Yellowjackets: Court is in session, and the verdict is: yikes. A wilderness trial, a cryptic drawing, and a shocking murder in 2025 prove that the Yellowjackets' past decisions are still catching up with them.

Coach Ben is captured from exile, and the group immediately puts him on trial for attempted cabin arson. (No evidence? No problem.) Shauna, still grieving and maybe looking for a little recreational vengeance, takes over the proceedings with all the restraint of a mid-’90s Springer guest.

Misty is the surprise public defender, mostly because she still hasn’t fully processed her mentor complex. She punches Ben in the face first, then tries to save him. Jack McCoy she is not.

By the time the jury (Natalie in a makeshift Antler Queen robe) finishes deliberating, Shauna has bullied enough votes to get Ben convicted. He’s locked up, awaiting his fate.

Flash forward to 2021: If the wilderness demanded a sacrifice, Lottie may have been it. The question is: who cashed in her karma points?

Meanwhile:
Tai nearly convinces Van to stab a stranger to “feed the wilderness.” Van refuses, and now her hands are shaking. Guilt? Withdrawal? Something worse? Is she giving big “Tyler Durden realizing he’s Tyler Durden” vibes?

Shauna gets freezer-burned. Someone locks her in a walk-in freezer. Instead of being trapped on a ski lift afraid of being torn apart by wolves, Jackie is eating at her, telling her to give up and let it go already. Shauna fights back, but as Jackie smugly reminds her, she only sees what her eyes wants to see. Shauna, freezing and panicked, desperately fumbles with the handle… but did she even try pushing it? (Push it real good?) Alas, she doesn't understand freezers! She's just a simple woman trying to defrost a past I can’t escape! Randy saves her, proving once again that his greatest skill is being in the right place at the right time.

Misty finds out about Lottie’s murder through a true crime forum. That’s right, Misty had to read about her "friend" on the internet before anyone told her. Walter texted her suspiciously fast—does he know more than he’s letting on?

Jeff is deep into his “fix my karma” era, but instead of atoning for blackmail, he’s donating old junk and signing up for retirement home volunteer work. Best bingo caller since Saul Goodman. Still, he’s chasing karma by donating bootleg Rush Hour DVDs.

Van? Her shaky hand says she might know something.
Shauna? The trial energy is suspiciously familiar.
Walter? Knew about it before Misty. Enough said.

One Angry Shauna and 12 Scared Girls (to the tune of Ben Folds Five “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces”)

You’re not the boss of me now, Nat, so sit your ass down,
I carved up Javi, I’ll burn this place down.
Ben’s on trial but he’s already dead,
I see Jackie at night, and she lives in my head.
Lottie’s got followers, Lottie’s got plans,
If she tries to lead me, she’ll bleed on my hands.
If you want mercy, well, you should’ve picked me,
Now it’s guilty guilty guilty like it was made for TV.

We break it all down in this episode of the pod, available wherever you get your podcasts… or on a bootleg VHS taped over a Daria marathon, a Napster MP3 labeled “New NIN Song (Real).mp3”, or a burned mix CD where track 7 just says “Moby” but it’s actually Stabbing Westward.

New episodes of Yellowjackets drop Fridays at 12:01 AM ET on Showtime/Paramount+, and we’ll be here every week to guide you through the madness.

Email us your theories and questions at [email protected].

Follow us:
Glenn (@GlennRubenstein)
Isa (@NYCDemonD1va)
Twitter/X: @YellowjacketsBz
Instagram: @yellowjacketsbuzz

Four Frozen references, Jeremy? Four? That’s insane.

Buzz buzz buzz.

Season 3, Episode 3 “Them’s The Brakes” delivers paranoia, revelations, and bad decisions across multiple timelines. Between supernatural omens, toxic gas, and a brake failure straight out of Walker, Texas Ranger, this episode proves the wilderness never stops demanding payment.

1996 Timeline: The Gas Face Hits Different

Mari finally discovers Coach Ben’s not-so-secret hideout. He considers going full Wilderness Enemy #1, but kidnapping Mari isn’t a long-term survival plan. He lets her go, and she immediately snitches to the group—because you escaped a 20-foot hole, really Mari? Shauna, still grieving and looking for an outlet, leads the hunt for Ben.

Meanwhile, Van, Shauna, and Akilah take an unexpected psychedelic trip after inhaling toxic cave gas:

Shauna sees her lost baby calling to her across a frozen lake but can never reach him. Very sad. Very Rosemary’s Baby.

Van is restrained by ghostly hands in a burning cabin, belonging to Javi, Laura Lee, and the Dead Cabin Guy. Twin Peaks meets Nightmare on Elm Street meets Evil Dead. Classic Van.

Akilah gets life advice from a talking llama (voiced by The Sopranos' Vincent Pastore), because if you’re hallucinating in the wilderness, might as well go full prestige TV crossover.

By the time they snap out of it, the girls are rattled, Ben is cornered, and Natalie is holding a shotgun. Coach might be running out of time.

2021 Timeline: The Necklace Nobody Wants

Shauna and Lottie’s fragile truce explodes when Lottie gives Callie Jackie’s necklace, the accessory of doom. Shauna kicks Lottie out and makes it clear that whatever hold she has over Callie is ending.

Meanwhile, Van gets news that her terminal cancer is no longer terminal. Taissa, instead of celebrating, believes it’s because the Wilderness was fed and now wants more. Van dismisses it, but Tai is locked in—especially after spotting the Man with No Eyes in an old ice cream parlor commercial from their childhood.

That leads to one of the weirder field trips in Yellowjackets history. Tai and Van break into Ozzie’s Homemade Ice Cream Parlor looking for answers but instead find a dead wolf, blood dripping from its mouth, watching Tai like it’s waiting for orders. As if that weren’t unsettling enough, Ozzie’s old voicemail menu includes flavors like Smashed Pumpkins, which, much like Smiling Politely, may or may not exist. And if you order Hot Dog Water, does it come with a side of Limp Bizkits?

Meanwhile, Shauna, already on edge, loses control of her minivan as the brakes mysteriously fail. She barely avoids a disaster before crashing into an empty field. When the dust settles, she immediately blames Misty—not the craziest accusation, considering her track record. Misty, however, is genuinely shocked and betrayed. Later, in an act of pure symbolism, she burns an old group photo, because if there’s one thing Misty doesn’t handle well, it’s being underestimated.

By episode’s end:

Shauna thinks Misty cut the brakes (she didn’t, but it’s not a bad guess).

Misty, betrayed once again, burns an old group photo (cue ominous foreshadowing).

Tai and Van might be about to make a blood offering.

Callie is getting a little too comfortable in Lottie’s orbit.

We break it all down in this episode of the pod, available wherever you get your podcasts… or on a bootleg VHS taped over TGIF, a LimeWire MP3 with a misleading filename, or a mix CD with Eiffel 65 burned onto it five times.

New episodes of Yellowjackets drop Fridays at 12:01 AM ET on Showtime/Paramount+, and we’ll be here every week to guide you through the madness.

Email us your theories and questions at [email protected].

Follow us:

Glenn (@GlennRubenstein)

Isa (@NYCDemonD1va)

Twitter/X: @YellowjacketsBz

Instagram: @yellowjacketsbuzz

Buzz buzz buzz.

For those needing a refresher on how unhinged 80s commercials could be, we recommend diving into the 80s Commercial Vault: https://www.youtube.com/@80sCommercialVault

Yellowjackets: The wilderness keeps getting weirder. Season 3, Episode 2 "Dislocation" delivers a dislocated knee, a dislocated coach, and a dislocated social hierarchy in both 1996 and 2021. This episode picks up the tension from the premiere, giving us unexpected moments, new mysteries, and a kiss that absolutely no one saw coming.

1996 Timeline: Mari learns the hard way that being an MVP in the past doesn't mean much when you fall into a hidden pit in the present. Coach Ben, now fully in survival mode, saves her... then immediately kidnaps her so she won’t expose that he’s alive. Shauna, still reeling from her loss, secretly exhumes and reburies her baby’s remains, staking her claim against the group’s growing cult mentality. Meanwhile, Travis trips (literally and figuratively) on Lottie’s latest dose of "therapy," claiming the wilderness might want someone else. Misty and Natalie search for Mari, but Misty suspects Nat knows more about Coach Ben’s fate than she’s letting on.

And then there’s the scene that broke the internet – a heated confrontation between Shauna and Melissa takes an unexpected turn when Melissa kisses Shauna. Shauna kissed a girl, and she liked it, but not in the Katy Perry way—this is full-on 90s Jill Sobule territory. Maybe it was the stress, maybe it was the unresolved trauma, or maybe it was just the overwhelming appeal of Shauna Shipman at her most bi-ferocity. Either way, it adds another layer of intrigue to her and Jackie's relationship.

2021 Timeline: Shauna gets an unexpected visitor in the form of Lottie, freshly released from The Home for the Differently Sane and looking for a place to stay. Shauna and Jeff try to shut her down, but Callie—surprisingly—argues in Lottie’s favor. Misty is called in to babysit Lottie and Callie, leading to the most bizarre slumber party in history. Callie whips up a batch of Malibu Rum Punch, dares Misty into drinking it, and before you know it, Misty is out cold. What happens next? Just a totally normal night of braiding hair, watching trashy reality TV, and forming unlikely alliances with a woman who once ran a cult.

Meanwhile, Shauna and Jeff’s business dinner goes south fast when Shauna calls out the investors for their nepotism and walks out. Before that, though, Shauna encounters something even stranger: an abandoned cell phone ringing in a restaurant bathroom. By the end of the episode, Shauna makes a call and gets an answer she did not expect. Given the way the episode cross-cuts, all signs point to Melissa being alive and reaching out.

Elsewhere, Taissa and Van’s reunion takes a turn when a harmless dine-and-dash leads to a man having a heart attack, making Tai question if the darkness really did follow them home and what she can get out of it. And Misty, after getting drugged by a teenager, pushes Walter away, reinforcing that her loyalty remains with the Yellowjackets—even if they continue to treat her like an afterthought. Misty really hates when someone tries to "Misty" her.

What’s next? We break it all down in this episode of the pod, available wherever you get your podcasts... or on a DAT tape, HitClips, MiniDisc, LaserDisc, Betamax, 8-track, or any other obscure media format we have lying around.

New episodes of Yellowjackets drop Fridays at 12:01 AM ET on Showtime/Paramount+, and we’ll be here every week to guide you through the wilderness.

Email us your theories and questions at [email protected] – we might shout you out if we use your tip.

Follow us:
Glenn (@GlennRubenstein)
Isa (@NYCDemonD1va)
Twitter/X: @YellowjacketsBz
Instagram: @yellowjacketsbuzz

Buzz buzz buzz.

Yellowjackets Hive: The wait is over, and our favorite stranded soccer team is back – buzzing louder than ever!

Yellowjackets Season 3, Episode 1 "It Girl" kicks off with high spirits at the best Canadian Summer Camp ever. Winter’s grip has passed, and every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end (hello, ominous 90s lyrics).

Back in the 90s:

• Natalie, Our Reluctant Queen: Newly-crowned leader Natalie grapples with the fallout of Javi’s death and the burden of keeping the group alive.
• Lottie’s Not-So-Retirement: Freed from antler duty, Lottie has given herself to understanding the darkness still lurking in those woods. And maybe she’s not the only one hearing voices in her head before Randy Orton ever did.
• Shauna’s Grief Glow-Up: Still haunted by her baby’s fate, Shauna channels her pain into fierce protectiveness—living her truth, no apologies.
• Melissa Steps Up (Mari, Maybe Tone It Down?): Turns out, Melissa actually has a personality. So perhaps it's time for Mari to dial hers back.

In Present Day:

• Natalie’s Death Looms Large: The aftermath of last season’s tragic cliffhanger wastes no time with the briefest funeral ever.
• Healing, Misty-Style: Misty tries to channel Natalie for some high-risk healing—because when in doubt, do what Nat would do.
• Callie Raises the Gross-Out Bar: High school cafeteria lunch hits a new level of disgusting thanks to Shauna’s daughter. Yes, Jeff briefly fears it could be human meat. (And stop calling it "chronic," Jeff.)
• Tai & Van’s Messy, Tender Reunion: Tai Van shippers rejoice as they navigate Van’s health struggles and Tai’s wilder side in one of the most raw moments of the episode, leading to romantic hijinks. (It's all fun and games until somehow dies. Didn't Silver Spoons teach us anything about the dangers of "dine and dash?)
• Lottie’s New Home: She’s now in a home for the "differently sane"—we'll let you interpret what that means.

We break it all down in this supersized premiere pod, available wherever you get your podcasts… or perhaps on a DAT tape delivered in a mysterious envelope.

New episodes of Yellowjackets drop Fridays at 12:01 AM ET on Showtime/Paramount+, and you know we’ll be here every week to guide you through the wilderness.

Email us your theories and questions at [email protected]—we might shout you out if we use your tip.

Follow us:

• Glenn (@GlennRubenstein)
• Isa (@NYCDemonD1va)
• Twitter/X: @YellowjacketsBz
• Instagram: @yellowjacketsbuzz

Buzz buzz buzz.

Yellowjackets Hive, please join us in bowing down to our new Antler Queen for 1997!

Season 2, Episode 9 closes out a brutal season where friends drifted apart, lives and sanity were lost, and absolutely zero soccer was played.

Back in the 90s, Lottie finds the crown too heavy of a burden and gives up deity life, transferring her disciples to Natalie. Travis is manipulated into coming to terms with Javi's death, and Shauna wonder when it'll be her turn at the top of the pyramid.

In present day, Lottie, Van, Taissa, Shauna, Misty, and Natalie navigate complicated mental health issues in the wilderness, while Jeff helps Walter wrap up the murder of Adam Martin in a nice, gift-wrapped package. And is Callie picking up the torch of darkness? We also lose our Yellowjackets Team MVP, and it hurts real bad.

Also: It is NOT a Sunshine Day at Sunshine Honey: (607) 478-1033.

Yellowjackets Season 3 will return maybe possibly sometime in 2024? Eek! Paramount and Showtime: Pay your writers better and end this WGA Strike!

In the meantime, stay tuned for more Season 2 thoughts and some bonus episodes!

Please also leave us a rating and/or review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Email us your theories and ideas to [email protected] - You can also follow Isa @nycdemond1va and Glenn @GlennRubenstein -- and we are @YellowjacketsBz on Twitter and @yellowjacketsbuzz on Instagram.

Yellowjackets Hive! If Season 2, Episode 8 proves anything, it's that you're not yourself when you're hungry.

In the cabin, this episode starts out with a shocking reveal and ends in icy coldness. There's sadness, madness, blood in urine, blood in the walls, and Coach Ben makes a startling discovery.

In present day, The Sharing Shack is a little old place where we can get together. Nobody's moving, but everybody's grooving...on the truth. Revelations happen, and well...Cult Leaders are gonna do Cult Leader shit.

Jeff's having both living and dreaming nightmares. Callie learns a lot about her Mom. And does Walter Tattersall = TATTLERS ALERT LAW?

Also: There's a new message when you text or call Sunshine Honey at (607) 478-1033.

New episodes of Yellowjackets hits Showtime and the Paramount Plus apps Fridays at 12:01AM Eastern, and we're next week is the Season 2 finale. We'll be here. We promise you, you're not hallucinating it. We're alive. Really.

Email us your theories and ideas to [email protected] - You can also follow Lauren at @LaurenMoran - Isa @nycdemond1va - and Glenn @GlennRubenstein -- and we are @YellowjacketsBz on Twitter and @yellowjacketsbuzz on Instagram.

Yellowjackets, do you ever just wanna hit somebody until they feel as bad as you do? Or perhaps you're craving high calorie butt meat -- I mean, it wouldn't be the worst thing, right?

Things stay bad in the cabin, and this week we find out what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real. The Real World: Canadian Wilderness. (Can you get the phone?)

In present day, it's a soccer team reunion and Lottie's therapy sessions uncover shocking revelations, Shauna makes a new friend, Misty experiences a musical number, Tai and Van reconnect further, and we get some very sad news. Natalie, however, just wants everyone to go with the experience.

Also: For a good time, text or call Sunshine Honey at (607) 478-1033.

New episodes of Yellowjackets hits Showtime and the Paramount Plus apps Fridays at 12:01AM Eastern, and we're close to the end of Season 2. I'm going to hang up now...no, you hang up!

Email us your theories and ideas to [email protected] - You can also follow Lauren at @LaurenMoran - Isa @nycdemond1va - and Glenn @GlennRubenstein -- and we are @YellowjacketsBz on Twitter and @yellowjacketsbuzz on Instagram.

Give Sophie Nélisse all the Emmy Awards for this episode, because she delivers a beautiful and haunting peformance that we never ever want to watch again --- or at least we're skipping the last few minutes when we binge.

In present day, the lure of Lottie Matthews is like a magnet that draws the team together, and we're one step closer to the our adult teammates forming an Evil Voltron. Callie is an MVP. Who is Lottie's new therapist? And is Natalie on something?

Sex Ed, trauma, therapy, bad relationships, Sour Patch Placenta, and birthing anthems. We've got it all in this episode!

New episodes of Yellowjackets hits Showtime and the Paramount Plus apps Fridays at 12:01AM Eastern, and we're only a few episodes away the season finale. Time sure does fly when you're weaving baskets and lamenting the loss of your horse meat business...

Email us your theories and ideas to [email protected] You can also follow Isa @nycdemond1va and Glenn @GlennRubenstein -- and we are @YellowjacketsBz on Twitter and @yellowjacketsbuzz on Instagram.

It's a Yellowjackets Slumber Party and you're invited...along with Plato, Eric from The Grind, and Jack Kevorkian.

Yellowjackets Season 2 Episode 5: "Two Truths & A Lie" is full of twists, turns, story movement, and cliffhangers, and speaking of cliffs...well, you know.

Rotem Rusak (@Moondancer1626) from Nerdist joins us to discuss Van and Tai's epic reunion, Shauna and Jeff's hotel escapades, Natalie and Lottie's complex relationship, Misty and Walter's ongoing courtship, and what's going on with Javi. Plus "Crystal the Pistol" and much, much, more!

New episodes of Yellowjackets hit Showtime and the Paramount Plus apps Fridays at 12:01AM Eastern, and we're more than halfway there, living on a prayer, on our journey through the latter half of the season.

Email us your theories and ideas to [email protected] You can also follow Isa @NYCDemonD1va and Glenn @GlennRubenstein -- and we are @YellowjacketsBz on Twitter and @YellowjacketsBuzz on Instagram.

Yellowjackets Obsessives! We're back and in full-on Citizen Detective mode to discuss Yellowjackets Season 2, Episode 4: Old Wounds.

Road trips for Misty, Walter, Tai, Shauna and Callie -- from Upstate New York to Ohio to the Middle of Nowhere. A game of sport between Natalie and Lottie in both the past and present day. Bookended scenes with Tai and Van. Lottie is taking her own trip, Akilah making a new friend, and Mari stops being polite and starts getting real. Oh, and hey, Javi is alive!

There is a lot to dive into and we discuss it all, including some new theories and speculation on where the story is headed. Oh, and Alanis Morissette!

New episodes of Yellowjackets hits Showtime and the Paramount Plus apps Fridays at 12:01AM Eastern, and we're halfway towards the season finale. Time sure does fly when you're freezing in the wilderness and infiltrating a cult...

Email us your theories and ideas to [email protected] You can also follow Isa @nycdemond1va and Glenn @GlennRubenstein -- and we are @YellowjacketsBz on Twitter and @yellowjacketsbuzz on Instagram.