Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Christina Rikki, Sophie Nélisse, Tawny Cypress, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Samatha Hanratty, Warren Kole, Courtney Eaton, Liv Hewson, Kevin Alves, Alexa Barajas, Steven Krueger, Sarah Desjardins, Lauren Ambrose, Hilary Swank, Jenna Burgess, Nia Sondaya, Ella Purnell, Elijah Wood, Simone Kessell, Rukiya Bernard, Aiden Stoxx, Keeya King, Nicole Maines, Anisa Harris, Silvana Estifanos, Vanessa Prasad, Jeff Holman, Joel McHale.
The tension is almost unbearable, the intimidation of the senses is full and almost unceasing, and as the conclusion to the third season of Yellowjackets comes sprinting towards the viewer, so the chilling understanding of isolation and group entanglement in a situation where dynamics are ruled by the fear of the unknown, the uncharted landscape, the decline of modern civilisation as survival becomes key, and is wrapped up in the fires of the female dominated world of heightened emotions masquerading as control.
It is to this unfolding of drama spilt across two different time periods that Yellowjackets has pierced the truth of how often survival is fought on a daily basis, that one traumatic event can unleash Hell on Earth, and lead to secrets being the source of death; In many ways the third series of the popular show has eclipsed that in which was held aloft by another that dealt with similar themes of loss, abandonment, and the unknown – Lost. The difference between the two outstanding shows is one is unafraid to place the characters firmly in the grip of madness whist betraying a respectable face, the cult like beginnings that entangle the surviving teenage girls, and the memory of this rots the present like a disease, as one by one, the guilt fed survivors fall victim to the past.
The intensity of the series exposes the fragility of the human condition, and as the two timelines start to merge, so the deaths become more meaningful, for the viewer is offered a glimpse of salvation and possibilities, only to have them snatched away from their sight.
It is to the brilliance of writing and character led development that two of the finest actors of their generation, two women who have been a constant willing adaptor of the female psyche under stress, Melanie Lynskey and Christina Ricci and which shows just how dependency can form from the point of view from those who have trauma bonded. Indeed, such is the power on screen of these two veterans of television and film, that the electric ferocity spreads across the path of each actor caught up in the plot.
From the adult version of the survivors, including the cool Tawny Cypress and Lauren Ambrose, to the portrayal of youth caught up in the emotional psychological prey that their minds have been subjected to in the ability of Sophie Nélisse, Samatha Hanratty, and Courtney Eaton, this is the perspective of survival in the wilderness that Lost ultimately, and regrettably failed to capture.
An outstanding series that keeps offering the viewer a chilling understanding of how trauma and secrets eventually will find a way to exposing themselves as the manifestation of inner demons; Yellowjackets remains in the sphere of hugely influential television in this decade.
Ian D. Hall