Post updated on 3-10-2024. See updates below.

If you like a nightmarish survival scenario, dual timelines, hints of the supernatural and a cast of fascinatingly complicated characters, you’re in for a treat. One of the best seasons of television I’ve seen in years just landed on Netflix and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a must-watch TV series.

Yellowjackets first aired in 2022 on Showtime, where it quickly found a cult following thanks to its twisty story and compelling cast. The series follows a high school girls soccer team in two different timelines.

In the first part, the girls make an emergency landing in a vast wilderness on their way to a football tournament. Here they are confronted not only with hunger and the elements, but also with strange visions, eerie discoveries and other gruesome encounters that often leave both the characters and the audience wondering if there are supernatural forces at play, or if there are more mundane explanations for all the bizarre. things that happen. The mystery is compelling.

In the second timeline we follow some girls decades later. We know that at least some characters survive, but we’re not entirely sure who or—perhaps more importantly—How. These middle-aged survivors harbor deep, dark secrets and harbor old sorrows and terrible guilt. Little by little, both stories unfold one after the other. It’s one of the most ominous, gripping seasons of TV I’ve ever seen, with plenty of shocking revelations, nasty betrayals, and even some welcome humor thrown in for good measure.

However, it’s the cast that really takes the show to the next level. Ella Purnell (Fallout, mysterious) stars as Jackie, the captain of the football team and a natural leader who is out of her element in the wild. She is best friends with Shauna (Sophie Nelisse), although their friendship is tested as they struggle to survive. Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) is the black sheep of the team and probably my favorite character in the series. Other teenage survivors include Travis (Kevin Alves), Lottie (Courtney Eaton), Van (Liv Hewson) and Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) – as well as Misty (Sammi Hanratty) who I can only describe as the wildcard, although perhaps there are there is more than one. The team’s assistant coach, Ben (Steven Krueger), also survives the crash, although he is a changed man.

Meanwhile, in the contemporary timeline we mainly follow Shauna (Melanie Lynksey), Taissa (Tawny Cypress), Natalie (Juliette Lewis) and Misty (Christina Ricci). Like I said, it’s a great cast. The actors in both timelines are phenomenal and both stories – which are intertwined in fascinating ways – are fantastic from start to finish, each with their own mysteries to unravel and disasters to endure.

Additionally, the original score for the show’s first season is one of the most intense and moving scores I’ve heard on a television show.

Only season 1 is available on Netflix right now, and here I have a pretty big caveat: the first season is much, much better than the second, which remains on Showtime/Paramount+, although it will come to Netflix at a later date. Honestly, as a standalone season, Yellowjackets is absolutely brilliant and one of my favorite modern TV shows. The second season wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the first, and it felt like many aspects of the story fell apart in spectacular fashion. I think I was so disappointed because I was such a big fan of season 1. But the season 2 finale really upset me, unlike the brilliant season 1 finale (which wasn’t even the best episode).

I still recommend you watch the first season and if you like it you can always make up your own mind about season 2. I’m still hopeful that season 3 will get the series back on track, but what No matter what happens, I will always be a super fan of the first season, which I have already watched three times. It’s one of the best female-led shows out there, largely because it never dabbles in silly girl boss tropes and treats each of its characters as well-rounded (and deeply flawed) people. It’s great. Do yourself a favor and give it a try. It also made my list of the best TV shows of 2022:

Updated 10.02.24

Because this post has gained some traction and hopefully people are getting excited about it Yellowjackets Now that it’s on Netflix, I wanted to bring your attention to another truly top-notch supernatural thriller series that I continue to hope will make its way to Netflix.

BY is currently only available on MGM+, although the first season of the show is available to watch with a Prime Video subscription. I subscribe to MGM+ through Prime Video, and that’s the only place you can watch the second season and the currently airing third season.

The show comes closest to one Lost there is a successor Yellowjackets has some Lost also vibrations: plane crashes, survivors, supernatural mysteries, and so on. BY, feels more though Lost and even features some of the creatives behind that hit ABC series. Jack Bender, who directed several of the films Lost best episodes, is one of the show’s producers. Bender has been involved in other great shows including The sopranos And Game of Thrones.

Harold Perrineau is probably the biggest draw. Perrineau played Michael Dawson Lost but his character often felt underused and pushed aside for other storylines. Here he plays Boyd Stevens, the main character of the series, and we really get to see his acting skills.

Without revealing too much, the story of BY revolves around a strange nameless town – which I call Fromville – where people end up and can never leave. At night, terrifying monsters come out and prey on anyone unlucky enough to be caught outside – or gullible enough to open their doors.

The show is full of mystery, suspense, a cast of great characters and plenty of terror. It’s much scarier than that LOST but has that same great mystery that keeps you watching every week. And other than that LOST, the show’s creators have a five-season plan all mapped out, so we can expect (or at least hope for) a satisfying ending.

If you have Prime Video, do yourself a favor and watch the first season. It’s not perfect. For example, the show drops too many F-bombs, and characters have an annoying tendency to not communicate well with each other, but I still love it, warts and all. And so far, the third season is shaping up to be the best yet, already improving on the issues I mentioned. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

It’s a terrible title for a TV show though, right? Hard to Google!

Updated 10.03.24

Other programs I’ve been checking out lately in case you need more recommendations (and these are all programs I highly recommend):

• Only murders in the building Season 4 on Hulu is the best season since the first season. A wonderful, charming, cozy mystery set in New York starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. Seasons 2 and 3 kind of missed the mark, although I kept watching because I love the cast. The train is back on track in season 4 and I eagerly await each new episode.
• Bad monkey on Apple TV is my surprise show of 2024. Vince Vaughn is at the top of his game in this funny mystery comedy set in the Florida Keys. The first season is almost over and I am absolutely hooked. Natalie Martinez co-stars and she is absolutely delightful, as are the rest of the cast.
• Slow horses on Apple TV is almost done with its fourth season and, as always, it’s the best spy show on TV. Gary Oldman remains as delightful as ever as the malodorous but brilliant Jackson Lamb. What a gem. But Oldman isn’t the only gem in this talented cast. Jack Lowden is great as River Cartwright, a spy with a lot to prove, and Kristin Scott Thomas plays the perfect MI5 boss as Diana Taverner.
• Agatha all the time on Disney+ is surprisingly good WandaVision follow-up. Not as good as these others, but charming and fun and a nice change of pace for Marvel. I think this show had a lot of potential and it feels like they held back from what it could and should have been, but it’s far from bad. The whole thing has a bit of a community theater feel to it.
• The legend of Vox Machina is an animated fantasy series for adults full of humor, fun fight scenes and a truly great cast. It’s based on the Critical Role D&D campaign and just plain fun. The third season will be released this week on Prime Video. The series features a phenomenal cast of popular voice actors from games and animation, including Ashley Johnson, Marisha Ray, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham, Taliesin Jaffe and Matt Mercer.
• Sunny on Apple TV is a ‘light’ science fiction film set in Japan about a woman who loses her husband and son, but gains a new robot companion. The mystery of her family’s fate is wrapped in a story about near-future technology, the Yakuza and more. It’s just great.
• Disconnection on Apple TV is about a dystopian near future in which a company has developed the technology to ‘break’ your consciousness of work and life. That’s just the elevator pitch. There is so much more to this brilliant show. I’m currently watching it for the third time and it’s just as good every time.
• Unforgotten on BritBox is a mystery police drama set in Britain about detectives solving old crimes. In the first season, which I just finished, a body is discovered that turns out to be the victim of a murder from the late 1970s. Old secrets and deep-seated lies are revealed as the truth is revealed.

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