'Yellowjackets' Episode 9: Does Shauna's unborn baby die in the wilderness?
Contains spoilers for 'Yellowjackets' Episode 9 'Doomcoming'
One of the questions that 'Yellowjackets' is yet to answer is the fate of teen Shauna's (Sophie Nelisse) baby. After it was revealed that she was pregnant with Jeff's (Warren Kole) baby, her life takes a tough turn. Not just is she faced with the dilemma of the baby's and her future, her relationship with her best friend, Jackie (Ella Purnell) hits troubled waters. Jeff and Jackie were dating, but the latter was also seeing Shauna at the time and that makes it an affair that had the baby as the outcome.
In 'Doomcoming', Shauna, under the influence of magic mushrooms, goes on an all-out savage rant to sacrifice Travis along with the other girls, but her baby is also shown to be alive and kicking (literally). The baby bump is visible and that makes it all the more difficult for her to survive in the wilderness. However, as the season approaches an end (The finale airs on January 16), the fate of the unborn is yet to be determined.
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Note that Shauna had actually tried to kill the baby when she found out she was pregnant. Despite her attempts, she fails to kill the baby, and Taissa (Jasmine Savoy Brown) understands what she's going through. The truth is eventually revealed when Jackie finds out how she got pregnant and she uses Travis to lose her virginity. It's almost like she exacts revenge on Shauna in her own way, although Natalie is the one who's at the receiving end.
In an interview with Hollywood Life, Nelisse shed light on the plight of the baby. "I have no idea. They won’t tell me," she said. "I mean, I personally don’t think it’s able to survive. I will have a discussion about this with the writers potentially because if they do want to keep it and they’re not eating, I just don’t see how she could sustainably keep a child alive when they’re on the verge of death. They would have to find a lot of food and a lot of water. I don’t know if they’re going to make me lose it at birth or before or it dies shortly after, I just don’t see how she could be able to have the baby in her belly for so long without her dying. Or maybe they’ll make me get really sick."
A better look at her thoughts shows that the baby may, unfortunately, live to see the light of the day. It isn't easy to process this, but 'Yellowjackets' has not shied away from showing horror and gore, so chances are that the baby will probably die in the finale. The 'How' is still a question and gives cause for speculations. Did Jackie kill Shauna's baby? Were the shrooms she consumed to be the reason behind the baby's death? Or did she go through an abortion after being rescued?
Only time will tell.
'Yellowjackets' airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on Showtime.