'Yellowjackets' Episode 5 Review: Blood-curdling horror back in Halloween-themed plot
Spoilers for 'Yellowjackets' Episode 5 'Blood Hive'
'Yellowjackets' Episode 5 has quite a few stories and it's at the halfway mark that it actually switches to another gear. There's real horror and that coupled with a traumatic past of the characters on the show just makes 'Blood Hive' that much more gripping. The episode has four subplots — Teen Shauna's pregnancy, Taissa's wobbling and dangerous campaign, Natalie's affair with Travis and the investigation of his death, and some demonic influences.
To break down the plot, Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) is carrying and the first to find out is Jasmin Savoy Brown's Taissa. When the rest of the survivors navigate their way around their period, Shauna doesn't get hers and much has to do with the fact that she had unprotected sex with Jeff, Jackie's (Ella Purnell) boyfriend before the Yellowjackets left for their tournament. She even dips her pad in an animal's blood to fool the rest of the teens, but Taissa sees right through the plan.
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Things aren't going that great for the present-day version of Taissa (Tawny Cypress) either. With a smear campaign happening, she does think of backing out of the political race, but much to the chagrin of her partner, she decides to run after calling for an early press conference. Her teen self experiences the paranormal when one of the teens gets possessed by a mysterious ghost that sees her babbling in french during a seance that Jackie organizes. The dark arts evening doesn't go well and that's the start of horror unraveling for the survivors.
Natalie and Travis were more than friends and that burgeoning romance seems to have extended to their adult lives as well, but with him dead and Misty (Christina Ricci) putting together the clues that form the same ghastly symbol as it did in the past, it seems the demons are back to haunt them.
While these are pretty much the major plot points, the show still portrays Misty as the one who's just got a lot to hide and she's still the character who gives the audience the creeps with her dual personality of sorts. 'Blood Hive' hints at all the survivors teaming up in the present and only time will tell if the other teens, minus the main ones, survived. It does appear that Jackie was not the only dead teen as the series is yet to shine light on how they were rescued and how many of these teens made it out.
'Yellowjackets' continues to impress. The tight writing and the seamless transition between the two timelines just make it even better. While the initial idea was that it would get stuck with the multiple storylines, it seems the Showtime drama has ironed that wrinkle.
'Yellowjackets' airs Sunday nights at 9 pm on Showtime.