The Yellowjackets lastly did the factor. 

After Yellowjackets teased a descent into cannibalism for a complete season, the staff lastly sinks their enamel into Jackie (Ella Purnell) in Season 2 episode 2, aptly titled “Edible Complicated.” The scene is as gruesomely chaotic as you’d hoped or not it’s, with the women succumbing to the odor of Jackie’s roasting physique in their very own twisted model of a final supper. Whereas Jackie’s demise was closely foreshadowed in Season 1’s finale and even Season 2’s first episode, attentive followers might have seen this coming from the present’s pilot episode due to a neat little clue — Jackie’s necklace. 

The present’s very first episode begins with a grim scene that gave us a glimpse of what the staff would flip into after months within the wilderness. A faceless brunette lady, unofficially dubbed “Pit Lady” by followers, is proven operating — or maybe being chased — by way of the snowy woods, earlier than she falls to her dying in a pit of picket spikes. Her physique will get dragged off by figures in uncanny costumes to what can solely be described as a cult ritual led by the “Antler Queen” (whom we now presume to be Lottie (Courtney Eaton). Whereas we do not but know the id of Pit Lady, the digicam lingers lengthy sufficient on her physique to point out she’s carrying Jackie’s necklace. Contemplating Jackie’s munched-up destiny, it is potential her necklace has taken on a complete new which means. 

We first notice the necklace is initially Jackie’s when she lends it to Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) earlier than their fateful flight takes off, as a superb luck appeal that’ll shield her. Properly, the staff’s aircraft crashed proper after the trade, so maybe it is extra of a hex than anything. Plus, since Jackie was carrying the necklace when she died and we see Pit Lady later carrying that very same necklace, it is solely potential that it is turn into an emblem of one thing far more for the women. The necklace might additionally a approach to determine their subsequent sufferer, not in contrast to the way in which cows are tagged earlier than heading to slaughter.

We’re additionally seeing a brand new aspect to Lottie’s spiritualism this season as she refines her completely different rituals and beliefs, in addition to getting the others to affix in. And if we understood something from Lottie’s cryptic French declaration in Season 1’s finale — “Shed blood, my stunning associates, and let the darkness set us free” —  it is that blood should be sacrificed for them to outlive, and that all the things the forest offers them should be returned to it not directly. 

Understanding Lottie’s perception system is essential as a result of whereas Jackie’s physique was burning, one thing within the forest dumped an avalanche of snow in simply the proper place to snuff out the pyre, slow-cooking Jackie’s flesh as a substitute. The odor of roasting meat and their ravenous our bodies’ response overrode any lingering disgust over this main taboo. The staff takes this as an indication from the wilderness, justifying that it desires them to eat her, so utilizing Jackie’s necklace as a tag may very well be one other facet of the ritual Lottie cooks up (so to talk). Inserting her necklace on every of their victims may be an honorary tribute that is half of a bigger sacrificial ritual. It is sort of just like the Could Queen’s getup in Midsommar, a fancy dress you historically put on for a ceremony of passage. 

By marking every of their victims with Jackie’s necklace, the Yellowjackets aren’t simply figuring out who they’ll eat subsequent; they’re additionally concurrently honoring the wilderness for displaying them the way in which.

Whereas loads continues to be unclear on the planet of Yellowjackets, one factor’s for certain: Whoever’s caught carrying Jackie’s necklace subsequent needs to be fearful. 

Yellowjackets Season 2 is streaming on Showtime, with new episodes streaming weekly on Fridays(Opens in a brand new tab). Episodes additionally air each Sunday on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET.