Warning: Spoilers below for episodes one through four of “Yellowjackets” season two (and season one, of course).
Buzz, buzz, buzz! As of Friday, we’re four episodes into season two of “Yellowjackets,” and some burning questions have been answered, like the first meal in the wilderness (“Jackie-fruit,” yikes) and the origin of Misty (Samantha Hanratty)’s Andrew Lloyd Webber fandom. But, true to the Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson-created show, more scintillating mysteries have emerged. What are adult Lottie (Simone Kessell) and her “purple people,” as current day Misty (Christina Ricci) refers to her followers, up to? (And is the honey good?) Where has Van (Lauren Ambrose) been this whole time?
Well, Citizen Detectives, as we learned from costume designer Marie Schley in season one, clues do reside in the fashion we see on screen. Amy Parris (who designed seasons three through five of “Stranger Things”) joins the team for “Yellowjackets” round two, and ahead, she discusses how a sweater connects Misty to the Skunk Cannibal, what heliotrope actually means and why Callie (Sarah Desjardins) is haunting mom Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) through her clothes.
Back in the ’90s wilderness, the crash survivors have settled into a daily routine that harnesses their skill sets. Sharpshooters Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) and Travis (Kevin Alves) are the hunters, since rations from the bear that Lottie (Courtney Eaton) killed (or perhaps, the blessing that the mercurial nature gods bestowed to the team) are dwindling.
The duo gears up in found and gathered layers, which, to be honest, look pretty “Mad Max”-cool on them — especially Nat, who looks as badass as ever bundled up in her moto jacket under a fur vest.
“Natalie has crudely skinned a hide,” she says, while explaining that, in reality, “it’s a fake deerskin rug from a home goods store, but we put a latex treatment to give it this muscle tissue look, because this is not something that they’re used to doing, so it shouldn’t look professional, like a tanned leather hide.”
Nat and Travis efficiently carry their shotguns and supplies with harnessed packs constructed from dismantled plane parts. “I imagined that they would have gone to the plane at some point — probably multiple trips — looking for things or taking seat belts,” says Parris