Yellowjackets No Compass Review
Showtime‘s Yellowjackets: Season 1, Episode 7: No Compass TV Show Review. There are very few narratives on television that can place a far-fetched concept into a story-line, whittle it down to only what is absolutely necessary, and present it in the real world as a by-the-way-thing. That is what happened in the last episode, Saints (the foundation for the paranormal concept was laid out), and in this episode of Yellowjackets, the implications of that concept are presented.
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Red River and Red Smoke When Lottie Matthews (Courtney Eaton) gives Vanessa “Van” Palmer (Liv Hewson) the bone pendant, tells her to keep it on her at all times, and mentions a red river and red smoke, the viewer thinks that they are mere throwaway lines of dialogue, statements made to amplify the perceived risks and possible dangers of Taissa’s expedition. They are not throwaway lines. Whether you call them premonitions or visions, they are far too close to what actually transpires to be written off as lucky guesses. Who would guess a red river? Who would guess red smoke? How would Lotti know what color smoke from a random flare gun fires? Because of these fascinating variables, it is intriguing how everything unfolds. When night falls and the Wolf attack begins, how the hell did Teen Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) end up in a tree with the necklace Lottie gave to Van? Sleeping in a tree is a trained survivalist tactic, a smart move à la Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. It keeps ground predators away while you sleep but how did Taissa stay in the tree asleep without a rope to hold her in place? How and when did she get in the tree? Why did she have the necklace and the signal flare gun with her? So many tantalizing questions. But its not the questions, however, that titillate the viewer’s senses, its the unknown answers and their implications. Though these questions linger, it is the two key moments at the scene’s conclusion that change the trajectory of the episode and to a large extent, how the viewer perceives the dynamics of the series (past, present, and where it might lead). When Van is being attacked by wolves, the viewer thinks – you should be wearing the pendant. When Taissa fires the flare gun, with Van dead on the ground, and red smoke bellows forth – the Lotti premonition complete – Yellowjackets transitions from a before and after drama to something rarer and deeper containing the supernatural. The Coach, Wood, and Quigley Watching Yellowjackets Soccer Team Assistant Coach Ben Scott (Steven Krueger) cleverly manipulate Misty Quigley (Sammi Hanratty) to keep himself safe (physically, mentally, and legally) while he is in her presence is an example of the real world seeping into the extra-ordinary events within Yelllowjackets. Through three key scenes: 1.) the Morning-wood, almost touch, 2.) the passive-aggressive poisoning, and 3.) Assistant Coach Scott playing into Misty’s sociopathy with a faux relationship (using her warped mind against itself to manipulate her is masterful), writer Katherine Kearns elevates Scott beyond mere authority figure window-dressing. She makes him three-dimensional with a nimble, working brain, emotions, a conscience, and intuition. An ordinary adult acting like an ordinary person, with realistic responses, in an unprecedented situation, is gratifying to see and welcome. It makes the situation Scott finds himself in more recognizable and relatable, and the series more rewarding. Nat the Destroyer
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Natalie “Nat” Scatorccio (Juliette Lewis) seems to inadvertently destroy almost all of the positive relationships that she encounters. That includes her relationship with Kevyn Tan (Alex Wyndham). After borrowing Kevyn’s service sidearm and then returning it, minus a bullet, Nat could have told Kevyn part of the truth, maybe not all of it, but part of it. She could have sat him down and just been honest. As a cop, Kevyn may have recognized the truth when he heard it. Instead she lied to his face. Many of the characters in Yellowjackets are tragic, because of what happened to them after the plane crash in the forest, or their lives after they were rescued, but no one is more tragic than Nat. The way she is presented makes her the sympathetic (unlike Misty), life-long underdog, thus the viewer roots for her the most, wants something good to happen to her (it momentarily did in this episode) even-though it probably will not. Nat’s personality and her past always get in the way. Misty’s House Guest The viewer feels sorry for adult Taissa Turner (Tawny Cypress) and for all of those that garner Misty’s destructive attention. Misty knows that her former high-school-mates don’t like her, don’t trust her, one of them even thinks she is crazy. Whatever one thinks of Misty, she is resourceful. Her twisted, demented mind can do great detective work with her coterie of fellow online sleuths. Private Detective Jessica Roberts (Rekha Sharma), controlling her face, not showing that Misty has gotten to her with the details about her father, the nursing home, his nurse’s info, and the spiked chocolates Misty implies she will send to him if Roberts doesn’t talk, is great acting on Sharma’s part. But she talks. She has too. Misty is mad. Functional but meshugana none-the-less. By the very presence of the room Roberts is in, Misty’s garb, and Misty’s calm demeanor, Roberts knows Misty means every C-C of her threat. Jessica Roberts may not make it out of that basement alive but at least she knows by telling Misty Quigley what she wants to know, her father will live. Misty’s perceptual abilities are showcased during the blind date in the Pilot episode. She knows that her fellow survivors don’t like her, trust her, or want to be around her. The spy camera footage and what she hears through it in No Compass only confirms those facts. To her credit, Misty takes their displeasure in stride, smiling at their comments, and at her superiority. She’s outsmarted them. Her own psychosis feeds on itself, reinforcing itself. Misty and Taissa both don’t see it – they are more similar to each other than they think. They are both on the sociopathic spectrum. It’s just that Misty’s pathology is more destructive while Taissa’s is more productive. They are both underhanded. They both do things to others that others wouldn’t and couldn’t do. Taissa’s duplicity is aimed at her career goal, her ultimate goal, while Misty’s duplicity is a normal course of action. Regarding Misty’s motivation and duplicity toward the Yellowjackets, it can’t be that she desires honest and true friendship with the remaining team members, can it? If it is, that’s a human goal, a quaint one, but after all these years since they were in high school together, it’s also sad (especially after what she heard them say about her through her secret microphone). Leave your thoughts on this Yellowjackets No Compass review and this episode of Yellowjackets below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more Yellowjackets can visit our Yellowjackets Page and our Yellowjackets Facebook Page. Readers seeking more Showtime can visit our Showtime Page, our Showtime Twitter Page, and our Showtime Facebook Page. Readers seeking more TV show reviews can visit our TV Show Review Page, our TV Show Review Twitter Page, and our TV Show Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notification? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, and Flipboard.
