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Yellowjackets (TV Series)

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There's no 'I' in team, but there is in 'survival'.

Series tagline

Yellowjackets is an American coming-of-age survival drama series created and executive produced by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson. The series is a co-production of Showtime and Entertainment One. The first season debuted Sunday, November 14, 2021 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime. New episodes debuted weekly on Showtime at 10 P.M. eastern on Sundays. However, episodes are also released at midnight the same day for those who have access to the Showtime Anytime service through a cable/satellite or live streaming subscription service, meaning that such viewers can watch episodes nearly a full day earlier. For the second season, the release schedule was changed, with new episodes now being released to streaming on on-demand at midnight on Fridays, over two full days before their premiere on Showtime.

On December 16, 2021, the program was renewed for a second season in the middle of its first season run.[1] The series was pitched for a total of five seasons by its creators.[2] On December 15, 2022, Yellowjackets was renewed for a third season ahead of its second season run.[3] Delayed due to the WGA and SAG strikes in 2023, it was reported on May 14, 2024 that filming on the third season had begun, with the season anticipated to release in 2025. At the time, it was reported also that showrunners Bart Nickerson and Jonathan Lisco would be directing episodes of the series for the first time, Nickerson directing 301 and Lisco directing 303.[4]

Synopsis[]

Yellowjackets Title Card

The Yellowjackets title card

Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, Yellowjackets is the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.

Cast[]

Main[]

Recurring[]

Amy Okuda was originally announced as Cat Wheeler, a history teacher recruited as an assistant coach to bolster the coaching staff of the Yellowjackets despite not knowing about soccer. However, this character never appeared and was apparently cut from the series prior to its debut. Ella Purnell as Jackie Taylor is the only character depicted exclusively as one of the teens in the woods in the first season to be credited as starring cast.

Production[]

Development[]

May 9, 2018, it was announced that Showtime had bought the rights to Yellowjackets from Entertainment One. It was pursued by multiple producers, with Comins ultimately securing the project via his then-overall deal with the Mark Gordon Co. At eOne, the project is overseen by Jacqueline Sacerio. Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson executive produce alongside Comins via his Creative Engine Entertainment.[5]

September 17, 2019, it was announced that Showtime has given a pilot greenlight to Yellowjackets and Karyn Kusama will direct and executive produce the pilot.[6] On December 17, 2020, it was announced that Showtime has given a series order to the series, with Jonathan Lisco on board as executive producer and co-showrunner alongside Lyle and Nickerson on the series.

The series was pitched as being a gender-swapped version of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. Showrunner Ashley Lyle recalled reading an Internet comment regarding the series from a man who asked "What are they going to do? Collaborate to death?" She recalled thinking immediately in response, "You were never a teenage girl, sir." For those characters portrayed as both adults and teens, the adults were cast first, then the actresses playing them as teens. It was said that a superficial resemblance was helpful but not crucial, the goal being "a kind of energetic similarity, or a kind of soul match."[7] Despite this, the cast for the "past" scenes and that for the "present" largely did not interact, except to do readthroughs via Zoom.[8]

Casting[]

October 31, 2019, Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown joined the series as series regulars.[9] November 19, 2019, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, Ella Purnell, Sammi Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher, Sophie Nélisse, Steven Krueger, Amy Okuda joined the cast as series regulars.[10] June 3, 2021, Warren Kole, joined the cast as a series regular with Peter Gadiot, Keeya King and Alex Wyndham in recurring roles.[11] June 11, 2021, Sarah Desjardins, Kevin Alves and Alexa Barajas joined in recurring roles.[12]

Filming[]

Production began fall 2019 in Los Angeles.[6] Production on the pilot took place in November 2019, the project had been moved to the 2020–2021 development season.[13] Production took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Canada from May 10, 2021 to September 28, 2021 for a 2021 debut on the network.[13] The scene in the forest will filmed a real forest rather than a soundstage. Actor Steven Krueger stated that the actors hated it at times, but he feels at the end of the day it was necessary, as it would not have had the same effect otherwise. He also stated that when the actors were given the choice to either go back to their trailers or stay outside, they chose to stay, as it helped them to feel they were really in it.[8]

Reception[]

Reception for Yellowjackets has been greatly positive. Judy Berman of Time called the series "the best new show in months," stating that "Yellowjackets never stops digging through the particular baggage that teen girls bring into a state of nature."[14] Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly gave the series a B+, stating that "if the rest of the season is as tasty as the first course, it'll be worth it to stick around for dessert."[15] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone was somewhat more critical, giving the series 3 1/2 stars and feeling that "Many of its influences already overlap, and thus work together well. The ones that don’t can at times combine to create something that feels new and potent, but at others make it feel like the stew could have done with fewer ingredients."[16] As of the afternoon of December 16, 2021, the first season of the series has a 100% Fresh rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with a total of 43 reviews. The site's Critics Consensus feature for the series states "A genre mashup that blends smoothly, Yellowjackets presents an absorbing mystery with plenty of sting."[17]

Off the news of the program's renewal for a second season, showrunners Lyle, Nickerson and Lisco stated "We are beyond grateful for the incredible support we’ve received for this show — both from Gary Levine, Jana Winograde, David Nevins, Amy Israel, Dave Binegar, and the rest of the fantastic Showtime team, and from our growing team of 'Citizen Detectives' at home. We can’t wait to continue telling this story with our amazing cast and crew. The saga continues!" The program was reported to both be doing well in terms of driving streaming subscriptions, having grown weekly by double-digit percentages and also serving a strong followup to the popular limited series Dexter: New Blood.[1]

The series has been described as both "buzzy" and a "word-of-mouth hit,"[18] and a "watercooler obsession" that has engaged fans not just on social media, but digging through Reddit to piece together clues, and with the uninitiated "scrambling, catching onto the fact that everyone else is talking about this show..."[19] The Los Angeles Times described the series as the buzziest show on TV, stating that it started with a small plane crash in the woods and became a national obsession, a north star for TV viewers since it premiered on Showtime in November.[20][21]

The program was Showtime's most watched freshman season of a series in six years, with the finale drawing approximately 1.3 million viewers on premiere night and across all platforms, the series averaged 5 million weekly viewers.[22]

The first season of Yellowjackets was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for best drama series, with Melanie Lynskey (adult Shauna Sadecki) winning in the category of best actress in a drama series.[23]

Yellowjackets was a winner in the Hollywood Critics Association awards in 2022 in two categories: Best Directing in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Drama for the "Pilot" for Karyn Kusama and for Best Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Drama for Melanie Lynskey for her role as the adult as the adult Shauna Sadecki.[24]

In an interview in September 2022 with Variety, David Nevins, CEO of Showtime, stated that the series was not initially a marketing priority for Showtime but that he and the other executives took note of the buzz fostered by younger women on social media early in the show's run and started spending more during the course of the show to promote it, watching viewership increase each week.[25]

The series is considered such a strong performer that it was renewed for a third season prior to the release of its second season.[3]

Music[]

No Return

"No Return"

The Yellowjackets theme tune, "No Return," is an original composition composed by renowned songwriters Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker. The theme first appears in the program's third episode, "The Dollhouse," which is the first to feature an opening credits sequence. It takes the style of 90s punk rock song to fit the show's theme of a group of teenage girls stranded in the woods in the 90s following a plane crash. On Janaury 7, 2022, the theme was made available to stream via all major providers, including Apple Music, Amazon Music, iTunes Store and YouTube Music.

Wedren and Waronker are also the composers of the instrumental score for Yellowjackets. The two were, in fact, originally hired only to write a score for the series and did not know when hired that the program would even have a theme song. According to Wedren, the theme which normally plays during the program's closing credits is called "Snarler." The two considered doing an extended version of "No Return" for the song's release on streaming sites such as Spotify, but felt that the song was right the way it is now and that it would only end up feeling "overly serious" if they dragged it out.[26] The show's "Pilot" episode was scored by Theodore Shapiro, nearly two years before the show received a full series order and required music for additional episodes. Wedren expressed that Shapiro's score was beautiful and that upon hearing it, he felt "We need to fuck this up," that "This needs to be like bloody fun, chaotic, messy — and beautiful and choral and female and all those things." The two composers worked on the episodes out of order, but used the music for the plane crash as a template for other music going forward. For the second season, they hope to write additional vocal pieces.[27] In an interview with Deadline in June 2022, Wedren and Waronker stated that they decided to work on the series because they were looking for something "new and creepy" following their work on Shrill and The Republic of Sarah. They described "No Return" as being a hybrid of end credit instrumentals they had made, as the show's production crew had asked for a theme that mixed elements of each one.[28]

The series also features a number of popular songs that appear throughout, many of them from the mid-90s, such as "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan and "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins, which is used as the intro song for the "Pilot" episode.

On April 15, 2022, Showtime released the album Blood Hive: Original Score from the Showtime Series Yellowjackets featuring an extended version of the theme tune "No Return" as well as the first season's instrumental score including the closing credits theme "Snarler."[29] The soundtrack album for the second season, Blood Hive 2: Original Score from the TV Series Yellowjackets, was released on June 16, 2023.[30]

Trivia[]

  • The series is set within New Jersey in a fictional town named Wiskayok and the fictional Wiskayok High School. The scenes following the plane crash are set within the wilderness of Canada.
  • Taglines for the series include "There's no 'I' in team, but there is in 'survival'" and "The truth may come crashing down."

Multimedia[]

Images[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Andreeva, Nellie (December 16, 2021). ‘Yellowjackets’ Gets Early Renewal: Showtime’s Gary Levine On Series’ Breakout Success & Season 2 Surprises. Deadline. Retrieved on December 16, 2021.
  2. ↑ Lambe, Stacy (January 4, 2022). 'Yellowjackets' Stars on What They Love About Showtime's Breakout Survival Series (Exclusive). Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on January 7, 2022.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Andreeva, Nellie (December 15, 2022). ‘Yellowjackets’ Gets Early Season 3 Renewal By Showtime As Chris McCarthy Lays Out Programming Strategy & Signals Slate Review. Deadline. Retrieved on December 15, 2022.
  4. ↑ Tinoco, Armando (May 14, 2024). ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Starts Filming As Showtime Teases New Photos From The Set. Deadline.
  5. ↑ Showtime Buys Female Thriller Drama ‘Yellowjackets’ From eOne & ‘Narcos’ Duo
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Showtime Picks Up Coming-Of-Age Survival Drama ‘Yellowjackets’ To Pilot; Karyn Kusama To Direct
  7. ↑ Soloski, Alexis (November 10, 2021). ‘Yellowjackets’ Leans In to Savagery. New York Times. Retrieved on November 12, 2021.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Maldonado, Kristen (November 14, 2021). Steven Krueger Talks Surviving In The Wilderness In Showtime's Yellowjackets. Retrieved on November 14, 2021.
  9. ↑ ‘Yellowjackets’: Tawny Cypress & Jasmin Savoy Brown Join Showtime Drama Pilot
  10. ↑ Juliette Lewis & Christina Ricci Among Eight Cast In Showtime Drama Pilot ‘Yellowjackets’
  11. ↑ ‘Yellowjackets’: Warren Kole Joins Showtime Drama As Series Regular, Three To Recur
  12. ↑ ‘Yellowjackets’: Sarah Desjardins, Kevin Alves & Alexa Barajas Join Showtime Drama As Recurring
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - Yellowjackets
  14. ↑ Berman, Judy (November 5, 2021). Showtime Survival Thriller Yellowjackets Is the Best New Show in Months. Time. Retrieved on November 8, 2021.
  15. ↑ Baldwin, Kristen (November 5, 2021). Yellowjackets review: What happens in the woods definitely won't stay there. Retrieved on November 8, 2021.
  16. ↑ Sepinwall, Alan (November 5, 2021). The Girls of ‘Yellowjackets’ Survive a Plane Crash. What Happens Next Still Haunts Them.. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on November 8, 2021.
  17. ↑ Yellowjackets. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on December 16, 2021.
  18. ↑ Baugher, Lacy (January 9, 2022). How Yellowjackets Became TV’s Buzziest New Drama. Den of Geek. Retrieved on January 11, 2022.
  19. ↑ Fallon, Kevin (January 7, 2022). How Did ‘Yellowjackets’ Become So Damn Popular?. Daily Beast. Retrieved on January 11, 2022.
  20. ↑ Ali, Lorraine (December 9, 2021). Trust us: It’s time to catch up on ‘Yellowjackets,’ your next TV obsession. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on January 16, 2022.
  21. ↑ Twitter - How ‘Yellowjackets’ became the buzziest show on TV
  22. ↑ Del Rosario, Alexandria (January 19, 2022). ‘Yellowjackets’ Finale Tallies 1.3M Multi-Platform Viewers To Wrap Most Watched Freshman Season On Showtime In 6 Years. Deadline. Retrieved on January 21, 2022.
  23. ↑ Critics Choice Awards 2022: See the full list of winners. KESQ via CNN (March 13, 2022). Retrieved on March 15, 2022.
  24. ↑ Tinoco, Armando (August 13, 2022). HCA TV Awards Winners: ‘The White Lotus’, ‘Abbott Elementary’, ‘Better Call Saul’ Lead List. Deadline. Retrieved on August 14, 2022.
  25. ↑ Panaligan, EJ (September 29, 2022). Paramount’s David Nevins on ‘Yellowjackets’ Sleeper Success, Developing for Global Markets and Desus & Mero’s ‘Eventual Reunion’. Variety. Retrieved on September 30, 2022.
  26. ↑ Willman, Chris (January 14, 2022). ‘Yellowjackets’ Composers Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker on Drafting the Perfect Indie-Rock Theme Song, and Why the ’90s Are Back. Variety. Retrieved on January 15, 2022.
  27. ↑ Khosla, Proma (January 29, 2022). Inside the ‘sonic cannibalism’ of ‘Yellowjackets’. Mashable. Retrieved on January 30, 2022.
  28. ↑ Fleming, Ryan (June 2, 2022). ‘Yellowjackets’ Composers Anna Waronker And Craig Wedren On Their “Crazy Score” & Getting The “Rarest Of Gifts” With The Showtime Series – Production Value. Deadline. Retrieved on June 3, 2022.
  29. ↑ Major, Michael (April 15, 2022). Craig Weirden Featured on YELLOWJACKETS Score 'Blood Hive'. Broadway World. Retrieved on April 15, 2022.
  30. ↑ Drum, Nicole (June 15, 2023). Yellowjackets Season 2 Score Sets Release Date, Debuts "No Reason" (Exclusive). Comic Book. Retrieved on June 16, 2023.
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