REVIEW: ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Episode 7 — “Croak”

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7 presents an interesting intersection for the show and its ongoing developing mysteries. On the one hand, the arrival of the scientists and the wilderness guide injects the series with a surprising, unexpected new element that rocks the foundation of these characters. On the other hand, despite some gruesome violence and a nighttime chase, “Croak” doesn’t achieve the level of thrill it clearly sets out for.

It is overwhelmed by the many moving plot points in the present and past timelines. The present-day storyline is fully informed by the past as Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7 reveals more about the mysterious tape Shauna received. It was from a woman named Hannah (Ashley Sutton), whom they believed to be dead and who had a daughter they knew nothing about. The tape captures a pivotal, deadly night for the Yellowjackets as the three outsiders find their camp.

Said three outsiders are scientists Hannah and her boyfriend Edwin (Nelson Franklin) and their wilderness guide, Kodi (Joel McHale). “Croak” takes us back two days to see how they arrived in camp, and it might as well be another show. Overtly lit and playful with three largely comedic actors at the center, it’s almost too silly in tone, giving their ultimate stumble into the horrors of the girl’s camp whiplash. Despite knowing the danger they’re facing that is so much different than the frogs they’re studying, there’s no tension at the moment.

New characters introduce new challenges. 

Of course, all it takes is Lottie cleaving Edwin’s head with an axe to bring that tension back. And it’s here where Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7 reaches a decisive moment. We know that of all the characters, Lottie has the strongest connection to the wilderness, the mysterious “it” ruling them. But this moment where she outright murders a stranger makes a stronger message. She doesn’t want to go back to the real world. Not after she’s found freedom in the wild, separated from expectation.

However, considering how many of them actively then try to pursue Kodi and Hannah, not all of the team feels the same way. Some, like Van (Liv Hewson) and Natalie (Sophie Thatcher), immediately try to find the others for the sake of going home, experiencing hope for the first time in ages after all they’ve endured. Hewson is terrific here, subtly expressing how the character shifts in their demeanor, a more youthful, vulnerable edge laced through her voice.

Perhaps the biggest question that Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7 presents is how on earth any of the girls talk to adult Lottie at all when she returns to their lives. Obviously, there are more secrets to reveal, and if they can talk to Shauna, who has been in full villain mode in the past, then perhaps they can talk to Lottie, who actively tried to sabotage their chances home. But the way so many of these characters are plummeting into darkness makes their adult counterparts all the more striking in their differences.

Bad lighting plagues half of Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7.

On a technical level, “Croak” is terrible to look at. No matter the lighting from the torches or the hushed whispering and planning, it doesn’t add to the thrill because we can’t see anything. It’s too dark, making some of the action incomprehensible.

The adult storyline fairs better in terms of lighting (the daytime setting helps). It also benefits from bringing the core cast of adults together as Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Tai (Tawny Cypress), Misty (Christina Ricci), and Van (Lauren Ambrose) all go on a road trip in search of Hannah’s daughter to stop her from her seemingly continued threats. The four actresses work wonderfully together, and their banter enlivens the plot even in more stilted moments. But, again, how they can all even be in a car together, even with a shared goal, is beyond me at this point.

Their travels are derailed, however, when Misty learns from Walter (Elijah Wood) that Shauna’s DNA matches what was found underneath Lottie’s nails. Van, Tai, and Misty refuse to be discreet as they text each other about the news, getting Shauna’s attention and anger over it until this, too, is interrupted when Van begins coughing up blood, forcing them to rush her to the hospital.

Shauna makes a shocking decision in “Croak.”

The mysticism of the series continues to ebb and flow depending on who the show is featuring, but as Van lies in the hospital bed, seeing Tai’s alter ego and her younger self, we begin to wonder if there’s any truth to it. Is it only accessible to Van because her tether to life is so fraught? Regardless, it once again opens up the discussion and allows Cypress to play with the more insidious part of her character. She and Hewson are easily the performance MVPs of “Croak.”

When Misty confronts Shauna about Lottie’s murder, Shauna incriminates herself by running away from the hospital. Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7 leaves us on a cliffhanger as she stalks Hannah’s daughter, sitting in her car outside her house with a new hunting knife. Shauna clearly isn’t there for a nice, reasonable chat like she first suggested.

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7 introduces a new shocking element but can’t sustain the early urgency due to poor lighting and mounting questions. What’s more interesting is the thought of what’s to come now that there seems to be a clear division between the girls in the camp.

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7 is out now on Paramount+.

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