Yellowjackets

[Jeremy Blackman]

https://youtu.be/mX22D65TqAs

Caught up with Yellowjackets. This type of show is my catnip, and it lives up to the hype. Depending on how it develops, potentially a worthy successor to Lost...

Christina Ricci and Melanie Lynskey are predictably great, but Sophie Thatcher is sensational. She's going to be a big deal.

It has a split timeline structure like Lost. I'm not sure it gets the ratio right, though. It's a little too enamored of the present day story and not giving us enough flashbacks. Hoping that will improve.

[Jeremy Blackman]

https://twitter.com/bjcolangelo/status/1474493736067350531

Sophie Thatcher is about to be in Boba Fett, and I just have to marvel at this casting choice.

She has resting intense face and a certain chaotic energy – just fascinating to watch. Definitely one of the best "bad girl with a heart of gold" performances I've seen.

[polkablues]

I watched the first episode when they had it posted for free on Youtube, and I was intrigued by it, but not so much that I felt the need to watch it as it airs. I'll probably wait for the whole season to finish, then binge.

I never would have guessed that Karyn Kusama had directed the pilot, because while the premise and performances were mostly strong, the overall filmmaking was... not its strength.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Yeah, the pilot didn't blow me away, and it was a bit too high-school-tropey for my taste. The show only gets more interesting though.

[Jeremy Blackman]

https://twitter.com/zachsilberberg/status/1477834332752560130

[putneyswipe]

This show is really good, some of the best-directed TV I've seen in a while, maybe since Mindhunter? The young cast is great.

[Jeremy Blackman]

To no one's surprise, the Yellowjackets season finale is fantastic. Get on it!

[WorldForgot]

Someone give me their Showtime log in and I'm down to watch 

[Rooty Poots]

Someone give me their Showtime log in and I'm down to watch 

Message sent.

[Jeremy Blackman]

It has a split timeline structure like Lost. I'm not sure it gets the ratio right, though. It's a little too enamored of the present day story and not giving us enough flashbacks. Hoping that will improve.

I changed my mind on this; warmed to the present-day timeline. Mostly due to Christina Ricci. And the finale promises something pretty interesting to come.

[Robyn]

Someone give me their Showtime log in and I'm down to watch 

Message sent.

^ The most heartwarming story since Dirty Dancing. Now I'm teary-eyed.

[polkablues]

I so badly want to love this show, but it just won't let me do it without reservations. Every major plot point and twist feels like it was the first idea they came up with, and the whole first season plays out like a teaser for future seasons -- "trudge through this stuff and eventually the story might get interesting!"

Even in the pantheon of recent "teenagers stranded alone and forced to survive" series, it doesn't really stand above the similarly flawed The Wilds, and the significantly more interesting The Society (R.I.P., fuck you Netflix). And weirdly, for a prestige cable series, it doesn't even feel like it surpasses those shows on a production level. There's nothing particular notable about the filmmaking, the writing, the production design... And the

Spoiler: ShowHide

plane explosion in episode 8

was one of the worst effects shots I've seen on television in years. Millions of dollars in per-episode budget and they just badly comped in a stock VFX element and put it on Showtime for the world to see.

Contrary to the tone of this post, I actually did enjoy watching it for the most part, and I'm sure I'll stick with it through the next season. I'm just coming off very negative here because I just finished watching and all the missed potential left a bitter aftertaste.