[Editor’s note: The following containsspoilersthrough Yellowjackets, Season 2, Episode 4, “Old Wounds."]In the present day timeline, no surviving Yellowjacket is closer to Lottie (Simone Kessell) and her teachings than Natalie (Juliette). Meanwhile, back in 1996,Sophie Thatcher’s version of the character isn’t having any of it. She refuses to participate in Lottie’s (Courtney Eaton) pre-hunt rituals and many blame Natalie for the lack of food because of it.
InYellowjackets, Season 2, Episode 4, “Old Wounds,” this divide sparks a competition, a hunting contest. The first person to find food, Natalie or Lottie, wins. But no one wins. Natalie is devastated when she finds a moose in the frozen lake, but the group fails to pull it out, and Lottie is brought back to the cabin with hypothermia. While Natalie helps her recover, she apologizes for putting Lottie in this position, and after a bit of playful ribbing, the two say “good game” to one another.
Is that the end of this intensifying rivalry between Natalie and Lottie? The moment may not turn Natalie into a Lottie follower, but does the “good game” signify she won’t push back against Lottie’s teachings? Here’s Thatcher’s take on the matter:
“I think that was just a really emotionally mature choice to kind of just give up to some extent and realize that this isn’t worth it. This isn’t going to get us anywhere. I think it’s a sweet moment and it kind of ties back to the lightness pre-crash and how they would have communicated after a soccer game.”
In addition to discussing that particular moment, during the spoiler half of my chat with Thatcher and co-starsJasmin Savoy BrownandLiv Hewson, the group took a moment to singSophie Nélisse’s praises by highlighting the effect she often has on the ensemble as a scene partner. Brown explained:
“Once she has the contacts and she is Shauna — between takes, absolutely not — but when we’re rolling and she’s in it, we’re all just in it on action. I don’t know, something always happens to me. I look into her eyes as Tai and it just brings out all of this emotion and all of these impulses that I would never consider if I was just writing things on the page. It only happens when we’re filming.”
After using that comment as an excuse to amplify (manifest?) Nélisse earning an Emmy nomination for her work this season, Hewson concurred, “She’s not gonna like us saying that, but truly, [nods].” Brown also added, “I agree. It really should happen.”
Hopes are high thatYellowjacketswill up its Emmy nomination count this year after earning seven nominations last season. While we wait for more on that and for more on what the future holds for the 1996 version of the characters, be sure to check out the spoiler half of my chat with Thatcher, Hewson, and Brown at the top of this article, and if you’re looking for even moreYellowjacketstalk after that, you can find Brown’s recent episode ofCollider Ladies Nightbelow:
