REVIEW: ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Episode 5 — “Did Tai Do That?”

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 5 continues with persistent misery. In the past, the teens are dealing with how to handle Coach Ben (Steven Krueger), while in the present, the adult Yellowjackets are reeling from a shocking, untimely death of one of their own. Both come together to present the true tragedy of these characters’ lives, though both also show the holes in the writing and ongoing inconsistency in the story.

The main plot, of course, deals with Lottie’s (Simone Kessell) death. Misty (Christina Ricci) visiting the morgue is a grim realization of all these characters have endured. The decision to show teen Misty looking at her dead friend is effective. But this death loses poignancy due to how quickly it happened and how nonsensical it seems from a writing perspective. Because what is the point, other than to whittle the core adult cast down? Lottie was hardly my favorite character, but the death, for now, seems pointless, failing even to rouse much of a reaction from Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Tai (Tawny Cypress), and Van (Lauren Ambrose).

For all that Lottie goes through, she dies falling down a flight of stairs. What a grim end. The coroner says it’s an accident, but Misty and  Walter (Elijah Wood) believe it’s something more sinister. It’s just such an abrupt end to a storyline that was only just gaining momentum, as all of the adult Yellowjackets continued to orbit one another without ever thoroughly discussing at length what they went through.

Where are the friendships and the dynamics that made the series sing? Yes, these characters are driven mad by Lottie, but she’s an integral part of the group. In Season 1, we had Shauna and Tai’s friendship and Misty and Natalie’s bizarre dynamic. Despite the odds, they came together. The splintering doesn’t do the characters any favors.

Van and Tai continue to get the weaker storylines, even as the show finally remembers that Tai has a family she’s all but abandoned. But it would seem that her son is still afraid of her, and their meeting is brief because of it. Van momentarily suspects Tai but is mainly bothered by how senseless Lottie’s death is. It’s a shame because Cypress and Ambrose are such capable actors. Ambrose, in particular, aside from Ricci, is the best at channeling her teen counterpart.

Only part of the adult storyline works in “Did Tai Do That?”

Lottie’s death does inspire one fun storyline, however, as Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 5 gives viewers what we want: more scenes with Lynskey and Wood. The two have worked together, from animated series like Over the Garden Wall to the 2017 thriller I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore. They have a fantastic, livewire chemistry that fits these two oddball characters and their inability to stay out of other people’s business.

Shauna decides to tail Misty, believing she has more to do with Lottie’s death, only to realize that Walter is following her, thinking that Shauna is potentially guilty. The two team up to infiltrate Lottie’s father’s penthouse, where she’d been staying, to get clues. Misty is furious over this, especially considering Shauna’s cruelty towards her.

Shauna’s storyline also gives us one of the character’s most sincere moments. While they fail to find enough clues to incriminate anyone, Shauna ends up in Lottie’s bedroom, which is filled with memorabilia from their youth. Lottie’s father appears confused, believing that Shauna is Lottie, and the former allows him to believe, offering him a hug and telling him that sometimes it’s hard to show people love the way we want to.

It’s a quiet, genuine moment for a character who is so often driven by her pettiness or rage (in the past, at least). Lynskey is such a wonderful, magnetic actress, but there’s no denying that teen and adult Shauna have the biggest disconnect despite threads of similarities.

This brings us to the past, where Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) suffers character assassination. She believes that Ben should be burned alive so that the punishment fits the crime. Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) rightfully says it’s torture, not justice. That said, her answer is hardly better. She believes that it should be death by firing squad, relying on the aim and accuracy of a teenager to kill Ben without prolonged suffering.

Ben continues to suffer in Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 5. 

Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown) is chosen to be the one who pulls the trigger, though the moment never comes to pass. It would seem that Ben’s suffering will be drawn out after all. While he begs for his life, Lottie (Courtney Eaton), Travis (Kevin Alves), and Akilah (Nia Sondaya) rush back to camp. The three had made an expedition to the cave where Ben once resided. It’s pure Lost, where Akilah is given a message in her hallucination, telling her that Ben is their bridge home.

They can’t kill Ben, but it doesn’t mean he won’t be treated like a prisoner. They lock him up, once again, with livestock. And Melissa, goaded by Shauna, slices his Achilles heel, further binding him to them as he screams in pain. It’s a brutal and bleak moment that once again strips away the humanity of these characters. It makes sense, to a degree, that they’d become increasingly ruthless throughout their stay in the woods. But this was a needless act of violence spurned on by Shauna’s need for control and a seeming longing for bloodshed.

It’s also another attempt to make Melissa a more interesting character. It doesn’t work. Akilah, another once-background character, is at least given a more interesting storyline, though it’s also a frustrating one. Mysticism only works if there are answers, and Yellowjackets refuses to give us any.

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 5 leans into its darkness, overwhelmed with death and destruction. “Did Tai Do That?” works in individual moments with strong performances continuing to be the major draw. But the storyline is losing itself.

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 5 is streaming now, exclusively on Paramount+ with Showtime.

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