The Yellowjackets Now Have No Choice But to Trust Lottie

[Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 2, Episode 4, “Old Wounds.”]

It’s becoming more and more apparent that supernatural elements are at play in Yellowjackets. In Episode 2, “Edible Complex,” Bacchanalian forces took over as the team devoured one of their own, seemingly possessed by a mythical presence to participate in an act of worship. Even though nearly everyone in the group was moved by something unexplainable — Bacchus himself moving through the wind, perhaps? — there were still skeptics in the group who could rationalize their participation in the grisly act. It was just hunger-induced insanity, a collective response to the traumatic events they’ve endured. There’s no way Lottie (Courtney Eaton) was really a soothsayer and Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) was being taken over by a dark passenger; this is just how they cope. Right?

By the end of “Old Wounds,” even the most stubborn of doubters among the group have reason to believe that both Lottie and Taissa are being led by greater forces. At the start of the episode, Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) is ready to prove Lottie’s believers wrong once and for all. Natalie’s convinced it was just a coincidence that Lottie was able to predict when food was coming, and she thinks her teammate’s rituals are doing more harm than good. To settle things, they compete against each other in a hunt-off, a challenge of Natalie’s skill versus Lottie’s intuition.They’re both unsuccessful, but elsewhere, Van (Liv Hewson) is working to uncover the mystery of Taissa’s nighttime wandering, leading to the strongest evidence in support of Lottie’s visions so far: Javi (Luciano Leroux) is alive and (relatively) well.

The weeks Javi spent in the woods alone (at least, as far as we know) have taken a toll — he’s in shock and seems to not recognize his brother or the other survivors. But Lottie never said he’d be thriving — she just knew that he was out there somewhere, against all odds. At that moment, Taissa’s evening outings don’t seem so random. Van realizes that the symbols Taissa is tracking in the woods have a bigger meaning, and mapping them out lead the group straight to Javi. Suddenly, it’s a lot harder to write off either incident as coincidence — now there seems to be a connection between Lottie and Taissa’s mystical acts.

In the present day, Lottie (Simone Kessell) and Taissa (Tawny Cypress) are both failing to control the impact of those forces. Despite being back on medication, Lottie’s visions are returning full force. By the end of “Old Wounds,” we get confirmation that what she’s seeing is in fact real, a moment that frightens Lottie enough that she presents a blood sacrifice to some unknown divine spirit. And Taissa finds herself waking up miles from home — whatever (or whoever) is controlling her blackouts wants her to find Van (Lauren Ambrose). It could be a coincidence that both are experiencing these moments at the same time all these years later, but it feels more like a reminder that something supernatural connects all of the Yellowjackets, and whatever it is seems to want the group to find their way back to one another.

It would be wise for the women to remember how convincing Lottie’s powers were when they were lost in the woods. If what adult Lottie is seeing turns out to be true, there’s going to be even more blood spilled in the present day — and a lot of it. Giving up their skepticism and trusting in Lottie, as they did decades ago, could be what saves them once again.

New episodes of Yellowjackets stream Fridays and air Sundays at 9:00 PM ET on Showtime. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

Brianna Wellen is a TV Reporter at Primetimer who became obsessed with television when her parents let her stay up late to watch E.R.