Yellowjackets – Season 2 Episode 7 “Burial” Recap & Review

Burial

The Past

Nirvana’s profound “Something in the Way” plays in the background as the Yellowjackets sit in silence and the winter breathes its last. They are still absorbing the shock of Shauna’s newborn’s death but take reprieve when the snowstorm stops and they can go outside.

Shauna is too shocked to speak and quietly buries her child beneath the snow. Van’s rationalizing of the situation to Tai exposes her confusion over “why she has survived till now.” It is an existential expression of the girls’ mental states and uncertainty about what they ought to be doing with this new life.

Coach Ben’s spiraling mind has been a constant toggle in the last few episodes and here this hits its climax as he hallucinates Paul, his partner, abandoning him. Misty overhears Mari discussing Crystal’s disappearance with Akilah and Gen. She uses this to her advantage and announces to everyone they need to start looking for Crystal.

Most of them seem to agree and Lottie joins hands with the others in prayers to seek Crystal out. A search party leaves to look for her. They do not make great strides though, and Lottie asks Tai to “find Crystal like she found Javi.” Mari is still not convinced of Misty’s innocence. But Misty wants to find Crystal first and ensure that the Yellowjackets do not eat her as well.

Shauna goes to the barn to conjure Jackie back from her imagination. But she breaks down when Jackie’s apparition does not appear. Misty isn’t able to find Crystal at the foothills of the rock but sees Ben near the edge.

He wants to jump off but Misty pleads with him not to. All her threats do not work as he inches closer. When she says “I cannot have another death on my hands,” Ben stops. Shaun storms inside and hears Misty humming the same tune from the last episode. It makes her punch Misty in the face and exclaims her hallucination of them eating her baby to be true. She then punches Lottie, who stands firm in the centre and asks Shaun to “take her anger out.” She repeatedly punches and beats her to a pulp. Shauna goes outside and it is almost as if she is possessed.

The Present

All our Yellowjackets have arrived at Lottie’s “intentional community.” Natalie tells them the truth about her attempt and how the place has helped her untangle the dark materials of the wilderness. Lottie starts their integration into the community by asking them to choose one of four treatment options. Shauna takes “self-care,” Tai takes “renewal,” Van takes “forage,” and Misty takes “guidance.” But the treatments are not received well by the women, who are sceptical and apprehensive that the methods are not helpful.

Tai seems to think it is a build-up to the “big showdown.” Lottie asks about her problems and Tai mentions the sleepwalking has started again. Lottie tries to rationalize the “other Tai’s” reappearance in her life. She does not want to be suppressed anymore, Lottie asserts. Misty walks up to Shauna in the forest and helps her friend Bruce the baby goat, whose caring must be looked after by Shauna for the day.

Misty herself is asked to connect with her inner self by floating in a dark container with water, but she isn’t excited by the idea. They start bickering about their past mistakes as Lisa sends someone to fetch Misty, and Shauna finds Bruce. She is concerned that the goat might not be well since it has eaten rope. She is also concerned she will have to kill Bruce at the day’s end, something that Lottie clears up won’t happen. Shauna breaks down in front of her, realizing she has purposefully distanced Callie all her life.

Her brokenness is desperately looking for comfort. Misty looks to settle the score with hers as she gets in the sensory deprivation tank and confronts her murderous past. The setting is that of a musical featuring Walter and Caligula (John-Cameron Mitchell), a person wearing an African grey bird’s costume. But instead of feeling sorry, she feels emboldened and justifies them in her head. She also realizes she is in love with Walter and calls him on the kitchen phone.

Van tells Tai that she has cancer and only months to live. But Tai mustn’t tell anyone else – for now. Lottie is shocked to find herself having a conversation with herself. Lottie was hallucinating that she was talking to her therapist and also sees a vision of the Wilderness God telling Lottie that it is alright to gain value with loss of life. All the women start drinking together but Natalie does not partake. Lottie joins in too and it is just like the old times.

The group discuss if any one of them remembers their time in the wilderness. But before they can say anything substantial, they all start dancing. It starts snowing and they gather around the bonfire when Todd interrupts them. Jeff has called Shauna to inform that the police have found Adam’s body.

The Episode Review

The complaints from the previous episode are carried forward into this episode as well. We have seen too much build-up in season 2 of Yellowjackets but the narrative hasn’t picked up. We are still very vague about “It” and the “darkness that lives within” the Yellowjackets survivors. This once again felt like a filler episode with an almost useless arc in the present day.

What was the point of all the ladies drinking alcohol and dancing around a bonfire and indulging in those useless chores? It just didn’t make any sense.  The past wasn’t all that good either but the appeal was elevated with some stellar acting. A couple of episodes ago, it seemed like the part of the wilderness that the girls brought back would be the more exciting of the two timelines but that hasn’t followed through.

The best two moments in episode 7 were Shauna beating Lottie to a pulp in the past timeline, and the news about police finding Adam’s body. Yellowjackets is losing us and hopefully, there is redemption in the final two episodes.