The outstanding female ensemble of ‘Yellowjackets’ continues to perform

Which TV shows dominate the conversation, capture the zeitgeist, have something interesting to say or hidden gems waiting to be discovered? We look forward to your weekend watch. And be warned, there are spoilers ahead.

When a TV show becomes a hit, actors, directors, and writers, or at least showrunners, tend to take the credit. You are unlikely to read an article raving about the casting director.

But in the case of “Yellowjackets,” which recently wrapped up its second season, casting directors Libby Goldstein and Junie Lowry-Johnson deserve our full credit for putting together one of the best female-led ensembles I’ve ever seen.

It’s not just the name stars – you’d expect great work from the likes of Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis and Melanie Lynskey – but the relative unknowns playing teenage girls stranded in the woods after a plane crash have taken this drama to the next level. And they carried an even heavier load in Season 2 as the series continued to get darker.

First, what is “Yellowjackets”?

It was the sleeper hit of 2022, a horror mystery series about what happens when a New Jersey girl soccer team crash lands in the Canadian wilderness in 1996 and is stranded for 19 months, as well as what happens to the now-adult survivors. years later.

Sure, there are standout storylines – cannibalism, violent deaths, the possibility that some supernatural force followed the women out of the woods – but the main attraction for me has always been watching this amazing group of actors navigate the complexities of the story. .

The good news is that the performers continued to perform in the second season. The not-so-great news is that “Yellowjackets” kind of lost its way on this second outing — and that was partly due to how the show used its ensemble.

Watching the young versions of the characters form a wilderness matriarchy was fascinating (only three men survived the crash, including coach’s son Travis, played by Toronto’s Kevin Alves); discover new strengths or weaknesses; navigating alliances and rivalries. And in the first season, adult survivors Shauna (Lynskey), Natalie (Lewis), Misty (Ricci), and Taissa (Tawny Cypress) also teamed up to fend off an attempted blackmail and then cover up a resulting murder.

But for some reason, creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson decided to have the adult women follow individual quests through six episodes into Season 2. It was great that adult versions of Lottie (Simone Kessell), the former spiritual leader of the stranded Yellowjackets and Van (Lauren Ambrose), Taissa’s former girlfriend, joined the cast, but it took too long to bring everyone together.

And then – in a finale laced with some improbable and overly nifty plotting – they murdered a key figure. I’m not saying who in case you’re a newbie about to binge the show, but it’s a loss for both the acting and the character ensembles.

It begs the question of how effective Season 3 will be, given that this character has just been declared Leader of the Survivors in the past – a heavy cloak considering the teammates are now at the stage where they hunt and eat each other to survive. survive – and will not have an adult version to play against in the present. It’s always been one of the show’s greatest joys to see the teenage characters mirror and expand our understanding of the elderly.

Still, I am willing to persevere.

It’s possible that the series is collapsing under the weight of its own mysteries, especially since five seasons are reportedly planned. The central question that remains to be answered is whether the strange phenomena these girls and women are experiencing are the work of an alien “it” or their own significant trauma – so far I’m leaning towards the latter.

But I suspect there are still rewards to be had from watching these actors bring these deeply tormented people to life.

‘Derry Girls’ captures the teenage years perfectly

After watching the Yellowjackets devour their teammates, you may be in need of a lighter take on female bonding. May I suggest the Northern Irish comedy “Derry Girls”?

Technically, there are four girls and a boy in the main group of characters.

Friends Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), Orla (Louisa Harland) and Clare (Nicola Coughlan, who later starred in “Bridgerton”) are joined by Michelle’s cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn) . Since James is English and likely to be beaten by his Irish classmates at the boys-only high school in Derry, he joins the girls-only high school instead.

But the only violence in ‘Derry Girls’ takes place offscreen when Northern Ireland’s Troubles – the unofficial war between Catholics and Protestants that lasted from 1968 to 1998 – invades the girls and their families through news reports.

Sure, the way to school may be blocked because of a bomb threat, but the teens have more typical things on their mind: boys (or girls in James’s case), parties, getting good grades, being popular, testing parental authority, all within the context of a Catholic working-class education in the early 1990s.

Religion is part of the structure of the show, written by Lisa McGee, a real Derry girl, but not in an oppressive way. Indeed, one of the funniest characters is the deadpan, dazzling school principal, Sister Michael (Siobhan McSweeney).

It’s a delightful family comedy and coming-of-age story that perfectly captures the self-conscious awkwardness and self-important earnestness of the teenage years. And the Derry Girls (and boy) support each other when it comes down to it.

Debra Yeo is an editor and writer for the Star’s Culture section. She is based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @realityeo

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