“The Lord of the Flies but for girls” has been the premise of several projects in recent years: The Wilderness, Class of ’07and to a certain extent even Mean Girls. But all too often, these shows get caught up in the petty drama that most people associate with teenage girls. This misses the point of the entire survival thriller genre, which is about survival and power dynamics, not gossip.

In 2021, Yellowjackets managed to create a female-led survival series that focused on survival while incorporating a non-linear story, massive conspiracy and supernatural elements. After achieving cult status on Showtime, the first season is now streaming on Netflix, opening it up to a whole new audience. Here’s why you need to be careful Yellowjackets on Netflix – and what you should know before you start.

Yellowjackets follows a high school girls soccer team after their charter plane to a 1996 tournament crashes in the Canadian forest. Unsurprisingly, there are casualties and many injured teenagers, forcing the girls to put aside their arguments and focus on survival until rescue arrives. That alone might be fascinating enough, but Yellowjackets quickly introduces a second timeline set in the future in which (most of) the girls have survived, returned to civilization, and grown into women – all while hiding a dark secret beneath them.

Throughout the first season, young Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) tries to come to terms with the fact that she is pregnant after sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend, while older Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) begins an affair with a stranger, which triggers her paranoia. Misty (Samantha Hanratty) must deal with her exclusion from the team, while the older Misty (Christina Ricci) hides a dark secret in her basement. Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) struggles to sleepwalk through the woods while the older Taissa (Tawny Cypress) investigates a threat to her political campaign.

Yellowjackets is also a mystery box, with the central question being particularly dark. We know without question from the start that the girls will resort to cannibalism at some point. How they get there (and who they eat) isn’t addressed until Season 2, but over time we see the group’s mental state unravel as seemingly supernatural events occur, leading to cult-like behavior and a shift in power dynamics lead.

Yellowjackets also presents its chronological framework better than many other historical shows. The 90s are often misunderstood, but the way Yellowjackets which utilizes the music, fashions and attitudes of the time feels just right. Even the creative time spent on the series is steeped in ’90s pedigree. The penultimate episode of the first season, “Doomcoming”, was directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer (1995). Party girl), while the first season finale directed by Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project.)

Even after two seasons, we still don’t know what’s going on with the forest. (Yellowjackets Season 3 is now in production and Hilary Swank was recently announced as a new addition to the cast. While we can’t promise answers to the show’s many mysteries, Season 1 is still a lot of fun. Check it out on Netflix, and if you’re excited, there’s still time to catch up before the third season premieres on Showtime.

Yellowjackets Season 1 is now streaming on Showtime.