Chris Sasaguay is a Horror and LGBTQ Author for Collider.
Death, chaos, and paranoia fueled Season 3 of Yellowjackets. The fall of Pit Girl came with the rise of a new Antler Queen, and old wounds were then sliced open in the present with a murder mystery that revealed another survivor from the wilderness.
Before there were three seasons of a star-studded series, the show was simply an idea in a pitch deck to get potential networks interested in buying it. As a visual presentation for its concept and tone, co-creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson designed their deck like a mock yearbook, a decidedly tragic, yet darkly funny choice given how its main group of teens were yanked out of the average high school experience. While several exciting plot points stayed the same, there were some changes as the show went from pitch to script and then TV. A detail put into the pitch might also be a clue about how the show will end, and it's been hinted at throughout each season. Most of what was left in the final version of Yellowjackets was for the better, but if left as intended, the series could have gone on a different path into the wilderness. 'Yellowjackets' Wasn't Going To Take Place in the '90s A visually striking pitch deck is an essential first step for an idea to catch the eye of TV executives. The layout for the Yellowjackets pitch deck is a digital yearbook, with the class year of the doomed teens on the cover and the following pages filled with the premise, character descriptions, and influences. A significant change that can be noticed right away is with the timeline. The original plan was to have the show take place in 1975 and 2001, with the former done to set the show close to when Title IX was put into law. Signed by President Nixon in 1972, it prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational activities, allowing women athletes more equality in sports. A cruel irony for the show's central soccer team that never made it to nationals. The choice to bring the past timeline up to the '90s has become an iconic part of the aesthetic of the show. Different decades weren't the only early ideas to be drastically altered, though. Three characters were supposed to join those stranded in the middle of nowhere. Cut from the show, and possibly merged into the other leads, was"Yumi," a teen described as having been part of the Sukeban gang in Japan — a real-life girl gang that formed when men denied female members from joining theirs — before she moved to the US and joined the doomed Yellowjackets. To have Yumi, who was already capable of violence, in the wilderness would have certainly added more tension. While Coach Ben remained the only adult of the survivors, there was almost a female coach named Coach Wheeler. The closest the show would get to this so far would be the recent introduction of Hannah in the back half of Season 3 as a captive of the teens. Also during the journey from pitch to TV was a teen boy who was the head coach’s son, who would be split into brothers, Javi and Travis . Perhaps what is most interesting and surprising, though, is how many of the original story plans made their way to the final product. The Adult Timeline in 'Yellowjackets' Nearly Focused on a Documentary Close Co-creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson didn't shy away from revealing how many survivors they wanted to see rescued. They confirmed there would be seven, although they didn't reveal names. The format of the adult timeline is also not the same as what fans would recognize. Taking inspiration from True Detective and Big Little Lies, the adults would be seen through a framing device as they were interviewed for a documentary. The longer the series went on, the limited view would break away to enter the women’s lives. It’s a slow-burn approach that might have been successful if it had stuck around, yet the show did find other ways to build its mysteries. Related I'm Calling It: Misty Is Going To Be 'Yellowjackets' Final Girl Shauna might be the Antler Queen now, but… Posts Season 1 was not so forthcoming in revealing how many survivors made it out of the wilderness for the sake of keeping fans theorizing, and even though for two seasons it stuck to seven, Season 3 added a new face. Having Melissa enter the present-day timeline could mean more survivors might enter if Season 4 is given the greenlight, which, depending on how it's done, could make it rewarding or a cheat. Although fans had to wait to meet Lottie and Van , the pitch deck had a plan to reveal a very big plot point much earlier than it did. Lyle and Nickerson wanted the teens in the wilderness to learn that Misty tampered with the plane transponder in Season 1, unlike how that was narrowed down to just Nat finding out at the end of Season 3. The bombshell revelation would have increased the outsider status of Misty, if not put a target on her back. Another critical aspect of Yellowjackets that can be found as far back as the pitch was a movie that influenced the creators, and knowing it could hint at where the show is heading. 'Yellowjackets' Was Inspired by 'Heavenly Creatures' Lyle and Nickerson described Yellowjackets as an update to Lord of the Flies “by way of Heavenly Creatures,” and the latter is a great companion to the Showtime series. A dark crime movie from 1994, it starred future Yellowjacket, Melanie Lynskey, as one of two girls who planned a murder to ensure they could live in a shared fantasy world together. The influence could be seen in how the characters have been turning on each other in both timelines, with the end of Season 3 looking to be a point of no return for the adults. It's been implied throughout the series, but seeing Heavenly Creatures mentioned in the early stages of Yellowjackets could be confirmation that the teens and adults have themselves to blame for the worst acts they have done. The frog scene in"Croak" has been the biggest indicator that there is nothing supernatural in the wilderness, but so too has the Antler Queen, a symbol that started as a form of nature worship and leadership, but has since been manipulated into releasing power-hungry urges. A season renewal will be the only way to learn where the show will be headed next, and how closely it may stick to the pitch deck. Your Rating close 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Rate Now 0/10 Your comment has not been saved Like Follow Followed Yellowjackets TV-MA Drama Mystery Horror 16 9.7/10 Release Date November 14, 2021 Network Showtime, Paramount+ with Showtime Showrunner Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Jonathan Lisco Directors Benjamin Semanoff, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Deepa Mehta, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Liz Garbus, Scott Winant, Eva Sørhaug, Jamie Travis Writers Liz Phang, Sarah L. Thompson, Ameni Rozsa Cast See All A wildly talented high school girls' soccer team become the unlucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the Canadian wilderness.
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