Recap / Yellowjackets S 1 E 3 The Dollhouse

Recap pages are Spoilers Off per policy and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned

1996

It’s been three days since the crash. The group forms a circle around five improvised grave markers and Laura Lee leads a prayer for the deceased—the flight crew, team member Rachel Goldman (the only player killed in the crash), Coach Martinez, and Coach Scott's leg. As Laura Lee prays, the scene flashes back to a moment in a much younger Taissa's life. She is visiting her grandmother, who is near death. Nana, in bed and hooked up to monitors, tells little Taissa that "Dying is nothing to be afraid of," and that it is God calling us back to heaven to be with the angels.

Flashback over. Food and water are running low. Travis yells at his brother for going out of his way to preserve the chewing gum their father gave him to pop his ears. Taissa announces she saw a lake and proposes they hike out in that direction. Jackie thinks they should stay put in case any rescuers come in (unlikely, thanks to Misty Burning the Ships in the last episode). The majority agrees with Taissa, including Shauna. After a long hike in which they come across the rotting carcass of a bear that likely was eaten by wolves, they do find the lake. Most of the girls and Travis take the opportunity to go for a swim and relax for a bit in the water. It becomes obvious that Misty has a crush on Coach Scott and absolutely no chill or shame. Shauna overhears Jackie and Mari bonding and talking about moving their lockers together when they get back. Lottie notices a reflection coming from the hill and the team head in that direction to check it out. They find a deserted cabin with some usable supplies but only rotted canned food in the pantry. Jackie is really upset at this and has to take a moment to pull herself together. Val finds the cabin occupant's stash of porn and they all have a laugh at it. For Travis, the laughter is over when he sees his younger brother Javi STILL chewing on the same gum from earlier on. Travis forces him to spit it out and yells, "Dad was a dick, Javi. All right? He's the whole reason we're in this hell, and now he's dead. Don't you understand? Dad is fucking dead!"

Shauna offers extra blankets to Jackie as an apology for not voting to stay at the crash site. Jackie tells her she really needs her best friend. "The worst is behind us, okay? We survived a fucking plane crash. We're gonna be fine." Meanwhile, Coach Ben falls off the porch. Misty tries to help him but he throws a Cluster F-Bomb at Misty and tells her to get away from him before he breaks down: "I can't just... I can't just be like this now. Why couldn't I have died?" Misty tells him it is because they needed him and that she is here for him. This does not comfort him at all.

Another flashback to Little Taissa's life. This time, her Nana is not doing OK. She screams about "that man with no eyes" and begs for him not to take her, or her eyes. Later at the grandmother’s funeral, Little Taissa checks out her eyes, and indeed, they are missing.

At the cabin Lottie is reluctant to go into the cabin, telling Taissa that she has a bad feeling about the place. Taissa makes her go in. Later, Taissa goes up to the attic and finds Lottie there, next to a mummified body in a chair. "Told you".

Present

At Simone and Taissa's home, they watch a commercial from Taissa's rival for Senate, Phil Bathurst, claiming that Taissa will put education first by "... cannibalizing your tax dollars." Ouch. Simone is confident that voters are too smart to fall for that trash but Taissa is not. She thinks out loud about digging into Bathurst's past for some dirt. Simone reminds her that she'd pledged to focus on issues and be rational.

At the park, while Sammy is off playing, Taissa is on the phone with Jessica Roberts. Taissa has been paying Jessica to find out if any of the surviving Yellowjackets has spilled the beans about their time in the wilderness. Nobody has been talking. Jessica brings up Phil Bathurst's dirt: his daughter has had problems with drugs since her teens and arranged to have an arrest covered up. She is 18, which makes her fair game to use against Phil Bathurst. Their conversation is interrupted when Sammy hits another boy in the playground and makes him cry. Taissa lies to the boy’s mom that it was an accident. They go home. Both Simone and Taissa are outraged. Taissa worries that this will become their new normal unless she fights back, but Simone is outraged that she is thinking about her campaign after their son HIT ANOTHER CHILD IN THE FACE. Taissa confiscates her son's doll but in full Creepy Child mode, Sammy demands it back. She puts the doll out of the way.

At the Sadecki home, Shauna asks Jeff for a ride home from the shop where she's dropping off the van but he says he can't because he is needed at the store. She follows his car in her van and sees him meet up with a blonde at a hotel. She goes in and Shauna tries to learn more, but the desk clerk can’t tell her anything since her name is not on the reservation. Shauna goes for broke and pretends to be an undercover agent from Homeland Security who has been tracking a suspect, and if she shows her badge, she might break her cover. She hears someone call out, "Agent Smith? D.C.'s on the line." It’s Adam, the guy she rear-ended and who just happened to be at the hotel for a martini. Shauna ditches and accepts his offer of a drink. At the hotel bar, they make conversation. Adam talks about his artist career, "I go where the work takes me. I don't ask why or where. I can just let go," and quotes Mother Night. She quotes back. Sparks start flying after he calls her beautiful.

Natalie and Misty continue on their road trip. While Misty gets snacks, Natalie confirms Misty sabotaged her car to ensure they went on the road together. Once they get to Travis's home, Natalie breaks into the house. Misty goes off to examine his trash and Nat finds a picture of Travis and her (as adults). The only thing in his fridge is an $200 bottle of liquor, a splurge given that Travis is barely making minimum wage. Exactly at that moment, a sheriff bursts in and arrests them for breaking and entering. From the police station, Natalie calls Taissa for bail, but Taissa (who'd paid for Natalie's rehab) refuses. Misty has better luck when she calls Kevyn Tan (Natalie's old friend, now a detective). They do end up getting released thanks to him, as Misty has been sending him texts pretending to be Natalie. Their next destination is the ranch where Travis was working. When they enter the facility, they find his body hanging from a crane and the Arc Symbol drawn on the floor. Natalie breaks down, but Misty hears sirens and knows they need to get out. As they drive off, Misty reads a note she found in his trash: "Tell Natalie she was right." Natalie claims not to know what that meant, but she is convinced Travis's death was a murder, not a suicide.

The Abara-Turner home, nighttime. Taissa talks to Sammy about having to confiscate his doll for what he did. She also tells him that he should use his words next time, not his fists. Sammy asks his mom, “Why don't people like you?” She tells him people are scared because she is not what they expect. "But whatever they say about me, I hope you know it isn't true." Sammy says "I know. You're not the bad one." When asked if someone else is "the bad one", the child just says good night. Taissa calls Bathurst and gets to the point.

Taissa: I wanted to give you a heads-up. I know about Jane's drug arrest. I get why you buried it. You're a parent. So am I. But that attack ad, Phil...
Bathurst: Taissa...
Taissa: ...insinuating that I'm dangerous. Guess what. You're right. I won't think twice about destroying you, your family... your entire existence. Another move like that, and your daughter's face is above the fold of every newspaper in the tri-state area. Don't fuck with me, Phil.

Later on, Taissa finds Sammy's doll, Manny, torn to pieces and missing an eye.

Tropes appearing in this specific episode:

• Armor-Piercing Question: Sammy to Taissa. "Why don't people like you?"
• Attack of the Political Ad: Taissa's opponent for state senate, Phil Bathurst, runs an ad accusing her of "cannibalizing your tax dollars," but which is really intended to insinuate that she and the other Yellowjackets resorted to cannibalism while lost in the woods. It comes complete with the Photoshop Filter of Evil.
• Creepy Child: Sammy punches another child on the playground, talks back to his mother, sounds menacing when he demands his doll back and does not explain what he is talking about when he talks about "the bad one".
• A Day in the Limelight: The spotlight is on Taissa. We see a traumatic event from her childhood, how she directs the group at the crash site to take action and find the lake, and how she responds to a political attack in the present.
• Mondegreen According to Taissa, Sammy hit the other kid thinking he had called his mom a cannonball, not a cannibal as Phil Bathurst's ad suggests.
• Never Suicide: Despite finding Travis's body hanging and having a note that sounds suspiciously like a Suicide Note, Natalie insists he would not kill himself.
• No Sympathy: Mari continue to mock Travis even though they've just buried his father.
• Porn Stash: Val finds the cabin owner's. The girls (and Travis) pass it around and laugh. One of the girls asks Travis if guys do get off on that kind of material. Travis's response:
  Travis: Nah, we-we hate that shit. You know, you can't even tell what her favorite book is.

• Shout-Out:
  • Oasis. Not much is remembered about the late Rachel Goldman, except that she was looking forward to hearing them perform.
  • Adam quotes Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night while having a drink with Shauna.
    Adam: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be."
    Shauna: "And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep."
• Skewed Priorities: Taissa debates hitting back at her rival after his attack ad. Simone is aghast: "Our son just assaulted another child, and you're talking strategy?"
• Not So Stoic:
  • Perpetual Frowner Natalie falls to her knees and breaks down when she sees Travis's body. Misty has to prompt her to get the hell out before law enforcement arrive.
  • Coach Ben falls off the porch. His feelings of helplessness after losing his leg and his Survivor Guilt push him to the limit and he breaks down.
• Troubled Fetal Position: How Taissa finds Lottie in the attic. She had had a bad feeling about the place and the long-deceased guy sitting in the corner has confirmed her bad vibes.
• Underwear Swimsuit: When the team finds a lake, they strip to their undies and play like kids in the water.
• Wham Line: Sammy: "I know. You are not the bad one."
• Wham Shot: The dead guy sitting on a corner in the attic at the cabin.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Lottie moans about Travis getting more food (not considering what he's been through and that he's actually taking them for his little brother).
  Lottie: Who died and made Travis king of snacks?
  Natalie: His dad, Lottie. Literally, his fucking dad.