One of the biggest questions heading into the Yellowjackets season one finale was: what happened to Jackie? We know she survived the 1996 plane crash (and did her best to bring the team together… until she went full Regina George), and that present-day Shauna, Jeff, and her parents act as if she’s dead. But how to explain her journal that cites several movies that hadn’t been released by the time of the crash, like Titanic (1997), American Beauty (1999), and Bring It On (2000)? Did she die in the time between the girls getting rescued and 2021, or is she in hiding? Or maybe she’s alive, and this was all one big, happy misunderstanding. First round of mimosas on me!
Never mind about the mimosas.
In last week’s episode, everyone on the team except Jackie got high on Misty’s mushrooms, including Shauna, who’s pregnant with Jackie’s boyfriend’s baby and, oh yeah, she nearly cut Travis’ throat. Also, Jackie had spiteful sex with Travis. You can see how things might be complicated. The tension between the one-time besties comes to a peak in the finale after Jackie reveals to everyone — including Coach Ben, can’t forget Coach Ben — that Shauna was “f*cking Jeff behind my back.” Jackie expects the team to be on her side, but that’s not the case. The Yellowjackets are Team Shauna, so Jackie storms out of the house… into an unexpected winter storm overnight.
No one thought to let Jackie back inside the house (the hot chocolate was a dream), and Jackie was too stubborn to come indoors, so she froze to death. One of the final things we see this season is Jackie’s icy corpse in the snow… followed quickly by adult Nat having her suicide attempt interrupted by a cult, possibly led by Lottie.
Yellowjackets can’t come back soon enough.