Yellowjackets Season 2: When does the cannibalism happen, and what happens to Jackie’s body?
Paramount+Cannibalism was hinted at in Season 1 of Yellowjackets, but fans wanted more. So when does it happen in Season 2?
2021’s first season of Yellowjackets became a smash hit, with multiple Emmy nominations in 2022, and a greenlight for Season 2, which has now just premiered its final episode.
Fans had been waiting eagerly for said second season, which continues the story of a soccer team that was stranded in the wild for a year after a plane crash, and the ensuing trauma that lives on into their adulthood. Thankfully, the second season is easily living up to the first, bringing comedy, drama, and an intense feeling of dread.
But one major thing that fans had been waiting for is the cannibalism. It was heavily hinted at in Season 1, to the point that fans were disappointed that it didn’t really happen. But does it occur in Season 2, and if so, when and how? We’re going into detail, so BEWARE OF YELLOWJACKETS SPOILERS AHEAD…
When does the cannibalism happen in Yellowjackets Season 2?
Cannibalism begins in Episode 1 of Yellowjackets Season 2, but really takes off at the very end of Episode 2. It then becomes a major plot point in Episode 8 and 9.
The show seems to be reacting to the demand for human flesh by really upping the ante this season, even referencing it in their marketing.
In Episode 6, there is also a brief fake-out of cannibalism. See, Shauna has her baby, and all seems well. There’s a little struggle to get it to breastfeed, and Lottie seems strangely attached to it, but that seems the worst of it. Until one night when Shauna wakes up, to find that her baby isn’t laying next to her. She leaves her bedroom, and sees all her team members feasting on the baby.
It’s horrifying, but it only turns out to be a vision that Shauna was having while giving birth. Not that her reality is much better though, as sadly her baby doesn’t actually survive the birthing process.
Now, Episode 8 is when the girls begin to full on hunt each other for food. They’re starving to death, and know that they can’t go on much longer. They also know that they need Lottie to survive – after she gets beaten up badly by Shauna – so she needs sustenance, AKA, she needs meat.
The group decides to draw cards, and whoever gets the Queen will be the one to be killed and eaten. Natalie draws the Queen, and Shauna is about to slit her throat, even symbolically putting Jackie’s necklace around her. However, Travis intervenes and Natalie is able to escape, while the other girls try to hunt her through the Wilderness.
While running, Javi, Travis’ brother, offers to guide Natalie away. However, this is over a frozen lake, and Javi falls through. Natalie goes to help him, but Misty stops her, saying that if she saves him the girls will just kill her instead. The group watches as Javi dies, and thus the Wilderness has chosen him as their next meal.
The group proceed to cook and eat him in Episode 9, with some showing more remorse than others. Van seemingly doesn’t care, but Lottie is reluctant, with Misty pushing her to eat Javi’s remains. Coach Ben decides to leave the group at this point, heading to the burrow where Javi hid for most of the season. He asks Natalie to come with him, but she is wracked with survivor’s guilt at Javi’s death, and decides she belongs with the rest of the Yellowjackets.
As for how Jackie is involved in the girl’s food chain, we’ll explain the cannibalism in Episode 2…
What happens to Jackie’s body in Yellowjackets Season 2?
Shauna is the first one to eat a person in Season 2, though she only eats an ear.
After her best friend Jackie freezes to death in the Wilderness, her body is kept in a shed, where Shauna visits. Shauna is clearly struggling mentally due to grief, and imagines Jackie being alive, putting makeup on her and braiding her hair.
However, this causes Jackie’s corpse to fall, and her ear breaks off, which Shauna keeps so that the others won’t judge her. Near the end of the episode, when rations are running low, Shauna fishes said ear out of her pocket, and it has now thawed. After staring at it for a while, Shauna proceeds to eat it, which is where the cannibalism of Season 2 officially begins.
Shauna’s actor, Sophie Nélisse, actually still has the ear. Stating to Esquire, she explained, “I have it hidden in my room. It’d be a bit of a red flag if someone came into my room and there’s this whole little ear on my countertop. So, it’s hidden away in a little souvenir box.”
Shauna continues to visit her, and imagines Jackie cutting into her own arm. At one point, Taissa catches Shauna, and is disturbed by her attachment to Jackie’s body. She demands that they cremate Jackie so that everyone can move on, which Shauna reluctantly agrees to, before they all go to bed.
But things don’t go according to plan. As the girls continue to starve, and Jackie continues to burn on a pyre, unseen forces cause snow to land on her burning site. The flames are put out, and it seems like only Jackie’s clothes have been burned away, leaving her naked body there.
All at once, the girls mysteriously wake from slumber, and all silently head outside. They gather around Jackie’s body, and imagine themselves at a magical feast; white gowns, flower crowns, goblets and everything.
They all then begin tearing into Jackie’s body, eating it raw. Meanwhile, Coach Ben silently looks on in horror from his cabin, before closing the door on them, and thus ends Episode 2.
Yellowjackets Season 1 and 2 are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, which you can sign up for here.
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