www.polygon.com
Shauna (Melanie Lynskey, as an adult) is not happy about the gold necklace situation at the end of the latest Yellowjackets episode.Which is understandable. At the very least, its a token from her dead best friend, someone shes haunted by the mere thought of, and sometimes scared she lives in the total shadow of (for starters). Beyond that, theres the strangeness of its time in the wilderness alongside Shauna and Lottie (played here as an adult by Simone Kessell): What exactly the gold Tiffany necklace took to symbolize in the woods is still an open question.The scene itself, at the end of Thems the Brakes, doesnt give us a ton to go on. Shauna recoils when she sees it and immediately seems bewildered, wondering how Lottie even has it. It feels right, Shauna, Lottie excitedly exclaims. Dont you feel it, too?While Shauna is completely unmoored by the idea that it should be given to her daughter, Callie (Sarah Desjardins), at all, Lottie is defensive, calmly trying to reason with her about how it never meant what you thought it meant.Which is one of many questions that fans have been trying to puzzle through for two seasons now: So what does the necklace actually mean to the Yellowjackets?Theres plenty of theories based on how weve seen it pass right now. Jackie first puts it on Shauna when theyre on the plane in the pilot episode an act of love, since Shauna is nervous to fly. It passes back to Jackie before she dies, and passes to Nat before she dies as well (though it also kept her safe during her first hunt).But perhaps most pressingly: The first place we actually get to see it is the pilots cold open on the Pit Girl being hunted by the remaining Yellowjackets, who dies by falling on a spike trap. For whatever Lottie seems to think the necklace really means to the Yellowjackets cult, it seems like at least narratively it does not mean good things. Which makes it pretty understandable that Shauna reacted that way.The problem is, of course, that Callie has no understanding of any of this which, unfortunately for Shauna, is exactly what Callie finds so great about Lottie.I feel like Lottie is definitely more energetically open than the rest of the women, but [it] also feels like Lottie is feeling somewhat drawn to Callie, Desjardins tells Polygon of the pull between Callie and her moms friend.Lottie first noted that Callie seemed powerful at the end of season 2, a pronouncement that Desjardins says is absolutely fueling Callies interest in Lottie and her whole situation. That is something that Callie takes in. She has no idea what that means, but I think [] Lottie has this connection to the wilderness, and I think part of that energy is like Callie is sensing an openness in a way, Desjardins said. I really wanted to play all the aspects we have [with] Callie feeling drawn to the energy, feeling confused by the energy.With Callie like the rest of us so eager for answers about what exactly the Yellowjackets crew got up to out there, shes ready to turn to anyone who feels more open in that way, even if theyre offering her a creepy murder necklace. This seems like a much darker (and more accurate) take on the pull of Lotties cult influence than the soft matching pastels of season 2. And given that the necklace has taken on even a colloquial understanding of being marked, it seems like Callie could be in real danger.