A new season of ‘Yellowjackets’ sparks excitement.

Showtime’s Yellowjackets, created by Ashley Byle and Bart Nickerson, had its season three premiere this past Valentine’s Day with the release of the first two episodes of a 10-episode long season.

Yellowjackets is a thriller/drama series which follows a dual timeline: in 1996, a girls high school soccer team is on its way across the country to Nationals when their plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness. In 2021, these same girls are still experiencing the effects of their crash as their secrets come out and things get darker than they could’ve ever imagined.

From the beginning, Yellowjackets was a huge success. The show is highly regarded for its diverse and engaging character dynamics and stories throughout the first two seasons, which leave viewers feeling as if they know the characters on a level which many TV series never reach. What aids this is the incredible cast, featuring many big names: Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings), Christina Ricci (The Addams Family), and Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures). All of the above and many more actors star in the 2021 timeline, while the 1996 timeline features many young and talented actors: Ella Purnell (Fallout), Sophie Thatcher (Heretic), Jasmin Savoy Brown (the Scream movies), and more.

Along with the cast, the show also has its own intriguing mystery which keeps viewers hooked. Since the first season, the question has been raised on whether the team was possessed by something supernatural while lost in the wilderness– or if it just brought out the truth that they would do anything to survive. Yellowjackets is expected to have five seasons, so fans are hoping they’ll get their answer to this question – and others – soon.

While it is an incredible show on its own, we can’t ignore the inspiration which makes Yellowjackets what it is now. Byle and Nickerson have confirmed in past interviews that the overall idea of the show came from two real life tragedies: the Donner Party and Flight 571. When put next to these, it’s clear where much of the setting in Yellowjackets came from — vast forest, harsh climate. The same is true for the plot, which showcases the brutal ways that having our lives on the line affects us and our empathy for people we once cared for.

Yellowjackets has also been compared to the TV series Lost, which follows a similar plot — although the former aligns more with the horror genre rather than science fiction.

Season three will begin with a time jump from the ending of the last season, and will also feature two new cast members: Joel McHale (Community), and Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby), who were featured in this season’s trailer. If this convinced you to tune in to Yellowjackets, new episodes will be available to stream every Friday on Paramount+.

Article by Abby Ketchum