site wants to meet her. Lottie brings Natalie out to a group of beehives, and they discuss how queens come to dominance.
1996
Natalie picks up Jackie’s remains. Lottie (Courtney Eaton) tries to get Natalie to partake in the ritual. Natalie refuses her and refuses Travis (Kevin Alves) when he offers to help. she picks up a pack with Jackie in it and walks into the woods. Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) watches from the window. Lottie tries to comfort her, but Shauna feels out of control. Lottie pitches getting the cabin ready for Shauna’s child, and the cabin’s spirit improves.
Present Day
Misty and Walter question Randy. He begins lying at first but then starts trash-talking Natalie. Misty tells Walter to hit Randy, but instead, Walter lies to Randy so he can confront Misty. They argue over the best way to continue. Walter returns and slaps Randy twice. He seems ready to talk.
1996
Taissa and Akilah discuss how to get the baby crib ready. Akilah realizes she’s missing time with her nephew. He was four months old when they left. She’s missing his earliest years. The girls make toys and Misty wonders what would be best for the shower. When Crystal (Nuha Jes Izman) admits she ate her twin in the womb, they open up to each other. Maybe eating Jackie did not taste as bad as they expected.
Ben returns from outdoors, and unlike the others, he’s hungry. He begins hallucinating that the others want to eat him. Ben then goes into another flashback with his boyfriend. He remembers the fight with Paul about moving in together. When Ben refuses to quit his job and move in, Paul breaks up with him.
Natalie carries Jackie’s remains to the plane. Nat talks to her remain, and apologizes, but at least she will not see things get worse. Natalie sees an albino moose outside the plane and takes a shot. It sees her and charges. Natalie misses, and the moose cannot get through the airplane door. However, the force is great enough that it knocks Natalie down. When she gets up, the moose is gone.
Present Day
Misty and Walter continue interrogating Randy. Walter pretends he’s ready to torture him, and so Randy opens up. He remembers seeing a group of people in purple but does not think they spoke to Natalie.
1996
Misty and Crystal hang out under a blanket. They are working on something but do not elaborate. Van watches Taissa, who suddenly sits up. She’s sleepwalking again, and Van promises to free her if she can join. Sleepwalking Taissa agrees. They walk through the snow, and Taissa says she’s following the boy with no eyes. Taissa refers to an ethereal “she” who allows her to follow the boy. When Van questions who “she is,” the sleepwalker says it’s Taissa. Van asks who the sleepwalker persona is, but no answer comes. They find the symbol drawn into a tree. Taissa wakes up and they return to the cabin.
Present Day
Jeff works out at the gym when he sees Kevyn (Alex Wyndham) begin his routine. He confronts Kevyn, who tells Jeff about the affair. Jeff tries to play it off like he believes Shauna and tells Kevyn his intel is bad.
Shauna uses a GPS tracker to find her car. She walks into a chop shop with the gun. As she walks through, she finds the chop shop owner. He tries to downplay the fact that she has the gun, but she counters with a story about how hard it is to peel the skin off a human. They stare each other down, and then she grabs the keys. She gets in the car and leaves.
1996
Ben imagines an alternate life where he skipped the flight. Instead, he’s with Paul in their apartment. He flashes in and out of reality (like a static TV). In this reality, he hugs Paul while a broadcast breaks in with news about their flight.
The girls begin giving gifts. While some made her gifts, Misty chose to perform a Steel Magnolias monologue. Travis goes in to check on Ben, but he seems out of it. Misty finishes her monologue to applause.
Present Day
Taissa stands in the hospital bathroom, looking at the mirror. When she turns away, her reflection does not follow and instead stares at her. Taissa looks back and notices the reflection has taken on its own independence. It tries to speak to her, but everything is silent. She asks what it wants, and the reflection places its hands on her face to create the shape from the woods. She leaves the bathroom and borrows her lawyer’s keys while calling someone unknown.
Misty and Walter wonder why leads they have left. That’s when Misty realizes that someone in purple may have run a credit card at the hotel vending machines. They celebrate, and Walter asks Misty why she’s downvoting him. She makes up a lie about being friends with Adam’s mother and that he was an addict. He seemingly accepts the answer and reveals he dropped a neighbor off at the nursing home, not his mom. Misty asks why, and Walter says he’s a “bored Moriarty” looking for his “Sherlock.”
Shauna gets home and gives her daughter the stuffed toy she was worried was lost. Kallie cuddles up to it. Jeff returns home, wondering how the van got back. Misty gets a text from Walter, which has the card info.
Lottie watches her students hug each other and asks who is next. She calls on Natalie and pushes her to be present. Natalie gets up and takes center stage. Lottie asks if there’s anything she needs to process. Natalie refuses, so Lottie calls Lisa up. Lottie gets Lisa to open up with anger for why Natalie hurt her. When Lottie hands Lisa a knife and tells her she can hurt Natalie back, Lisa drops it to hug Natalie.
1996
The girls continue with the baby shower. Lottie added the symbol to a baby blanket, and Natalie confronts her. They all begin fighting, and Shauna suffers a nosebleed.
Suddenly, a pounding begins on the roof. Around the cabin, there are dozens of dead birds. They all try to ignore it, but Lottie thinks they are blessings. The girls gather the birds and bring them to Lottie.
Present Day
Lottie sees all of the bees have died. The honey is gone, replaced by blood. one of her followers speaks offscreen but it’s not clear what is uttered. Lottie turns back and sees the bees are alive and well.
Episode Breakdown – Yellowjackets – “Digestif”
The girls might have survived for another day, but the rules of what it is acceptable are breaking. Lottie begins preaching more pagan ideas. Many girls, including Van, seem to believe in the symbol, Lottie, and an unusual power. We know that Van and Misty were with Lottie at the end of Season 1. What more do they know that has yet to be revealed?
Jeff may have really put the target on his back after the fight with Kevyn. He did not do a very good job to clear her name. However, his absurd reaction to hearing about the affair should make him suspect number one. Will Jeff still go to jail for Shauna? Or has the infidelity caused him to change his opinions of her? Why go to jail for someone who does not love you back?
Melanie Lynskey delivered one of her finest performances to date in this one. The chop shop scene might be the best to date yet. She delivers the line with steely conviction. She gives a masterful performance throughout the show, but this was the clip to play at the Emmys.
Our prediction that Ben might be the next to go moves closer. It might be too obvious, but there’s a lot in favor of eating him next. 1) Athlete means leans meat, and plenty of it. 2) he’s already hallucinating. He does not seem particularly long for this world, especially since he’s on borderline suicide watch. Its not looking good for Ben.
