Yellowjackets Recap: Truth or Dare

“Dislocated” is available to stream now via Paramount+; it will make its Showtime network premiere on Sunday, 

One of the most horrifying things about being stuck in the wilderness is that there are no doctors. There are no hospitals or clinics or even medication to be had when something goes wrong. Before the era of antiseptics and pharmacology, people used to routinely die from something as simple as an infected wound, and our woodland crew has certainly traveled back in time in that regard. So, watching Mari shove her dislocated knee back into place with nary an Advil in sight was both nauseating and inspiring.

Thanks to Ben’s chopped leg, Van’s chomped face, Shauna’s horrific birth experience, and now Mari’s knee, we’ve gotten a good idea of how precarious it is to be out in the wilderness without physical medical care. We’re also getting an idea of what happens when there’s no mental-health care. Characters like Lottie, Shauna, and Tai, who should most certainly be seeing psychiatric professionals, are … not. And, in the case of all three, their shaky psyches are putting the rest of the group in the wilderness at risk.

But let’s start with Mari and that knee. Mari continues to be insufferable as Ben walks her through how to fix her leg. To Ben’s (and my) surprise, she does it without too much whining and then accepts his help to get out of the hole. A nervous Ben then binds her hands and leads her away to his secret hiding place, where he tries to decide what to do. He claims he didn’t burn down the cabin — and I, for one, believe him — but he knows that none of the Yellowjackets are going to buy that story. They only want revenge.

Curiously, Ben gives Mari a mug of hot chocolate as he deliberates about his next move. Astute Yellowjackets fans will know that hot chocolate has appeared in both of the season finales, and both times the drinker died minutes after drinking it. Hot chocolate seems to be cursed in this world, so can we expect Mari to bite it by the end of the season? She’s super-annoying, so maybe we can hope? Last week, Melissa said that she wished that they had eaten Mari first. She won’t be the first, but the Yellowjackets have definitely not eaten their last teammate. Could Mari, with some fava beans and a nice berry wine, be next?

Ben has been living off the grid by the grace of Natalie. She seems to have been steering the rest of the crew away from any sign of him. When Nat and Misty go out looking for Mari, Misty catches on to this ploy and then — for some insane reason — tells an increasingly unhinged Shauna this fact when they get back to camp. This does not bode well for Ben.

Most of the team searches for Mari, but Travis stays behind with Lottie again. Lottie has no access to medication or talk therapy or any of the things that were keeping her grounded back at home. So now, she’s putting all her eggs in the wilderness basket. After an incident in which a tripping Travis almost strangles Lottie, he begs off, saying that he thinks someone else in the group is more in tune with “it.” He insinuates that it’s Akilah, and I’m very curious as to what Lottie will do with that information as the gentle Akilah does not seem like she would be jumping at the chance to drink mystery mushroom tea.

In the present-day timeline, there’s a sleepover situation brewing. Fresh from her psychiatric hold, Lottie shows up on the Sadeckis’ doorstep, fabulous luggage in tow. In a funny moment, Shauna ushers her into the house, saying that she doesn’t want the neighbors to see a “Goop sorceress” on their porch. Jeff and Shauna are against the sorceress staying at their house, but after some pleading from Callie, both of them relent. But there’s a problem: Jeff has a meeting with some hotel bros that night, and Shauna has to come with him. So, Shauna tricks Misty into coming over to play babysitter and make sure that Lottie doesn’t fill Callie’s head with too much nonsense. (Or tell her the truth about what really happened in the wilderness.)

Despite wrestling with a wicked hangover, Misty jumps at the chance to help Shauna. Now, Walter is still hanging around Misty, doting on her and generally just being a great (yet super-creepy) dude. He’s clingy, overly involved, and desperate; he’s basically the male version of Misty. When Shauna calls — and later when Misty comes home from Shauna’s, clearly having driven under the influence — Walter reminds Misty again and again how these women are not really her friends. In almost any other circumstance, I would say that Walter is showing signs of emotional abuse, trying to isolate Misty so he can have her all to himself, but honestly, the rest of the Yellowjackets really do suck. They have only ever treated Misty like a punching bag — sometimes for good reason — but Misty would probably thrive if she cut them out of her life. Walter might still be up to no good, but I agree with him on his assessment of the poor quality of friendships in Misty’s life.

At Shauna’s, Misty gets roped into drinking with Callie and Lottie under the guise of having a sleepover. They drink rum-milk punch (gross) with grenadine in it (vomit), and their clear cups make it look as if they’re imbibing blood. They play Truth or Dare because Callie wants to get to the bottom of “what happened out there,” which is all anyone wants to know in the present-day timeline. Both Misty and Lottie deny eating their friends, but Callie isn’t buying it. Callie tells the truth about Carrie-ing the girls at school and then spikes Misty’s drink with cold meds and dares her to chug it so she’ll pass out. Seeing as Callie and Lottie don’t really get up to much after Misty passes out, this seems like more of a cruel move than a tactical one on Callie’s part, again solidifying that Misty should probably get away from these people. (Spoiler: She would never.)

Meanwhile, Jeff and Shauna are out to dinner with the bros. Shauna can’t even pretend to play along; she’s just dripping with disdain for the “Joels” and keeps checking her phone to see if Misty has sent an update. She heads to the bathroom to send some texts, and someone follows her in there, lurking outside her stall and then turning out the light. When Shauna emerges from her stall, keys interlaced protectively in her fingers, a phone starts to ring. The ringtone? “Queen of Hearts” by Juice Newton. Shauna is freaked out, and she wants to be seen returning the phone to the restaurant, so she does. Later, she calls the restaurant to see if the phone has been claimed. The person won’t give her a ton of information, so she asks to speak to the manager, confirming Callie’s assessment that she has “I’d like to speak to the manager” energy. It’s a sick burn that happens to be sicker because it’s true.

The Shauna story line is the only one that seems to overlap with the wilderness this week. As Shauna snipes at the manager, we’re also treated to a scene in the ’90s where Melissa approaches Shauna to tell her how awesome she thinks she is. Starved for any attention or affection, Shauna makes out with her, holding a knife to her throat. Who’s betting that we’re getting an adult Melissa by the end of the season? (Me.)

When Shauna returns to the table, the Joels start to get annoyed that the woman at the table isn’t giving them her full attention, and she unleashes a beautiful tirade that should be memorized by any woman faced with toxic bro culture. She says, “Joel, you painful little boner. Do you really think that I give a shit about what you think of me? I promise you, you absolutely do not exist, you fucking nothing.” Girl, yes. But also, no. The resigned “yep” that Jeff gives as Shauna gets up to leave is hilarious but depressing. Shauna is not someone who can pretend, even if it stands to benefit her in the long run. Jeff knows this. He should have probably left her at home.

Tai also has an experience at a restaurant this week, as she returns to Pas D’âme (French for “no soul”) to pay the tab from her and Van’s dine-and-dash. Once there, she picks up a matchbook and then spies a shrine to their waiter, finding out that he died of a heart attack while chasing her and Van the previous night. Ah, so that’s why the Man With No Eyes appeared; he was taking a soul. Tai is spooked and she runs off into the night, stumbling upon a man giving a sermon in an open-door place of worship. She’s drawn to the altar at the back, and proceeds to drop the entire matchbook into a candle, mesmerized as she watches it burn. Um, is it possible that Bad Tai set the cabin fire? This scene was literally the first time I’d ever considered that as an option, but it’s starting to feel like that might be what actually happened.

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz

• ’90s Song Watch: “Criminal” by Fiona Apple plays in the background during the Truth or Dare sequence, but sorry not sorry, that song is no longer associated with the ’90s and will always be exclusively associated with JLo’s sexy, scalding pole dance in Hustlers.

• The OCD part of my brain admires that Misty thinks organizing the pantry is a fun way to spend an evening, but it is my strong opinion that alphabetizing is not the most effective way to organize food. But look at that flexibility as she kneels precariously on the counter! Someone’s been doing yoga.

• When Travis isn’t doing so hot, Akilah hands him a duck to snuggle. I want a snuggle duck!