In the pantheon of episode endings, this one was a doozie. From Teen Shauna finally stepping into the role of, well, leader, to threaten the other Yellowjackets into voting to convict Coach Ben to the revelation that Adult Lottie is dead, that’s a pretty visceral one-two punch to close out the episode. This was also the last of the initial episodes provided for critics, so we’ve been sitting on that reveal for weeks, waiting to be able to talk about it.
The bulk of this week’s action happened in the past, with the trial of Coach Ben, which, ultimately, turned out to mean next to nothing because Shauna was able to inflict her will upon the group and get the needed 2/3 majority to convict Ben of attempted murder. When the series began, I never thought I would look at Ben as one of the most sympathetic characters on the series, but here we are and he absolutely is. That speech, detailing how he was short-sighted and didn’t realize how much the girls had to do to survive? You know what, I believe him. This wasn’t the last ditch attempt of a condemned man desperately trying to win over votes. He’s a good actor (the character, not Steven Krueger, who proved this episode and last that he’s an incredible actor), but not good enough to pull off that particular deception. But Shauna is a woman possessed at this point, full of righteous anger and convinced that she deserves not only power but the respect of all around her. It doesn’t hurt that Melissa is there to continue to feed into her delusions of grandeur. But I suspect we’re headed for a schism in the group, with Nat on one side and Shauna on the other. Take note of who voted with Shauna prior to her outburst – because I suspect those folks might end up being her support when the division occurs.
Before we move on, I want to take a minute to acknowledge just how incredible the younger half of the cast were throughout the trial sequences. Sophie Thatcher and Samantha Hanratty were absolutely sensational throughout the episode, but watching each of them break down at the realization that they couldn’t save Coach Ben was utterly heartbreaking. And Sophie Nelisse could have easily been one-note in her performance, hitting home Shauna’s anger throughout the episode, but she managed to shade her performance with layers to help us see the moment when Shauna decides to stop wallowing in her own anger and use it to shape things in her design. Yes, the past half of the story is often stronger from a narrative perspective, but these actors have truly come into their own and are turning in stunningly effective performances as well. Bravo.
Speaking of angry Shauna (which we seem to be doing every single week at this stage of the game), anyone else a little tickled that the issue with the brakes in the van was actually a simple maintenance issue and not sabotage? I chuckled when that was revealed. Because, despite Shauna’s insistence to the contrary, not everything is a personal attack on her. Did someone lock her in the freezer? I don’t know – Misty certainly might have, although I doubt it. Imagining stabbing Shauna and actually attacking her are two very different things, and as we’ve seen, the survivors don’t seem to be keen on trying to hurt Shauna (at least, all of those we’ve met thus far). I did love getting the chance to see Shauna “commune” with Jackie whilst in the deep freeze (a fitting locale for the one-sided conversation). I was intrigued that Jackie stressed to Shauna that someone is trying to hurt her not only for what she did in the Wilderness, but for what she did once she came back home. That seems to lend credence to the theory that the stalker following Shauna is someone who was hurt not only in the Wilderness but also once they returned – perhaps Melissa? We still haven’t met Hilary Swank’s character, so could that really be an adult Melissa with a bone to pick with Shauna for something she did once they got back? A public rejection or something like that? I guess we’ll see.
And then there’s Lottie. Poor Lottie. Simone Kessell has been one of my favorite parts of the series the last season and a half and I’m incredibly sad to see her go (although I hope we’ll get to see her actual death play out in flashback at some point down the line). Lottie’s actions this episode were odd. From stopping by a bank and making what one assumes was a major transaction (since the banker offered to call her a car – they don’t do that for normal folks), to her stilted conversation with Tai (who is certainly more Other Tai than normal Tai these days – while Van seems to have become the true skeptic of the pair in an interesting reversal from their teenage years), and finally, practicing an apology in the mirror, I’m not entirely sure just want to make of it all. Who was she apologizing too (her former cult members, another survivor, Lisa, Shauna)? She appears to have been pushed down a set of stairs lined with candles – like Tai’s basement altar, but that didn’t quite look like it. My guess (and I haven’t seen any future episodes at this moment, so it’s truly a guess): Callie showed her the package that was left for Shauna, she realized who it was from, and went to find that person and apologize for something that happened in the past. The other person killed her – accidentally.
So far, three of the adult survivors have ended up dead – each, presumably, from the actions of another survivor (Travis was left to die by Lottie, Natalie was accidentally killed by Misty, and one assumes Lottie also died after interacting with someone with a link to the past, whether someone we know or a mysterious new person). Really, the Wilderness doesn’t need to step in, as the survivors are doing a heck of a job getting rid of each other at this point. But in the past, the question of just what will happen to Ben remains open – will they execute him, banish him, or something else? Things are really kicking into high gear now and, as the death of Lottie proves, truly, no one is safe.
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