‘Yellowjackets’: Watch These Shows If You Can’t Get Enough of the Showtime Drama
Showtime struck gold with Yellowjackets. Created by Bart Nickerson and Ashley Lyle, the survival drama follows a team of high school soccer players who get stranded for 19 months in the wilderness after their plane went down in 1996. To survive, the girls turn to obscene and desperate measures, including cannibalism and occultism that leaves them haunted decades later.
Yellowjackets recently wrapped up its first season, leaving fans clamoring for more. With Showtime already green-lighting a second season, fans can only wait. Here are three shows to watch in the meantime.
‘Dare Me’
If the mean girl and murder tropes satisfy your TV desires, you will enjoy this U.S. series. Dare Me is based on Meg Abbot’s 2012 book of the same name. The USA Network series highlights the not-so-cheery side of high school cheerleading.
Dare Me takes a dark turn when a new hotshot coach takes over and shakes up the cheerleading group’s dynamic. Soon, the characters become embroiled in scandal after scandal involving deception, sadistic bullying, infidelity, obsession, and murder. While Dare Me veers more into teen soap than Yellowjackets, it shares similar portrayals of female friendships at their worst.
‘Heavenly Creatures’
Melanie Lynskey, who plays Shauna in Yellowjackets, had a similar role in the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, directed by Peter Jackson. The psychological drama is based on a true story about two friends in New Zealand in the ’50s whose obsession for one another becomes catastrophic.
Lynskey portrays outcast Pauline Parker, who barely fits into any social group. However, her world becomes brighter when confident Englander Juliet Hulme, played by Kate Winslet, arrives at school.
It doesn’t take long for Juliet and Pauline to grow infatuated with one another. The pair invent a fantastical yet brutal storybook world where they go to hide away from the real world. When their parents begin worrying about the nature of their friendship and its unhealthiness, the girls go to extremes to ensure they remain friends.
‘Cruel Summer’
A major reason why Yellowjackets has become such a huge hit involves its ability to combine two elements: ’90s nostalgia and mystery box framing — packaged as a wholesome Showtime series. If that sounds like something you like, then Cruel Summer might fill Yellowjackets‘ void.
Cruel Summer features three timelines in the years 1993, 1994, and 1995, slowly expounding on the story of two friends, Jeanette and Kate. The girls’ connection is in Kate’s kidnapping, which the show repeatedly hints Jeannette might have been involved with. Cruel Summer‘s twists and turns will keep you second-guessing every character and wondering who to trust.
Bonus: ‘The Lizzie Borden Chronicles’
Yellowjackets managed to make full use of former ’90s stars to offer nostalgia to its fans. While Christina Ricci‘s young self, Misty, makes unsettling decisions to survive, she is productive. However, her unhinged adult self stays with the viewer throughout the series.
If you love Ricci’s unhinged demeanor, you’ll enjoy seeing her in The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. The Lifetime limited series is a continuation of the movie Lizzie Borden Took an Ax, with Ricci as the title character. The movie detailed the real-life story of a woman put on trial and acquitted for murdering her father and stepmother.
The show picks up after the trial as Lizzie remains an outcast, with society questioning her innocence. Ricci is nothing but a delight in the role. Watching her unravel the mysteries in place makes The Lizzie Borden Chronicles a good pick.
