"Old Wounds" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American thriller drama television series "Yellowjackets". It is the fourteenth overall episode of the series and was written by co-executive producers Julia Bicknell and Liz Phang, and directed by Scott Winant. It aired on Showtime on April 16, 2023, but it was available to stream two days earlier on Paramount+ with Showtime.
The series follows a New Jersey high school girls' soccer team that travels to Seattle for a national tournament in 1996. While flying over Canada, their plane crashes deep in the wilderness, and the surviving team members are left stranded for nineteen months. The series chronicles their attempts to stay alive as some of the team members are driven to cannibalism. It also focuses on the lives of the survivors 25 years later in 2021, as the events of their ordeal continue to affect them many years after their rescue. In the episode, Shauna decides to come clean to Callie, while Taissa takes a trip. Flashbacks depict tensions arising between Lottie and Natalie, as they decide to determine who should be the lead hunter.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.226 million household viewers and gained a 0.03 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the ending and revelations, although some criticized the pacing.
Plot.
Flashbacks.
Tensions arise between Lottie (Courtney Eaton) and Natalie (Sophie Thatcher), as some girls believe Lottie's mysticism is responsible for their food. Natalie then declares that she and Lottie will have a competition, where each one will leave the cabin and find the most food, even though some are worried for Lottie as she is not a hunter.
Lottie quickly becomes hypothermic, stumbling upon the crashed Cessna plane. She suddenly imagines herself wandering into a mall, where she encounters the girls waiting for her to eat, with Laura Lee (Jane Widdop) included. Despite wanting to stay with Laura, Lottie is forced to wake up, as her condition is worsening. In a frozen lake, Natalie finds a moose and asks the group for help. Despite having agreed to not get involved, they leave as they are starving. They try to take the moose with a noose, but the weight surpasses them, and the moose descends into the lake, to Natalie's horror.
They take Natalie back to the cabin, while Mari (Alexa Barajas) and Akilah (Nia Sondaya) bring Lottie back after tracing her blood trail. Van (Liv Hewson) makes a map of all of the strange symbols Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) has found and estimates where the last one could be, which is reminiscent of a clearing Lottie saw. They encounter someone and capture him. They take the person, Javi, back to the cabin, shocking everyone. While the group is relieved, they begin to question Taissa's sanity as she left the symbols as a map to find Javi.
Present day.
Natalie (Juliette Lewis) decides to accompany Lisa (Nicole Maines), her former captor, in going out for some errands. They stop to visit Lisa's mother's, Sybill (Jenn Griffin), who is not content with Lisa's role in the commune. After fighting with her mother, Lisa is comforted by Natalie.
After learning that Callie (Sarah Desjardins) has been lying and found Adam's ID, Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) takes her on a road trip. Alone, she finally confesses that she killed Adam and that Jeff (Warren Kole) was responsible for blackmailing her. Callie is shaken by the reveal, but promises not to tell anyone. Shauna informs Jeff about it, and he is not content that Callie can now be an accomplice. Taissa (Tawny Cypress) follows her fugue self's intuition, accepting a man's offer to hitchhike to an unknown location.
While travelling, Walter (Elijah Wood) explains to Misty (Christina Ricci) that he became a multi-millionaire for suing a scaffolding company after a brick fell on his head. As they head to New York, Walter convinces Misty that they should stay at a bed and breakfast, using separate rooms. The trucker takes Taissa to a small town in Ohio, entering into a store. There, she reunites with Van (Lauren Ambrose), their first encounter in years.
Development.
Production.
The episode was written by co-executive producers Julia Bicknell and Liz Phang, and directed by Scott Winant. This marked Bicknell's first writing credit, Phang's third writing credit, and Winant's first directing credit.
Music.
The episode's opening credits sequence uses a different rendition of the theme song, "No Return", with the theme sang by Alanis Morissette. She commented, "I love the original version of ‘No Return,’ It's just a perfect song. It was a little daunting to be asked to reinterpret it but I see parallels between "Yellowjackets" and my perspective while songwriting: the sheer intensity, that going for the jugular with no fear around going for the profane."
Reception.
Viewers.
The episode was watched by 0.226 million viewers, earning a 0.03 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielsen ratings scale. This means that 0.03 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode. This was a slight increase from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.210 million viewers with a 0.04 in the 18-49 demographics.
Critical reviews.
"Old Wounds" received positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating for the episode, with an average rating of 7.1/10 and based on 10 reviews.
Hattie Lindert of "The A.V. Club" gave the episode a "B+" and wrote, "If "Yellowjackets"' teen timeline refutes one classically-held ism, it has to be “cleanliness is closest to godliness.” As the months in the wilderness drag on, the laundry list of unmentionable acts the survivors are bonded over keeps getting longer; in short, they've never been more desperate for a miracle. In this world, clean hands don't get you closer to devout spirituality and the blessings that may or may not come with it — starvation does."
Erin Qualey of "Vulture" gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "As the second season of "Yellowjackets" progresses, it feels like all the characters are playing a real-life game of “Don't Break the Ice.” In an effort to protect their respective lives, they're all strategically knocking pieces free, but the center can only withstand constant erosion for so long." Proma Khosla of "IndieWire" gave the episode a "C+" and wrote, "Despite teeing up this showdown between Nat and Lottie — reason and faith — “Old Wounds” doesn't actually have much to say about that dichotomy. The episode reminds the audience that (to paraphrase Shauna's Jackie's hallucination in Season 1) these are kids, and this is awful."
Bernard Boo of "Den of Geek" gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "This week's episode, “Old Wounds,” ramps things up a bit, giving us two exciting reveals amid all the setup and foreshadowing." Erik Kain of "Forbes" wrote, "The good clearly outweighs the bad here, but it's those clunkier moments, the forced bits, the bits that feel less perfect than this show normally is, that really stand out. That's a shame. When a show is typically so adroit at just about everything it sets out to do, the weaknesses are bound to be glaring."
Coleman Spilde of "The Daily Beast" wrote, "This is the reunion that every hardcore "Yellowjackets" shipper has been anticipating, and it's sure to please them all. But I'm not yet sold. Taissa is doing more than just sleepwalking these days, she's wreaking full havoc. Van already made it out alive once; her odds of survival don't seem as good a second time around." Cade Taylor of "Telltale TV" gave the episode a 3.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Filler episodes are present in any season of almost every series, and unfortunately, that's what “Old Wounds” consists of. Though not as captivating as previous episodes, it still serves its function by furthering the narrative and helping set up for what’s bound to be an explosive reunion for the adults in the coming episodes."
Esther Zuckerman of "The New York Times" wrote, "As the other grown up Yellowjackets tentatively open up their circles and reach out for help, Lottie is retreating into herself. She knows the results will most likely be disastrous." Brittney Bender of "Bleeding Cool" gave the episode a 9 out of 10 rating and wrote, "Showtime's "Yellowjackets" S02E04 "Old Wounds" brought up the tension with this episode. Even though it stretched itself far by dividing up attention between storylines, it produced a compelling journey towards the halfway point of the season."
References.
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