Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Yellowjackets: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

A standout first season...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown October 20, 2023

Hm. This'll be a tricky review. Yellowjackets seemingly came out of nowhere and captured our collective pop culture imagination, quickly establishing itself as one of the best series of 2021 and delivering a thrilling mystery-laden, female-driven tale of survival, intrigue, unsettling extremes and -- maybe, just maybe -- supernatural horror. Two years ago, I would've argued we had been introduced to the decade's first real must-watch obsession. But that was before 2023, when Yellowjackets' increasingly rushed, disappointing second season... let's just say, fell short of greatness. So bear with me. I'm going to do my best to forget Season Two for a few brief minutes; long enough to write the review of Season One I would've penned two years ago, when I couldn't imagine the series drifting off course or doing anything less than making me eagerly anticipate the next episode.

"Part survival epic, part psychological horror and part coming-of-age drama," Yellowjackets tells the story of a team of high school girls' soccer players who survive a plane crash in 1996 and become stranded deep in the remote northern wilderness. Pushed to the ends of their sanity over the course of nearly two long years, the once thriving team devolves into a savage, ritualistic tribe hellbent on survival, pledging their lives and loyalties to a force deep within the wilderness that seems to prey on their darkest deeds and desires. The series also focuses its attention on 2021, tracking the adult lives of four girls who survived and escaped the dangers of the forest: demure homemaker Shauna (played by Melanie Lynskey as an adult and Sophie Nélisse as a teen), tightly wound politician Taissa (Tawny Cyprus and Jasmin Savoy Brown), rebel-without-a-cause Nat (Juliette Lewis and Sophie Thatcher) and unstable nurse Misty (Christina Ricci and Samantha Hanratty, playing the most hilarious sociopath this side of crazy). Sworn to secrecy and refusing to share the details of what happened during their time in the wilderness, the psychologically damaged women struggle to combat trauma and long dormant terror as they're mysteriously drawn back together by what might just be the same malevolent entity they placed their faith in twenty-five years ago.

Yellowjackets walks the finest of lines -- the edge of a razor really -- but manages to nail everything from the tone of its genre-bending horror and harrowing suspense to its deep lore-tinged mysteries, moments of laugh-out-loud levity, unsettlingly brutal imagery and violence, a pair of storylines that are somehow equally compelling and, above all, some truly spectacular performances from two of the best casts to ever grace a Showtime series. But all of that would be for naught if it weren't for some truly perfect casting. Not only do the teen actresses (many of whom are relatively unknown) resemble their adult counterparts, they're forces to be reckoned with. Even if the 2021 timeline had been ditched altogether, the series would still be a blisteringly tense survival drama. The fact that it so deftly juggles two full casts -- to equal and opposite means -- is one thing, the fact that, across the board, each young actress is so adept at their craft, and at such young ages, is another. If I have any complaint, it's that the 2021 timeline finds its swerve and verve in a loose, occasionally tongue-in-cheek blend of horror and comedy. The 1996 story, by contrast, is pure, increasingly unadulterated darkness and descending madness. Horror heaped on horror, with the faintest of hopes being dashed at every turn to make the teen survivors lose themselves and their minds. Not that the adult storyline suffers. It's just as engrossing, albeit with divergent pacing, tone and goals.

It helps that Yellowjackets seems to have learned the right lessons from the likes of Lost and its descendants -- keep those mysteries coming fast, solve a few before introducing more, and refuse to establish whether the otherworldly evil at the show's core is supernatural or merely extraordinary -- while also taking several wise, welcome cues from shows like The Leftovers, which doesn't care what you demand to know. (You don't owe the audience answers, just a slick and engaging ride.) Horror fans can freely pick their poison. Enjoy supernatural scares? Dark pagan deities, blood magic and extrasensory perception it is! Favor more down-to-earth frights? Watch Yellowjackets through the lens of teens who are malnourished, dangerously stressed and pushed to the ends of insanity and adults who are suffering from deep-seated trauma, disassociation and other mental health challenges, hallucinations and paranoia. Come to think of it, you could incorporate both pretty naturally, a la The Shining, though I'm a sucker for supernatural causation.

Some have argued too many wild plot points begin to mount up, particularly surrounding Taissa's split personalities, but that's the fun of the show. The weirder and more gruesome elements the series dreams up, the more of a grin will work its way onto your face. And while Season Two suggests that the showrunners might just be throwing everything at the wall and writing to what sticks, the first season doesn't toil with whether something is believable; it relies on its actresses, its sharp dialogue, its piercing humor, a little bit of heart and, all at once, a whole lot of cannibalism to lure you past the point of disbelief. Yellowjackets is the kind of series Showtime should specialize in. It has a distinct tenor that separates it from the more serious ends of the HBO spectrum and embraces schlock and gore ad nauseam. Oh, it takes itself seriously. Very seriously when it comes to the 1996 storyline. But the show doesn't spill over the brim, maintaining its composure despite offering a bounty of rewarding treats with each passing episode. And you have ten episodes to fall in love before you decide what to do with Season Two. Hopefully the series' third season will return to first season form and take the entire show to the next level. The opening minutes of the very first episode certainly promise that there's a nightmare scenario of nightmare scenarios to come, so it might be worth sticking with Yellowjackets. Through sickness and health, for better or worse, till cancellation or finale-bound we part.

Yellowjackets: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Yellowjackets: Season One screams to life courtesy of a strong, able-bodied 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that doesn't miss a step. The series' palette oozes vibrant colors and primaries at every turn, not to mention the lush earthy tones of the wilderness, the dark recesses of the forest at night, the welcoming warmth of a fire, the crisp whites of a sudden snow in the finale episode, and the slick red gleam of blood. Black levels are deep and effective, revealing or obscuring whatever lies within perfectly in line with the series' cinematographer's intentions, and contrast is dialed in beautifully. I didn't notice any signs of crushing (outside of a few overly stylized sequences), nor did fine detail disappoint at any turn. Textures are exacting, edges are refined and clean, and the only softness on display is of the purely filmic variety. Moreover, compression artifacts, banding and other unsightly anomalies are either wholly absent or kept to the barest of minimums, with only the tiniest hint of banding creeping into the proceedings on rare occasion. Bottom line? Yellowjackets couldn't look much better than it does here.

Yellowjackets: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unlike the Blu-ray release of Season Two (which only includes a lossy Dolby Digital mix), Yellowjackets: Season One features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. And what a track it is. While the majority of the episodes hinge on unsurprisingly front-heavy conversational scenes, there are still plenty of harrowing action beats, moments of possibly supernatural suspense and atmospheric horror that utilizes the rear and low-end channels to affecting ends. From the ritualistic hunt that opens the series to an unexpected number of plane crashes and explosions (sorry, no spoilers), the subwoofer gets a workout and the rear speakers prove to be more than engaging, creating quite an immersive soundfield. Subtle ambience, eerie channel pans and creepy directional effects only heighten the experience, lending a real sense of dread to the show's horror elements and more nail-biting sequences. Dialogue remains clear and neatly prioritized throughout thankfully, and dynamics -- while more subdued at times than some might prefer -- are excellent. No complaints here.

Yellowjackets: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Female Lens (HD, 6 minutes) - The series' cast and crew discuss the process and challenges of creating an almost entirely female-driven story without objectifying or stereotyping any of the teen or adult leads; a fitting albeit much too short glimpse into one of the things that makes Yellowjackets so unique.

• Favorite Scenes (HD, 5 minutes) - The actresses and showrunners chat about key scenes in Season One.

Yellowjackets: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite its small selection of special features, the 4-disc Blu-ray release of Yellowjackets: Season One is much better than its second season follow-up. The series' ten-episode opening volley is much, much better than its sophomore season (and offers some of the best TV of 2021), its video presentation is terrific and, unlike the Blu-ray release of Season Two, it offers a robust DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless surround track. I'd argue it's well worth the price of admission, although if the series continues to slip in quality it may retroactively prove to be a disappointment. Hopefully the series' third outing (currently due in late 2024) will right the ship and return it to the heights of its first season.