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When did we become these people who lie and cheat and do awful things and... just... stay together because...
Cause why? Shauna, we've always been these people. Secrets have always been a part of... us.Shauna and Jeff, "Doomcoming"
Shauna Marie Sadecki (née Shipman) is a character on the Showtime original series Yellowjackets. She is portrayed by Sophie Nélisse as a teenager and Melanie Lynskey as an adult.
Profile[]
Shauna was a member of a WHS Yellowjackets and one of the few survivors of the infamous plane crash that left her and her teammates struggling for survival in the wilderness. As an adult she is married to Jeff, who was originally the boyfriend of her best friend, a fellow teammate who did not survive, and has a teenage daughter named Callie. Her life drastically changes once again when the real events of what happened during her time in the wilderness are threatened to be revealed.
Personality[]
Shauna has shown to be an incredibly smart & crafty woman. Even as a teenager, she was a straight A student who got early acceptance to Brown. She has a problem, both as a teenager & as an adult, of not expressing or dealing with feelings. Opting to instead keep them bottled up and getting angrier & angrier until she lashes out against the person in abstract ways, often learning too late that if she had spoken up things would have turned out better.
This is first seen with her best friend, Jackie. Despite not liking how Jackie made decisions for her, didn't listen to her and feeling forced to do whatever Jackie wanted, she never spoke up and just ruminated in anger & jealousy before sleeping with Jackie's boyfriend in what is heavily hinted to be (at least partly) an act of revenge. When she finally snaps and points out Jackie's shoddy treatment of her, Jackie points out that she never, truly, forced Shauna to do anything, and that Shauna was the one who ultimately went along with Jackie's choices.
As an adult this happens again, ironically with Jeff, who was the boyfriend of her best friend who she ended up marrying. After assuming Jeff is cheating on her she retaliates with an affair of her own, only to learn he wasn't cheating on her at all, he was in financial trouble & his supposed mistress is in fact a terrifyingly dangerous money lender.
Shauna is also known to be a terrible liar. Her lies are often either terribly transparent or she uses a tone of voice that makes it seemingly obvious that she is lying. As a child, she once told Jackie that her father wasn't in her life as much as he used to be because he had become the president of Hello Kitty, despite Hello Kitty being a franchise and not a company. She also has a bad habit of not accepting responsibility and blaming others for her problems.
Following multiple tragic events in the wilderness, including the death of her best friend Jackie Taylor and the stillbirth of her son, Shauna becomes bitter and vengeful. Even while pretending to some degree to try to fit in with the group, she writes coldly of how she feels of the truth of things in her journal, as well as her anger at not being chosen to lead the group. She is often hostile towards the others, who are scared of her, and lashes out in unpredictable ways.
As an adult Shauna's trauma of surviving the wilderness and stillborn child has rendered cold and emotionally distant, especially with her devoted husband & daughter causing her daughter to hate her who believes her mother doesn't care about them. Jeff later explains to his daughter that because of what her mother went through and did to survive, she cannot bare to get close them especially Callie due to the death of her first child in the wilderness as Callie reminds her of that pain. During an interrogation with police Shauna attempts to distract the police with a rant that seemingly holds some truth to it that suggests part of her lashing comes from the understandable frustration losing a promising fulfilling life due to the crash. Although Shauna puts on a veneer of being an ordinary housewife to fit into modern-day life, something of her nature from the wilderness comes out at times such as when she attacks and kills Adam Martin and when she threatens a chop shop owner, describing to him the feeling of peeling the flesh off of a human corpse.
However out of all the girls Shauna seems to have accepted and acknowledge what they went through the most and makes no excuses from her for her actions. As others speculate on a possible supernatural influence driving them to commit such atrocities Shauna is adamant that it was just them. In a way Shauna is the only one that truly takes responsibility for the terrible things they did. It has also been hinted at both in show and Shauna's adult actress Melanie Lynskey that her cold cruelty comes from self loathing and guilt over sleeping with Jeff, what she did to survive and that a part of her liked it. As a result she does not feel she deserves happiness and constantly self-destructs.
History[]
The past[]
School days[]
Shauna, in a group with her fellow Yellowjackets
25 years ago, Shauna was a member of the WHS Yellowjackets, a team of talented young soccer players destined for the nationals. Her life took a turn when the plane carrying the team crashed in the wilderness, leaving the girls to fend for their survival. Until then, she had a fairly normal if somewhat boring life. It is indicated that she is a straight A student, and she got an early acceptance letter from Brown University. She doesn't disclose this to Jackie, who has been her best friend since they started grade school, and has been happily planning for their life together at college. Jackie tells her about some of her ideas when Shauna picks her up for school, and Shauna scolds her about seeing her boyfriend Jeff sneaking out her window after she had sworn off any distractions before nationals. Jackie tells her she had decided to go through with losing her virginity to him before going to college, because they have been together so long and being each other's first would be poetic "connecting them for life".
While preparing for the championship game, she and some of the other players are convinced by Taissa to keep one of the freshman girls from playing because Tai didn't think she was good enough. Shauna insists that Jackie wouldn't approve of the plan so it's decided not to tell her. While pressuring the girl during practice, Taissa injures her, breaking her leg so severely the bones rip through her skin- to everyone's horror.
Although Shauna is apprehensive about attending the party planned for later that evening after what happened, she and Jackie decide to go. They get ready together and Jackie encourages her to wear something she brought for her as opposed to the more plain outfit she originally chose, which irritates her. Jackie tells her a boy, Randy, had asked if she would be at the party, which Shauna seems annoyed by, snapping that she isn't interested in hooking up with Randy. Jackie tells her she just thought she'd want to know someone had asked about her. At the party, she drinks quite a bit and at one point watches Jackie with her boyfriend, an expression on her face that isn't clearly identifiable and is disgusted by the previously mentioned boy drunkenly flirting with her. Jackie tries to get her to dance with her, but instead she angrily confronts Taissa about crippling the girl at practice. As they start to argue other members of the team get involved and Jackie demands they gather together and act like a team. She insists they all tell the other girls something good about themselves. They initially resist, but it seems to work by getting them all back to positive terms. Shauna apologizes to Taissa for what she said and Tai tells her she didn't really mean to hurt her. Shauna gets to Jackie and says she hasn't said anything nice about her yet. Jackie responds by joking about her terrible taste in music but then saying Shauna is the best friend she has ever had.
They head home, driven by Jeff, and Jackie requests he drop her off first ,despite Shauna's house being closer, because her parents are more strict about her curfew. Shauna hugs her and tells her she loves her before getting in the front seat with Jeff. Moments later, she tells him to pull over off the road and starts kissing him, climbing on top of him. He says they had agreed not to "do this again", and she replies that they're not while continuing on and starting to have sex with him. She says that if he finishes in her and she gets pregnant, she will raise the baby out of spite to someday hunt him down, then insists he tell her that he loves her repeatedly but that she "won't hold him to it".
The crash[]
Jackie presenting Shauna with her heart necklace
They board the private plane that is taking them to Seattle for the national championship and she is clearly nervous. Jackie tells her she remembered how she had cried the whole flight when she had gone on vacation with their family in second grade, so she swiped some Valium from her mom to help her relax. She also gives Shauna her necklace for good luck and comfort. Shauna dozes off and wakes up to the chaos of the plane going down, violently crashing.
Shauna escapes the burning wreckage of the plane crash with Jackie, But tries to go back inside to help Vanessa Palmer, one of their teammates, who is trapped. She struggles to get her free but isn't able to, and is pulled away by Jackie as the plane is rocked by an explosion. Thankfully, Van emerges from the plane unscathed and Shauna hugs her, greatly relieved, but Vanessa blames Jackie for not trying to save her, creating a rift between the girls. Later, Shauna holds back the son of Coach Bill, Javi from following his brother Travis when he scales a tree to reach his father, who fell out of the plane and was impaled by the tree.
As the girls settle in, they find that they are quickly running out of supplies, including fresh water. Taissa discovers a lake and wants to move camp to there. Jackie opposes the idea, wanting to remain with the plane in case someone comes to rescue them. Taissa holds a vote and Shauna votes in favor of moving, shocking Jackie. As they make the trek, Taissa thanks Shauna for having her back. Shauna, however, tells her that she didn't "have her back," that she just felt it was the right thing to do. She warns her that none of them really know what they're doing, that they only think they have a clue. After finding the lake and celebrating, the girls see the reflection of a light coming from a hill nearby and find a small cabin. Jackie is overwhelmed after attempting to eat some food they found and realizing it is rancid. Shauna brings out some blankets, saying that she didn't mean to hurt her feelings by voting against her and was only following her gut. She tells Jackie that she's really scared and needs her best friend and Jackie hugs her, promising her that the worst is over-- after all, they survived a plane crash.
As weeks pass and resources run out, the girls are all on edge. Food runs low and coach Ben, crippled and missing a leg from the wreck, does some training activities with them using a rifle that was in the cabin so they can start to hunt. The best of them, Nat and Travis, go out and bring back a deer for them to eat. Shauna volunteers to cut its throat and bleed it out.
Secret pregnancy[]
Jackie at the seance in the cabin
Tension builds further when the girls periods all coming at the same time. Jackie notices that Shauna is the only one who hadn't gotten hers and Shauna tells her the stress of the situation must have made her late. Jackie jokes that it's a good thing Shauna is a virgin so they don't have to worry too much. Later, after realizing she is pregnant, she sneaks off to dip a rag into the blood of the deer which she shows Jackie and says she "jinxed her".
When the other girls grow impatient and frustrated with Jackie for not contributing equally, Shauna tries to teach her how to prepare parts of the deer. Jackie is disgusted and doesn't want to do it, irritating Shauna who tells Jackie that she needs to start being helpful because she was pissing people off. Jackie says that she isn't cut out for living the way they are and doesn't know how much longer she can do it, pointing out to Shauna that she has become a bit of a bad ass in the difficult circumstances. Shauna tells Jackie that she is the one who taught Shauna to be that way, that Jackie's strength is inspiring to people and that maybe she should try to use that somehow.
Later, when the deer is long gone and they are struggling to find food to eat, the two of them walk together in the woods. Jackie rambles on about the foods she would like to have, then talks about how much she misses Jeff and all the little things he did for her. She says she regrets making him wait because she was so caught up in wanting her first time to be special, and now some other girl would probably end up being his first instead. She also tells Shauna that Jeff had told her he loved her before they left and she didn't tell him back, which she also regretted. She notices that Shauna seems unsteady and grabs her stomach and offers her the last bit of food she had been keeping in her pocket, insisting that Shauna needed it more than she did.
Lottie, who had discovered a dead man in the attic, which confirmed her feeling that something bad had happened in the cabin, grows increasingly more disturbed and uncomfortable with being there. Some of the other girls start to have the same sentiment also. Jackie suggests that they have a seance like they used to when they were younger, to lighten the mood and bring them all together, and they all eventually agree -- with the exception of the very religious Laura Lee. They playfully ask "the ghost of the dead man" questions, like would they have won the championship and do their crushes like them back, which are answered by a pendulum made from fabric and a knife that Shauna holds as it swings in different directions. Things take a dark turn when Lottie starts behaving strangely, speaking in French which can only be partially translated with Jackie's minimal knowledge from French class which she says she sucked at. They gather that "it" wants blood, and Lottie grabs Shauna's arm, saying in English "It's already in you" before walking to the window, continuing to speak about blood in French, and bashing her head into the glass. Bleeding and seemingly stunned, Lottie sits back down screaming continuously as the girls try to calm her down. She only finally stops when Laura Lee comes up from downstairs and throws her bible at her, apparently snapping her back to reality.
The girls are completely freaked out, huddled together downstairs talking about what had happened and paranoid from every sound they hear. Frustrated, Taissa insists that she doesn't believe in supernatural nonsense and that they are being ridiculous. She decides to sleep in the attic to prove there is nothing up there to be afraid of and asks who is going to come with her, but nobody volunteers. Shauna tells Jackie she feels like they should go up there with her, implying that if it wasn't for the seance, Lottie's "possession" wouldn't have happened, but Jackie insists that wasn't caused by their "stupid seance" and that she is definitely not going up there to sleep. Shauna goes up to sleep with Tai anyway and Tai asks her how far along she is, indicating that she knows Shauna is pregnant. She had seen Shauna getting the deer blood and passing it off as her period to Jackie. Shauna confides in Tai that the baby is Jeff's and Tai promises not to tell anyone, but says it is going to come out eventually. Shauna says that she heard a girl they knew had given herself an abortion using the underwire from a bra and Tai tells her it's not worth dying to try that out there just to keep Jackie from finding out.
The diary[]
Shauna in the woods, ready to perform a dangerous procedure
Later, Tai finds Shauna's bra with one of the underwires torn out of it and realizes she has slipped away. She frantically searches for her, finding her in the woods preparing to try to perform a self-abortion anyway. She tells Shauna she will help her if that's what she wants, and starts to try, but Shauna quickly changes her mind, clinging to Tai and sobbing that she doesn't want to die. Later, Natalie and Travis return to camp with a freshly shot deer. They ask Shauna to do the honors of cutting it open, but when she does so, its insides are crawling with maggots. This is the last straw for Taissa and she declares that she is heading south to look for help, offering anyone who wants to come along, but Shauna does not join the group. However, when Akilah says that they can't afford to give up their supplies for Taissa, Shauna steps in, saying that they can't just let her go out with nothing. In the end, they agree to let her take certain things that they aren't using much, such as an axe and a flare gun.
Jackie confronts Shauna, telling her that it's obvious she's hiding something from her and that it's making her crazy. She tells a story of a past time that Shauna lied and what an awful liar she was. She says she has seen her sneaking around with Taissa, acting distant and weird. Shauna tells her that she's pregnant, but lies and says that the father is Randy Walsh. Jackie replies that she has so many questions, but then hugs her, telling her they'll get through it together. As they continue to talk, though, Jackie asks just when it happened. Shauna claims that it happened at a party, but Jackie gets confused because she recalls going back and giving Randy a ride that night after he puked in the pool. Shauna claims that the two of them were both pretty drunk. When Jackie asks her what she's going to do, Shauna tells her she has no clue. Later, Shauna visits the attic of the cabin and is disturbed to find Javi going through her bag. He claims to only be looking for the hunting knife to make artwork. She lets him borrow it, but then hides her diary in the rafters above. That evening, Jackie secretly sits reading the diary and sobbing.
Taissa's group is forced to return to camp when Van is attacked by wolves, her face badly mauled. Taissa sleeps up in the attic with Shauna again and tells her that she let the fire die down and must have been sleepwalking. She blames herself for Van getting hurt and tells Shauna that she's scared to go to sleep. Shauna promises to stay awake and not let her go anywhere so she can get some rest. The morning following this, Laura Lee makes an announcement that she's going to take the Cessna plane they found in the woods and try to fly it to find help. Although some of the girls are dubious, she says that they can't deny that Vanessa needs serious medical attention. Jackie then comments "She's not the only one," telling Shauna to tell them. Shauna then reveals her pregnancy to the rest of the group. Later, Shauna asks Jackie if it was really necessary, but Jackie replies that this is her chance to get the baby out of there and that it's not the time to be keeping secrets. Ultimately, however, Laura Lee's flight shockingly ends with the plane exploding in mid-air shortly after takeoff.
With their best hope of rescue dashed, the girls increasingly begin to despair, convinced that their death from starvation or something else in the woods is inevitable. Having brought dresses for an awards dinner, they decide to host a "Doomcoming," one last evening of fun and dancing before the end. Meanwhile, Shauna pleads with Jackie, who has gone off food completely, to start eating again. Jackie ignores her advice. However, the two of them walk and talk and Jackie asks Shauna if she ever thinks about what they'd be doing if the plane hadn't crashed. Shauna replies that she doesn't think about it, but Jackie tells her it's all she thinks about. She asks if this is it, if the crash means that all of their mistakes are permanent. Shauna tells her that everybody loved her, but Jackie tells her that she doesn't want to be a virgin and that she's going to make a move on Travis, that it's time to pull out all the stops. Shauna scolds her that it wouldn't be right to come on to Travis because of his relationship with Natalie, but Jackie asserts that the two had barely spoken in weeks. She adds "Do you like him, Shauna? Because I would never want us competing over the same man," leaving Shauna speechless.
A broken friendship[]
Shauna gets in Jackie's face during a big argument
At the Doomcoming, Shauna again pleads for Jackie to have some food, but her request is once again rebuffed. As such, Jackie is the only one of the group not to consume the magic mushrooms which have been mixed into the evening's soup and stew, having been left out by Misty, who had originally intended only to poison Coach Scott. As she promised, she hooks up with Travis and takes him back to the cabin, where the two of them have sex. Under the influence of the shrooms, Shauna and the others begin experiencing strange visions. They decide to go pay Jackie and Travis a visit, based on Lottie's statement that Travis "doesn't belong" to Jackie. When they arrive at the cabin, Jackie asks Shauna what she told them, but she says it was nothing. They scold Jackie for "taking something that wasn't hers" before locking her in the pantry. The group, led by distorted, hallucinating versions of Shauna and Lottie, begin tearing away at Travis's clothes, rubbing and kissing his neck and chest. When Travis makes a break for it into the woods, they pursue him, screaming and wailing like animals, Lottie shouting "The stag! We have to catch it!" During the pursuit, Shauna encounters Travis's brother Javi and tells him to run. They eventually catch Travis and tie him up, Shauna taking a knife and readying herself to slit his throat, until Natalie shows up and shoves her out of the way.
The girls wake up the next morning, confused about the events of the night before. Shauna asks if anyone has seen Jackie and, as if on cue, Jackie appears in the doorway of the cabin. She comments that she has nothing to say to Shauna or any of them. Shauna mutters that she's "so innocent" and Jackie replies that she's not the one who went insane the night before. Coach Scott stops the discussion, saying that he's sure they all did things they regret the night before on account of the shrooms. This leads them to realize just what Misty did, but before the argument can continue, a bear suddenly appears before them. With Natalie currently off somewhere else with the gun, Lottie asks Shauna for the knife. Shauna hands it to her. To everyone's shock, Lottie then approaches the bear. It seems to bow down before her, as if in a trance, and she stabs it to death.
As the group prepares to eat the meat of the bear, they have a prayer at Van's suggestion, but Jackie refuses to join in, which Misty calls her out on. She replies that she's not going to pray and asks what's wrong with the group, if they're really going to pretend that what happened the night before didn't happen. She asks just what it was that Shauna was going to do to Travis. When Shauna is silent, Jackie demands an answer, but Shauna says she doesn't remember. Jackie tells her she had a knife to Travis's throat and was going to kill him. Shauna shouts at her to shut up, that none of it would have happened if not for her. At this, Jackie reveals that Jeff is the father of Shauna's baby. Shauna realizes that Jackie read her journal and there is a massive blowup.
Jackie tells Shauna that she was her best friend, how could she betray her that way? Enraged, Shauna says that Jackie is so obsessed with herself, it's amazing she's aware other people even exist. She continues that Jackie simply assumed she wanted to go to Rutgers without even asking. Jackie tells her what to wear, who to hook up with, and says that she even joined the soccer team because of Jackie even though she doesn't even like soccer. She calls Jackie a movie star with the others the extras of her life. In response, Jackie calls Shauna a cliche and a sidekick who resents living in Jackie's shadow and that Shauna's so jealous of her, she can barely breathe. Shauna retorts that she's not jealous of Jackie, she just feels sorry for her.
Jackie curses at Shauna and tells her to get out, saying that she can't even look at her. Shauna says that it's her problem and maybe she should be the one to get out instead. Mari agrees that maybe this is a good idea, given that Jackie thinks they're all crazy. After some more back-and-forth and recriminations, Jackie heads for the door. She says that she doesn't even know who Shauna is anymore, but Shauna replies that maybe she never did. That evening, Shauna watches from the window as Jackie struggles to start a fire. Taissa suggests that Shauna just go out and talk to her, but Shauna ignores her and settles down for bed. The next morning, Shauna wakes up to the sound of whistling wind. She goes to a window and is shocked to see that it snowed overnight. She rushes downstairs and outside, digging at the snow, in which Jackie has frozen to death. She shouts at Jackie to wake up, shaking her, then breaks down sobbing and screams in terror. Taissa rushes to her, pulling her away from Jackie's frozen body, holding her as she cries.
The dead friend[]
Approximately two months later, winter has firmly settled into the Canadian wilderness. Shauna, however, has refused to bury her dead friend. She instead sits with her body, day-after-day, inside the meat shed by the cabin. There she holds conversations with an imagined version of Jackie, still filled with life. They discus her future, and how she will live, but Shauna tells her that she doesn't want to talk about it, that she's all about living in the moment. Mari finds the whole situation creepy, noting that it's been two months, but Coach Scott tells her that she's still grieving and to give her some time.
Shauna's vision of Jackie asks her how things started between Shauna and Jeff. Jackie asks if she remembers a certain party where the cops came. Jackie jumped into a van, but Shauna was with Jeff and they ran away together. Jackie and Jeff had just gotten into their millionth fight and he said that he wasn't sure how much longer he wanted to be with someone who wouldn't have sex with him. She then told him she wasn't sure she wanted to be with someone who felt the same way. Jackie then asks Shauna if Jeff kissed her.
"You kissed him," she realizes. She asks why and Shauna tells her she doesn't know, but Jackie tells her that she does know, and to say it. Shauna shouts at her to stop, shaking her corpse, and to her horror, accidentally knocks away one of her ears. She tries to reattach it, but unable to, pockets it. She then returns to the others, telling them that she had to back the rations again and there's not much left. Later, back in the meat shed, she considers the ear. She shoves it in her mouth and bites down.
The First Meal[]
Shauna continues her conversations with the imagined Jackie in the meat shed. Jackie asks her what she did with her ear and she claims that she buried it, but Jackie, of course, knows that she is lying since she is only a figment of her imagination. She suggests that Shauna braid her hair so that people don't notice the missing ear, so Shauna does so. She also suggests that Shauna do her makeup and Shauna tries to protest that she doesn't have any, but again, the imagined Jackie knows better. She taunts Shauna, telling her that she only had sex with Jeff because she wanted to be her. She also tells her that she's hungry, but not for the ever-decreasing supply of bear meat. She grabs a knife and cuts into her own arm. Shauna shouts at her that it's not funny, but Jackie tells her that she's the one holding the knife. Indeed, a shot from Shauna's POV shows that this is the case.
Not long after this, when Shauna emerges from the shed, Taissa enters to investigate and discovers Jackie's body with the braided hair and makeup. She confronts Lottie, asking her if she's been encouraging this. Over Shauna's protests, she declares that they are getting rid of Jackie's body, that they may not be able to bury it, but they can burn it. She tells the group to gather firewood. Shauna finally gives in, but objects to the idea of Jackie's jacket being removed from her body. Lottie also removes the heart-pendant necklace that Shauna gave Jackie, placing it around her neck. Jackie's body is placed on the funeral pyre and Shauna approaches it with a flaming stick. She tells Jackie that she'll never have another friend like her. She continues that she doesn't even know where she ends and Jackie begins. She sets the pyre ablaze and heads back inside with the others.
Late that night, the Yellowjackets awake to a strange smell. They head outside and discover that Jackie's body has roasted. Feeling her pregnant belly, Shauna declares that "she wants us to." They then all feast on Jackie's body, satiating the hunger that has been growing within them throughout the long winter. Only Coach Scott does not partake.
Friction with Lottie[]
Afterwards, Lottie tells Shauna that what they did is what Jackie would have wanted, given the baby that Shauna is carrying. She tells her not to blame herself, that they all did it together, but Shauna replies that she's scared, that it feels like things are out of control. Lottie tells her that they should do something to welcome "him." Shauna questions Lottie's phrasing, which seems to imply that she knows the baby will be a boy, but the others, having overheard the conversation, ask if she's talking about a baby shower. Lottie says that it could be nice if it's okay with Shauna, and she smiles.
The baby shower goes forth, but takes a strange turn when Lottie presents Shauna with a baby blanket featuring the strange symbol that they have all seen in the wilderness. Natalie confronts Lottie, asking her why she would give Shauna a blanket with this symbol when they don't even know what it means. She points out that they found it underneath the skeleton of the dead hunter in the attic, but Lottie says that she thinks he was using it for protection. She says that just because they don't know what it means does not mean that it's evil. As they continue to argue the point, Shauna's nose suddenly begins to bleed. At the same time, they all hear a loud thudding outside. They go outside, discovering a bunch of dead starlings in the snow. Shauna drops the blanket and Natalie warns not to touch them, that they could be diseased. Lottie, however, says to "gather its blessings," so they gather up the starlings, later using them to make soup.
Not long following this, Shauna confronts the group, having discovered that someone stole bear meat from the shed. The revelation sparks an argument that ultimately leads to competition between Natalie and Lottie to gather food, though neither are successful. Shauna, meanwhile, finds herself also increasingly at odds with Taissa, who has joined the morning prayer club started by Lottie on the basis that it is keeping her from sleepwalking. She is even more disturbed when she finds Lottie up against her, speaking to her womb and stating "You're going to change everything." She shoves her away, demanding to know what she's doing and Lottie protests that it's supposed to be good to talk to babies in utero. Shauna, however, points out that this is supposed to be so that they learn to recognize their mother's voice. Taissa tries to stick up for Lottie, saying that she wasn't hurting anything, but Shauna curses and heads outside, annoyed.
Taissa goes after Shauna, telling her that it's cold outside. When Shauna continues to ignore her, she tells her that she can give her the silent treatment if she wants, but she's not going to leave her. She asks if she wants her to say that she's sorry, but Shauna says that she's supposed to be on her side, not on "Team Lottie." Taissa argues that they're all one team, but Shauna asks her if she really still thinks this is true. Taissa tells her that Lottie is just excited about her baby, that they all are. Shauna replies that if anyone should be excited, it's her, but that she's scared of having a baby in the wilderness and their all praying over her isn't making it easier. Just then, she cries out in pain, as a snowstorm begins to whip about around them. Taissa begins praying, hoping for guidance back to the cabin, and somehow they find their way back. As they enter the cabin, it becomes clear that Shauna is going into labor.
The crying[]
Despite the friction that has grown in the wilderness, the group rallies to do everything they can to help Shauna give birth to her baby. They, however, find themselves faced with the stark reality that none of them are medical professionals. Furthermore, Misty, the only one of them to seemingly pay attention to a video in class about childbirth, is seemingly out to lunch. Her best friend, Crystal, is supposedly missing in the wilderness, though only she knows that Crystal died falling off a cliff after an argument between them. Akilah, the only other one of them with any medical knowledge, takes charge, though it is clear there are limits to what she knows.
Lottie sets up a prayer circle, but it proves less than helpful when Mari shouts that she hopes Shauna doesn't die. Lottie declares that they need offerings and Travis slices his hand, spilling blood. Shauna screams and Akilah says that she thinks the baby is coming. What comes out, however, is purple, apparently the placenta. This is not a good sign and Taissa points out that the placenta should come out after the baby, but Akilah tells Shauna that things are okay, that it's just coming out a little backwards. Lottie goes to Misty, telling her that they need her there. Misty pleads that she was supposed to be doing this with Crystal, that they had made up a song. Lottie, however, tells her that while Crystal may not be there, she still is and can still help to save Shauna. This seems to get through to Misty and she returns to help with the birth.
Shauna passes out, but then seems to come to. She is presented with a healthy, baby boy. She soon finds, however, that she is having trouble getting the baby to feed. She pleads with him to at least try to nurse, even as Natalie points out that they've all been starving and that there may be nothing there for him to feed on. Shauna, however, insists that he has to. To her delight, the baby eventually starts suckling. However, not long after this, she discovers the baby missing. She then heads downstairs and, to her horror, discovers the other Yellowjackets with their mouths covered in blood, seemingly feeding on something. She races to the empty baby blanket and screams in horror... only to wake up. It turns out that she has been dreaming the whole time and that the baby was stillborn. Misty tells her that she's sorry, handing Taissa a bundle, which she gives to Shauna. Shauna tells the others of her experience in her dream, saying that she can still hear the baby crying. She asks if they can't hear him too.
Rage[]
In the aftermath, the Yellowjackets are all saddened by the loss. As they sit around, the snow stops outside and they manage to force open the cabin door. Taissa suggests that Shauna go outside, saying that the fresh air will be good for her. Shauna ignores her at first, but eventually goes out on her own. Clutching the bundle with her stillborn baby, she digs a shallow grave, telling him "It's you and me against the whole world." Later, back in the cabin, Shauna stares at the bloodied baby blanket with the symbol made for her by Lottie. Having a fit of rage, she tosses it into the fireplace.
Shauna again visits the meat shed. She sits at the place where she had propped up Jackie's dead body. She tells her that she really needs her right now. "Please?" she begs, sobbing. She returns to the cabin, where she hears Misty humming the song "Lightning Crashes." She asks her where she heard it, upset, possibly, because the song is about a woman giving birth. Misty tells her that she doesn't know where she heard it, that she might have heard Crystal singing it. Out of her mind with anger, Shauna punches her in the face. She shouts that she killed her baby, but Natalie tries to pull her away, telling her that Misty did everything she could try to save her baby. Shauna shouts at her to shut up, that they ate her baby. Taissa tells her that she's acting crazy and Van tries to hold her back, only for Shauna to bite her. She then stares at Lottie before decking her in the nose. Rather than being angry, however, Lottie tells her to let it all out. Shauna therefore does, delivering Lottie a savage beating and kicking that leaves her face a bloody pulp. As the others move to tend to Lottie, Shauna races outside, blood dripping from her hands.
Would-be leader[]
Following this, Shauna goes to Gen and takes a blanket from her that she's not using, saying that it's for Lottie. Gen tries to object, but Shauna replies that Lottie is cold. Melissa points out that Shauna didn't care about Lottie before, but Van objects to this, saying that Lottie took Shauna's beating to protect them all. Realizing that they can no longer rely on having Lottie as a leader and on the verge of starvation, the girls come up with a plan. They create a ritual involving a deck of cards and whoever draws the Queen of Hearts becomes the sacrifice to be killed and eaten. Shauna draws the 4 of Diamonds, meaning that she is spared. The chosen victim turns out to be Natalie. Shauna takes the heart-pendant necklace originally given to her by Jackie and places it around Natalie's neck. She then places a knife to her throat. Natalie, however, tells her to wait. She turns around, telling her that if she's going to kill her, she's going to have to look her in the eye. Doing so, Shauna again places the knife to her neck, but then Travis leaps forward and pushes Shauna out of the way, telling Natalie to run.
As a few of the girls remain behind to restrain Travis, Shauna joins the others as they race outside, chasing after Natalie. Although Javi tries to lead Natalie to a secret place that he discovered, he ends up falling into the ice of the frozen lake. Shauna stands witness with the others as Misty restrains Natalie from pulling Javi out and rescuing him. Ultimately, by the time that they do pull Javi up, he has drowned to death, and Van declares that the wilderness chose.
The group returns to the cabin with Javi's body. After giving Travis a brief time to mourn, they lay the body out for Shauna to cut it up for them to eat. She then returns to Travis, offering him the heart, which he bites down on, before placing it on a cooking skillet, the others piling it with meat. Everyone eats, including Lottie, who finally gains enough strength to get up and come back down to the others. She tells them that she never wanted to be in charge, that the wilderness only chose her because she knew how to listen, but that she can't hear it anymore. She declares Natalie to have been chosen as the new leader, saying that it's the only way to explain what happened, that the wilderness wouldn't allow them to kill her. They then all pay their respects to Natalie in their own ways.
Late that night, Shauna sits writing in her journal. She asks how it could not have been her, when she was the one who did what it what took to keep them all fed. She writes that she had thought it was Jackie who made her feel invisible. She then stops, smelling something, and goes to the stairwell, shouting for everyone to wake up. She hurriedly gathers her journals and a couple of items, then runs downstairs, shouting for everyone to get up. Outside, fire is all around the cabin. Although they all manage to escape, they can only stand and watch as their sanctuary throughout the long months in the wilderness burns to the ground.
The present[]
The reporter[]
Shauna and Jeff at couples therapy
Shauna lives as an unhappy housewife and mother. She married Jeff, Jackie's high school boyfriend, sometime after the girls were rescued from the wilderness. They have a teenage daughter named Callie, who Shauna has a strained relationship with. Callie does not respect her and has no interest in being around her. She does not have a job and seems to spend her days on menial housework and tending her garden. She is in the garden, frustrated by damage caused by rabbits, when she is unexpectedly approached by a woman named Jessica Roberts alleging to be a reporter who claims she can get her seven figures for her story of "what really happened out there". Shauna declines and tells her she is a "smug little bitch". She later sees an ad on the television by Taissa, who is running for state senator. Frustrated, she calls Taissa and arranges for them to meet. Shauna confronts Tai about disregarding their agreement to stay out of the public eye and reminds her of the trouble that could come about from people digging into their past. She tells Tai about the supposed reporter, and that she was not able to find anything confirming that Jessica really was one. She asks Tai if she has been in contact with any of the others and Tai says only Nat, who is in rehab, again.
While out driving, Shauna has a fender bender with a man named Adam. The man tries to hit on her and gives her the number for a body shop, saying that they don't need to get insurance involved and he knows a guy who works there that owes him a favor. She initially blows him off, but he calls her later asking why she didn't contact the shop about fixing her car and indicates he was the guy that works there, and would do the repairs for free.
Later, she attends couples therapy with her husband, Jeff. When asked about their sex life, Shauna admits they have both been busy and Jeff has had a lot of late nights due to "problems with the inventory database" as he says. The therapist tells them to try something new, saying that she wants them to have sex and each share a fantasy that they've never shared with each other before. They decide to try it out, but things end up going disastrously wrong. Later, however, they give it another chance and things seem to work out. Afterwards, however, Jeff leaves to take a shower and Shauna intercepts a text message on his phone from a woman named Bianca telling him to meet her at 4 P.M. the next day at the "usual place."
Affairs[]
Shauna with Adam Martin at a hotel
The next day, Shauna asks Jeff to pick her up from the body shop at 4, but he tells her that he has something important going on at work and can't get away. She then tails him to work and from there, follows him to a hotel. At the hotel, she tries to pump the receptionist for Jeff's room number, but she refuses, even when Shauna improvises and claims to be an agent from Homeland Security. Coincidentally, Adam happens to be there at that exact time and approaches pretending to be a fellow agent and leading her away. They sit and talk and he claims to have been in the area and stopped for a drink at the hotel. He asks what she's doing there and she tells him she's confirming a suspicion. He asks if doing so will make her happy and she admits that it won't as Jeff emerges from upstairs, arm-in-arm with a woman who is apparently Bianca. Shauna then retires to another room with Adam, beginning her own affair.
Adam seems to be seriously invested right away, and the two of them start spending time together. She uses the excuse that she is going to book club when she is with him. She seems to want to recreate the teen years she missed out on, going to a liquor store and convincing someone to buy them liquor because they "forgot their IDs", getting drunk in Adam's car, playing mini golf, and daring Adam to jump off a bridge with her into the water. She starts to see images of Jackie. On Halloween, the two of them go to a party at a club and Shauna feels uncomfortable and out of place. She again sees Jackie walking around in the crowd and follows her, finding that it is actually her daughter Callie, who went out against Shauna's orders, wearing Jackie's old soccer uniform. Callie is high on ecstasy and questions Shauna about her male companion. Shauna takes her home, leaving Adam at the club, and the two of them have a seemingly meaningful interaction. While under the influence, Callie is caring and compassionate, telling her mom she has been through so much and that she knows she's not okay. But the following morning, Callie attempts to use her knowledge of Shauna's relationship with Adam to blackmail her into doing whatever she wants, including no curfews and paying for unlimited Ubers into the city whenever she wants with no questions asked or she will tell her dad about the affair. Shauna flips her threats on her, telling her that her college fund would go to pay the divorce lawyers and she would spend her weekends with her dad in some shitty apartment, eventually giving him dating advice when he inevitably starts seeing people, most likely close to her own age. Shauna calls Jeff into the room saying Callie has something to tell him, and Callie admits to her father that she went out without permission and got high, requiring her mom to come to her rescue, then storms out of the room.
Shauna and Jeff attend brunch at Jackie's parent's house as is tradition on Jackie's birthday. Jackie's mother is extremely passive-aggressive and rude to Shauna, giving back-handed compliments and not so subtly insulting her. She excuses herself saying she needs to go to the bathroom, but instead goes to Jackie's old bedroom which has been kept exactly as it was. She flips through diaries that were on the dresser, recalling their friendship and memories of the two of them, and smiling to herself. She again sees a vision of Jackie there, talking to her, telling her "it was totally your fault. And it was awful. But we were kids." A picture of Jeff and Jackie falls out of the pages of the diary and Jeff comes to the door to check on Shauna. She starts to ask if he ever wished he had ended up with Jackie but he interrupts her, asking if she wants to leave. She says they should stay and return to the table. When Jackie's mom continues her passive-aggressive taunts, saying that it must have been so hard on Shauna to live in the shadow of her perfect little Jackie, Jeff asserts that he and Shauna had been sleeping together while he was dating Jackie, and that while Jackie was amazing, Shauna is equally amazing. In the car on the way home, he tells Shauna he doesn't wish he was with Jackie; that he loves her and they have built a life together.
After Taissa and Natalie inform her they are being blackmailed for $50,000, Shauna works together with them to try to catch the blackmailer. They put the money into a bag that Callie had decorated for Jeff as a child, along with some random trash and a GPS tracker. They wait for the bag to be taken and follow the tracker. Tai and Natalie chase after him on foot while Shauna tries to cut him off with the vehicle. He stumbles into a barrel of glitter, covering himself in it as they chase him, but ends up getting away.
The truth revealed[]
Shauna discussing blackmail and murder with Jeff
When Shauna gets home at 4am, she is upset to find Adam and his truck waiting for her at the end of her driveway. She scolds him harshly at first, but he quickly wins her over and the two end up having sex in her bed and falling asleep. She wakes up to Jeff coming home early in the morning and hides Adam in their closet until Jeff is in the shower. Callie confronts her after finding Adam's money clip and ID in their house and chastises her for not looking into him and believing that he wasn't aware of her history as a Yellowjacket and had no ulterior motives for his interest in her. Shauna investigates Adam and discovers that he has lied to her about his past and who he is.
Later, she finds pieces of glitter scattered in the closet and her safe that contained her journals and items from the wilderness emptied out. Believing Adam to be the blackmailer, she confronts him at his apartment and discovers magazines in his apartment discussing the Yellowjackets. He protests, insisting that he did look into her after they met, but wasn't blackmailing them and had real feelings for her; but Shauna suddenly stabs him, killing him.
When she returns home, she finds that her journals have been returned to the safe. She asks Jeff is he knows where the glitter in the closet came from, and he admits that he had in fact been behind the blackmail. He tells her his store is failing and he had gotten a loan from some bad people who were not happy that he couldn't repay it. He thought either Taissa or Natalie may have the money he needed and did not intend for Shauna to become involved in his scheme. He assures her that it's over now and they don't have to worry about it. She, however, tells him that they do have to worry, as she had believed Adam was the one blackmailing them and killed him.
Shocked and confused, Jeff questions her for more information and she explains that they had maintained contact after their accident and that Jeff "was having an affair too." He questions this again, realizing she had been cheating with Adam, and she tells him she had followed him and Bianca, who he identifies as being involved with the loan sharks who wanted their money and not someone he was romantically involved with. He later tells Shauna he will not allow her to be punished for this, when it inevitably comes out, and that he plans to turn himself in claiming he confronted her lover and it got out of hand. She tells him he can't do that, as it could lead to the Yellowjacket's secrets being exposed, and instead they decide to convince the other girls that it was Adam who had blackmailed them and for the girls to figure out what to do together. Jeff comes up with an idea: if Shauna believed that Adam was the blackmailer, there's no reason why Natalie and Taissa couldn't believe this too.
The cover-up[]
Shauna dancing with Jeff at the reunion
Shauna then contacts Taissa, telling her "I found him," leading Taissa to contact Natalie in turn. Shauna brings them to Adam's flat, where they are shocked to see Adam's dead body on the floor. Taissa is even more shocked to learn that Adam is the man that Shauna was dating. She and Natalie question her, wondering how she could possibly allow all of this to happen. Natalie is particularly angry, as with Adam dead, there's no way she can question him about possible involvement in the murder of her boyfriend, Travis, which she believes is connected to the blackmail. Shauna asks Taissa what they're going to do, noting that she's a lawyer, but Taissa points out that she practiced in land-use, not murder cover-up. Taissa notes that Natalie has been very quiet, asking if she has any ideas. "Yeah, one," agrees Natalie, who then goes to Misty Quigley, telling her that they need her help getting rid of a body.
Natalie returns with Misty, who has brought cleaning supplies and other equipment. She quickly gets them to work, putting herself and Taissa on cleanup duty, while Shauna and Natalie drag Adam's body into the bathtub to cut him using a saw. As they work, Natalie asks Shauna if she didn't notice her boyfriend acting weird after he killed Travis. Shauna tells her to stop, that she was with Adam on the day Travis died. To this, Natalie replies that it's obvious he was working with somebody else, saying that she needs to get her hands on his cell phone and see his texts. Shauna, however, suggests that it's just a coincidence and Travis actually did kill himself. She says that Natalie has been looking for some big conspiracy when really they're all just messed up and she's looking for answers that don't exist. Natalie is dubious, but Shauna tells her that she knows what the numbness and paranoia is like and that perhaps Travis couldn't stand to live like that anymore, that it's time for her to forgive him.
That evening, Shauna attends the 25th anniversary reunion of the Wiskayok High School with the others and her husband Jeff. Randy Walsh comes over to talk to her, but she is cold to him due to the fact that Jeff shared the secret of the blackmail with him. She warns him that she'll gut him if he ever tells. Afterward, she shares shooters with the other Yellowjackets. She then reluctantly shares a dance with her husband, the one-time homecoming king, who would have danced with Jackie, the homecoming queen, were she still alive to share the dance. The next day, back at home, Shauna sits together with Jeff as they watch the news on television, discussing the incoming results of the election to determine whether Taissa will become the new state senator or whether it will remain with the incumbent, Phil Bathurst. Shauna comments that she thinks they should get a cat and Jeff quips that it had best be well-behaved, or it might end up in the chili pot. Callie comes in, confused at the two getting along so well, and they invite her to stay while Shauna makes popcorn. As Callie sits down, a news report comes on that a man named Adam Martin has gone missing. As Callie takes this in, Shauna returns with the popcorn, saying that she burned it, but added a whole bunch of butter, so it should be okay.
The cover-up, continued[]
Shauna sits in a darkened room, seemingly alone. A distorted male voice asks her to state her name for the record and she gives it as Shauna Sadecki. The voice asks her if she understands her rights. She says that she does and the voice asks her why she killed Adam Martin. She denies having done so and when the voice challenges this, she says that she didn't murder him. The voice points out not having mentioned anything about murder. It comes again, asking if the sex was mind-blowing or just really hot. "They're definitely not going to ask me that," comments Shauna and the voice asks if he couldn't get it up. "Oh, so is that why you murdered him?" asks the questioner, who is revealed to actually be Misty Quigley.
The whole thing has been a training session concocted by Misty, to prepare Shauna for the possibility of being questioned by the police. She tells Shauna that it was a disaster, continuing that the only thing one should ever say to the police is "I want my lawyer." She points out a cookie sitting in front of Shauna with this phrase spelled out on the icing, explaining that she baked it and put it there, so that Shauna would know to say this. Unamused, Shauna tells Misty that it's been fun, but she's going to go. Misty whines that Natalie and Taissa aren't there yet, but Shauna tells her that they're two hours late, which is right on time for people who aren't coming.
Misty complains that she was trying to do something nice, saying that she has a lot at stake too. "We were careful, right?" asks Shauna, and Misty tells her that she can feel that they missed something. Misty asks if she got rid of all of Adam's stuff as well as her journals and she tells Misty that she did, which is a lie. Misty tries to get her to have some punch before she leaves.
Later, Shauna comes home and finds Callie sitting on the couch with her boyfriend, Kyle. Kyle greets her but Callie does not. When she says "Hello, Callie," Callie comments on it being her attitude voice and tells Kyle that he should go, that she needs to study for her bio test. After he leaves, Shauna asks if everything is alright between her and Kyle, and Callie says that she might have to break up with him, unless, perhaps, he just "conveniently" disappears. She asks her mother if she has anything she wants to tell her, saying that Adam Martin's disappearance was on the news. She says that Jeff deserves to know what it is going on, but Shauna tells her that he already knows about her affair with Adam. Callie asks Shauna how she could do that to him, confusing Shauna, given what Callie had just said.
Shauna remembers that Adam had an art studio. She calls Jeff and informs him of this and the two of them decide to pay it a visit together. There, they discover that Adam painted numerous portraits of Shauna, despite Shauna never having posed for him. They use paint thinner to erase them. While there, Shauna tells Jeff that the thought of him with someone else always scared her, but also turned her on. She tells him that she used to think it made her some sort of pervert, but now she likes being the way she is. The two of them then make out there in Adam's art studio.
Back at home, Shauna pulls out the mementos she has been keeping, including Adam's ID and her old journals. She brings out the grill and Jeff brings out franks and beans, explaining that they can have them for dinner and use them as an excuse in case anyone wonders why they have the grill out in November. In the process, they briefly set fire to a nearby tree. Later, following dinner, Callie goes to the grill and discovers a remaining piece of Adam's ID that did not entirely burn away, showing a portion of his face.
[]
Having lunch at a cafe, Jeff reflects on why Shauna would want to cheat on him, recalling some strawberry lube received as a gag gift. Shauna suggested they try it, but he replied that it was for bisexuals and goths, and it was then that he decided to be this boring version of himself. Shauna, however, tells him that it actually has nothing to do with him, that the affair was all about herself and the thrill of feeling like she didn't know what was going to happen. As they drive away from the cafe, Jeff suddenly turns around, declaring that he's taking the two of them to visit Colonial Williamsburg, that he's being spontaneous. Before they really get anywhere, however, they seemingly narrowly avoid getting into a collision with a pedestrian.
Jeff gets out of the car, checking to see if the man is okay and saying that he should call an ambulance. The man, however, gets up, pulling a gun and telling him not to do that. He demands the keys to the minivan. Jeff tells him that they're inside and moves to go get them, but to Jeff's shock, Shauna tackles the man and steals the gun from him. Stunned at his wife's behavior, he wrestles the gun away from her. In the melee, the man hops into the minivan and takes off. Jeff shouts at Shauna, asking just that she's doing, that the man had a gun, and she shouts back that she had the gun.
That night, guided by a tracking device, Shauna takes a rideshare to the chop shop where the minivan was dropped off. Pulling a gun on the clerk there, she demands to get it back. The man tries to call her bluff, saying that her hand is shaking. She, however, asks him if he's ever peeled the flesh off a human corpse, saying that it's not easy, that it's very stuck to us. She tells him that her hand wasn't shaking because she was scared, but because of how badly she wants to do this. Horrified, the man pleads with her to just take the minivan, showing her where the keys are. He says that it's terribly rusted anyway, and not worth it. She thanks him and leaves with the minivan. Back at home, she lies to Jeff that the tow company simply found the minivan on the side of the road.
Jeff tells Shauna that the police know about the affair, having heard this from the detective Kevyn Tan at the gym. When she asks how they could possibly know, he points out that it's a small town and that people talk, to which she replies sarcastically that she should have run around in a ski mask like he did. Shauna goes out shopping and encounters the mother of one of Callie's friends. She thanks the mother for allowing Callie to sleep over so much recently, but the mother replies that Callie hasn't been by in weeks. This leads Shauna to realize that her daughter likely hasn't been honest with her about other things. She searches Callie's room and discovers a condom packet, as well as the charred remains of Adam's ID that Callie found.
Shauna takes Callie on a road-trip to the middle of nowhere. There, she tells Callie that she knows she's been lying about staying at her friend's, asking if there's anything else she's been lying about. Callie, however, turns the question on her, wanting to know if she or Jeff killed Adam. Shauna is finally forced to admit the truth, and also reveals to Callie that Jeff was the one who was blackmailing the Yellowjackets. When Callie wonders how this would even be possible, Shauna admits that they did terrible things in the wilderness. She stops short, however, of revealing the full details, asking Callie if for now this can just be enough. Callie agrees and Shauna asks her to not reveal any of this to anyone else. She promises that she won't, but fails to disclose the fact that she already has revealed the existence of an affair to a man she is dating. Following this, Shauna admits to Jeff that she revealed the details of the Adam Martin situation to Callie. Jeff is greatly upset, feeling that Shauna has made Callie an accomplice, but Shauna excuses it by saying that they've been lying to everyone and she doesn't want this for their daughter.
Not long after this, Callie comes to Shauna and Jeff, revealing her having shared the affair with the man she's been dating and that she discovered him to be an undercover cop. Both of them are aghast, but she tells them that she fixed it by telling the man, Matt Saracusa (who gave his name to her as "Jay") that Shauna is having the affair with Randy. Although Jeff is upset at the idea of her telling him that Shauna is having an affair with his best friend, Shauna seizes on the idea, feeling that it is an opportunity. She figures that if they can convince the police that this is true then they will no longer believe she was having the affair with Adam Martin and tells Callie that she has done well.
The police, closing in[]
Shauna comes up with a plan. She goes to the motel where Randy is staying, knowing that the police will likely tail her. Inside, she provides Randy with a condom, telling him to go to the bathroom, masturbate inside of it, and get rid of it. Although Randy is confused, he does not object, knowing that he owes Shauna in light of the whole blackmail incident. Inside the bathroom, however, he finds that he is unable to get it up. He therefore fills the condom with strawberry-scented lotion instead. Afterwards, he and Shauna exit together to maintain the façade. While they are gone, Matt Saracusa and his partner, Kevyn Tan, enter the room. Kevyn is wary of them entering at all, as they do not have a warrant or probable cause and therefore any evidence would be inadmissible. Matt, however, is determined to prove his theory. He discovers the condom filled with lotion and realizes the nature of the ruse, though Kevyn points out that he has been made.
With seemingly nothing to lose, Kevyn calls Shauna and Callie into the police station for questioning. There, Matt starts working on Shauna, telling her that her child doesn't seem to like her much. Shauna agrees that this must be true, given that she dated him to get under her skin. She asks him if she's being accused of a crime and he asks in return why she pretend to hookup with Randy. She tells him that she never wanted to be a mom, but that she ended up loving her husband and daughter in spite of herself, but was incredibly bad at it. He asks if they're talking about an affair, and she agrees that they are. "Well done," he comments, pulling out a photo of Adam Martin and asking when she last saw him.
Afterwards, Shauna tells Jeff and Callie that she admitted to the affair. Jeff is stunned and tells her what while she was being questioned, he got a call from Taissa and Van, who told them that her old friend Lottie is now running a residential wellness center in Cherry Hill, New York. Shauna is confused, since the last she knew, Lottie had been committed to a mental institution. She asks him why he's telling her this and he tells her that she ought to pay a visit too, that she needs to get out of the area and is messing up any chance of them getting out of the Adam Martin situation by staying. With nothing to lose, Shauna agrees to go check it out. She arrives at nearly the same time as Taissa and Van, and the two of them are reunited with Natalie and Misty, all of whom find themselves staring at Lottie, the leader of the community, Camp Green Pine.
"Self Care"[]
Lottie welcomes the new arrivals to the community. She has their cellphones and other personal possessions confiscated, this being standard procedure. She explains that new arrivals to the community are often asked to pick a treatment with only a name, but no description, something which speaks to them. She presents a chart labeled with four choices: Self Care, Guidance, Forage and Renewal. Shauna complains that her rational instincts are screaming out to her, but states that she'll choose Self Care. Self Care turns out to be caring for a baby goat named Bruce for the day.
Shauna is immediately confused with and disturbed by her treatment. She states that she figured Self Care to be something like a massage or a mud bath. When she is told that it involves looking after the goat with all of the personal discoveries and sacrifices that comes with this, she objects, figuring that it means that she will be made to sacrifice the goat at the end of the day. She only agrees to go through with the treatment after being told that the alternative is mucking out the barn for the whole day.
While taking a brief break resting against a tree, Shauna encounters Misty, who is attempting to escape her own therapy, a sensory-deprivation tank. They ask each other if they shouldn't be in therapy and Shauna explains about her goat treatment, saying that she tied up the goat nearby. They then discover the rope that Shauna used to tie the goat chewed through. Misty pulls some food from her pocket to use as bait, telling Shauna that she's been saving up in case they decide to enforce calorie restrictions to induce out-of-body experiences. Shauna laments that she shouldn't even care what happens to the goat, given that Lottie's acolytes will most likely just make her kill it anyway. Misty points out that Shauna didn't have any trouble killing Adam Martin, but Shauna tells her that she shouldn't be treating this as a joke. Misty counters that she's the only one who actually took her killing of Adam seriously.
The two of them eventually find the goat nearby, Shauna chastising him and asking where he was going. She returns to the barn, asking if the goat is okay, given that it at the rope. He, however, just tells her that the goat is under her care, that the insight that she needs is inside her. He further states that "the kid's care is entwined with your own," disturbing her, as it reminds her of Callie. She says that she doesn't know, that she doesn't have her phone and that she thinks from cartoons that it might be okay for a goat to eat a rope, but that she doesn't know. She shouts that the goat isn't going to die on her watch, but he still refuses to help. Finally, she spots Lottie and states that she'll take it up with her. She tells Lottie that her treatment is over, that she doesn't care what the big lesson is, but that she's not going to kill the goat. Lottie, however, tells her that she doesn't have to, that she finds it gives a person clarity to have to care for something so innocent. Shauna starts crying, then admits that she's not really crying about the goat. She tells Lottie that she's always kept her daughter Callie at arm's length, fearing that she might die, or perhaps that she wasn't even real to begin with. She tried to tell herself that she was safe, but she thinks that something is broken inside of her.
Revelations[]
Natalie gathers the group, suggesting that they talk about what they learned, in the hope that they got something unexpected out of the day. She asks who wants to get them started and suggests Shauna, who holds up a bottle of booze, saying that she already has. Natalie complains that they're missing the point of their therapies, but Shauna points out the irony of her calling them out for messing around. She tells her that they should all just hang out a bit, that she actually learned a lot. Lottie later arrives and they convince her to join the group, her even bringing out some better booze of her own. They enjoy their time together, talking and eventually even dancing, until their revelries are interrupted by one of the acolytes who tells them that there's an urgent call for Shauna from her husband Jeff on the landline. Shauna takes the call, her immediate reaction being to ask if something happened to Callie. Jeff, however, tells her in coded phrases that the police have found the body of Adam Martin at a local park.
Shauna returns to the others, explaining what happened. Both Van and Lottie are naturally confused, having not been involved in the coverup of Adam Martin's murder like the others. They try to play it off as Adam just having been a friend of Shauna's. Shauna thanks Lottie for having her, telling her that she needs to be with her family. She starts to leave, but Van asks what the deal is with everyone's panic vibe. She grabs Shauna's keys and tosses them away to the wilderness, telling her that she's not going anywhere until someone explains what's going on to her and Lottie. Lottie asks Shauna why Jeff was the one to call her about this and Taissa agrees that it's strange. The argument attracts the attention of the group's acolytes and Lottie says that they should all go to the Sharing Shack, rather than discussing this out in public.
The group retires to the Sharing Shack, where Shauna provides Van and Lottie with the basic outline of her killing of Adam Martin, subsequent coverup, and claim that he had been blackmailing the Yellowjackets for $50,000. Van asks if this how they've all been spending their time - "chasing blackmailers and murdering lovers" and Shauna replies that this is "a little reductive." Natalie asks why she would have shared any of this with Jeff and she claims to have been scared and wanted Jeff on her side. Taissa says that they all need things that they can't have, to which Shauna points out the presence of Van, asking just how this happened. Van says that Taissa hitchhiked on a 18-wheeler to see her and Misty comments that Taissa could have just come to her instead of "outsourcing," that she's had Van's address for years. This leads to Misty revealing that it was Taissa who hired Jessica Roberts to look into all of them. She also tells them that she "took care" of Jessica.
Misty excuses her kidnapping of Jessica, saying that she only did it in the first place because she thought that she was the blackmailer, not knowing that it was actually Shauna's lover looking to get his hands on her journals to extort them. To this, Shauna asks why she's the only bad guy there when Misty held someone in her dungeon and the FBI has been asking questions about Natalie. Misty explains that she was the FBI, that she and her boyfriend Walter Tattersall pretended to be the FBI to question Randy Walsh. She notes the fact that Randy mentioned Jeff and that it seemed strange at the time, as if he was guilty of something. Shauna tries to excuse this as Randy simply being Jeff's best friend, but Misty says it was more as if the two of them had done something they were nervous about. This leads her and the others to realize that it was actually Jeff who was the blackmailer.
Something within them[]
At first, Shauna tries to make excuses for why she did not tell the others about Jeff being the blackmailer. She, however, finally admits the truth: she was afraid that one of them might kill him because had it been somebody they loved who had been the blackmailer, she likely would have done the same. Natalie thanks her for her honesty, saying that all of them are pretty messed up and that they need to start talking about it. To this, however, Lottie states that what they're dealing with is something that therapies can't fix. She says that they have to give the wilderness what it wants, like they did in the past, that this isn't just something they can bargain or will away.
Shauna tells Lottie that none of this was real. Lottie, however, asks her if she doesn't feel like there is something inside of her, making her do things like killing Adam. She says that this has been with them all along and they have to consider that denying it has led them to where they are now. She tells them that they have to give it what it always wants, presenting a set of six cups of tea, one of which is laced with a solution of phenobarbital, which they use to euthanize suffering animals there at the compound. Misty points out that this also what they used in the infamous Heaven's Gate incident and Shauna asks Lottie if she isn't taking her cult-leader persona a little too far. She says that they're lives aren't that bad. Lottie, however, asks if this is really the case, pointing out that the various things they have done, including Shauna killing Adam and Misty killing Jessica Roberts.
As they all continue to argue the point, Lottie reaches for the poisoned cup, ready to consume it herself. Shauna tells her to put it down, saying that if they're going to do this, they need to give it a hunt, to do it the way they did before. The others shout in protest, but Shauna says that Lottie is right, that whatever they communed with in the woods is still inside them. Lottie hugs her, saying that she knew she wasn't the only one who felt this way. As she does so, Shauna makes faces at the others, clearly indicating that they are supposed to play along. "We have to stop fighting it," says Taissa and Shauna tells Lottie that they need to do it right, that she needs to make sure none of the others from the compound are there. "The woods will be ours tonight," agrees Lottie.
Once Lottie is gone, Natalie turns on Shauna, asking why she is humoring Lottie. Shauna replies that she just bought them all time, which they can use to figure out what to do with her. Misty says that given her history they can probably have her committed again and Taissa agrees, saying that she's a danger to herself and others. Van, however, objects to the idea, saying that this isn't just about Lottie's mental illness, that whatever she went through in the woods, they did too. Natalie, however, says that Lottie thinks the wilderness is talking to her again, asking if they've forgotten where that leads.
As the group starts their preparations, Shauna's husband Jeff and daughter Callie make their way to Camp Green Pine, secretly tailed by Detective Kevyn Tan and his partner, Matt Saracusa. In the compound, Jeff encounters Kevyn with Walter Tattersall, a man whom Misty has been working with. Upon seeing him, Walter takes his leave and Jeff goes to Kevyn. He calls Kevyn out for tailing them there and Kevyn points out that they wouldn't tell them where Shauna was. Jeff then confesses to the murder of Adam Martin, saying that he did it to protect his family and that he couldn't tell Shauna. As he is confessing, Kevyn unexpectedly falls over backwards, dead on the floor. Walter reappears, explaining to Kevin that he poisoned Kevyn with phenobarbital. He enlists Kevyn's help in moving the body, then in entrapping Matt in a scenario in which he is forced to lie and claim that Kevyn was involved in a conspiracy to cover up the murder of Adam Martin, as well as that of Jessica Roberts.
The group gathers in a circle, ready to conduct the ritual the same way they did in the wilderness. Shauna asks Misty when the psych team is supposed to be getting there and Misty tells her that they told them it was urgent. Lottie appears, sets down a knife and picks up a deck of playing cards, telling them that it's time. She holds up the Queen of Hearts card with the blacked-out eyes, the fatal card that if drawn indicates being marked for death. She places it back in the deck and shuffles, but Shauna tells her that she'd like to shuffle some more. Lottie agrees to it, but after some time declares that it's enough and that they need to begin. They begin drawing cards and Shauna draws the Queen of Hearts. At this, the others step away, donning animal masks. Lottie steps forward, a knife in hand, telling Shauna that she can submit or run. She asks for a time-out, if they're really doing this. She gets no answer and she shouts, asking if they've all actually lost their minds. She tells Shauna that there was no "it," that it was just them. Lottie asks her if there's really any difference. Shauna turns and starts to slowly walk away, but is forced to run as the others being chasing her.
The group chases Shauna through the woods when suddenly a gunshot grazes Lottie's shoulder. Callie appears, shouting at them all to get away from her mother, and holding the gun that Shauna took off the carjacker. "Callie, no," pleads Shauna and Lottie removes her mask, asking Shauna if this is her daughter and calling her powerful. Shauna again shouts at Callie to put down the gun. Lottie says that "it" is with them now and Shauna shouts, asking where the psych team is. Taissa tells her that they're not coming, that it was Van's idea. "How could you?" asks Shauna and Van tells her that it isn't right, that Lottie is like this because of them. Hearing this, Callie finally lowers the gun and Lottie asks them what they all hear.
Lottie asks the group if they believe her now, that it's still with them. To Shauna, she asks how she couldn't think it wasn't when she killed her lover. She finishes by saying that it was in Natalie, even when she denied it, that it was always her favorite. Natalie shouts, asking why she can't just stop, and Lisa, one of Lottie's acolytes, appears, brandishing a shotgun. Lisa asks Natalie what she did to Lottie, if she killed people and has just been lying this entire time. "I let him die in my place," comments Natalie, referring to her having allowed Javi to die the in wilderness after she had been selected in the card draw. Lisa charges at her and Misty draws a syringe, intending to use it on Lisa, but Natalie throws herself in front, taking the injection instead.
Natalie dies of a lethal drug overdose. In the aftermath, Jeff comes to Shauna and gives her a hug. He tells her that it's a long story, but that it's going to be okay, regarding the Adam Martin situation. Shauna, however, just shakes her head, telling him that Natalie is dead. As Lottie is taken away by the psych team, she states that they gave the wilderness what it wanted and it is pleased with them.
Mysterious stalker[]
In the aftermath, Shauna attends Natalie's memorial service. Just beforehand, she discovers Callie smoking pot, though Callie insists that she is not. At the memorial, she is called out by Jeff for swearing during the service. The service is very brief and she, Taissa, Van and Jeff gather afterwards for drinks. Shauna laments what someone would say at a memorial service for her: that she is both the worst mother and wife, but Taissa speculates that her own memorial would be just as bad. As they continue to talk, Shauna seems to notice someone watching them, but dismisses it.
Later that day, Shauna searches Callie's room and discovers one of he her hidden joints, only to end up smoking it. She is then shocked when she receives a call from the Wiskayok High School principal with shocking news: that Callie has been suspended from school for "assaulting girls with guts." She and Jeff discuss the matter, her wondering if perhaps if it is some sort of statement about being vegan or "Gen Z TikTok bullshit." Jeff, however, is worried that Callie was deeply affected by the events of Camp Green Pine.
That evening, Shauna discusses the matter with Callie, who tells her that she's not having dark thoughts or anything, it's just that the girls were talking nonsense about what Shauna and the others did in the woods at Camp Green Pine. She shows Shauna a video of what she did and she is entertained by it. That evening, while making herself a banana split, Callie hears someone at the door and discovers a cassette tape addressed to "Shauna Shipman," but chooses to keep it, rather than giving it to Shauna.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
The Evolution of Shauna & Jeff 🫢 Yellowjackets
- One of many Yellowjackets fan theories regarding Shauna's character was that after her baby was born, the crash survivors ate it as part of their cannibalism. Christina Ricci considered this theory so disturbing that she spoke about it with show co-creator Ashley Lyle, who assured her it wasn't true.[1] Ultimately, Shauna is depicted as having a fantasy of the other Yellowjackets doing just this, but it does not actually happen.
- Shauna is, however, the first of the Yellowjackets shown chronologically to have engaged in cannibalistic behavior, having eaten one of Jackie's ears.
References[]
- ↑ Jackson, Matthew (April 29, 2022). Yellowjackets Star Christina Ricci Shoots Down One of the Darkest & Most Popular Fan Theories. Syfy Wire. Retrieved on April 30, 2022.
Notes[]
- Jackie states that she and Shauna will be attending college the following year in "Pilot," which takes place in 1996. This means the two were in their senior year of high school. Students in this year are typically 17-18 years old. Therefore they were most likely born around 1978 to 1979.