Clearly, we’ve all been starved for a good mystery box. Enter Showtime’s Yellowjackets, a twisty dual-timeline drama about teenage soccer players whose plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness and the messed-up adults they become, 25 years later.

Yellowjackets, one of 2021’s best TV series, is sharp and surprisingly funny, with a killer ensemble of both up-and-comers and grown-up 90s icons (Juliette Lewis! Melanie Lynskey! Christina Ricci!). But it’s also a feast for more conspiracy-minded viewers, containing just enough creepy clues (who is that eyeless man in the opening credits? Why is Taissa eating dirt? Does Jackie’s diary mean she can travel through time??) to rev up our own depraved imaginations..

So, ahead of season one’s finale—airing Sunday—Vanity Fair’s most dedicated citizen detectives have gathered here to air the craziest Yellowjackets theories we fervently believe, from the truth about the girls’ apparent cannibalism to what really happened to Jackie. Tuck in, everybody; it’s time for book club.

There’s gonna be murder, but no actual cannibalism!

Despite being the kind of person who knows the Miracle In The Andes Wikipedia page a liiiittle too well, I’ve bought into a theory raised by my friend Madison that this show’s heavily foreshadowed cannibalism is actually a red herring. Sure, there’s that suggestively edited scene in the first episode—but the way Yellowjackets toys with our ongoing assumptions must be in service of setting up a bigger twist. That Doomcoming episode, where the girls walk around with blood-like berry “wine” dripping out of their mouths? It’s just too obvious, especially for a show pitched with a five-season arc!

So when the present-day Yellowjackets refer to “what happened out there,” does that mean something worse than cannibalism took place? I can easily see the team turning on each other, for example — they’re all nationals-level competitive athletes, after all. Maybe as long as the girls remain united in their efforts for survival (with the exception of Misty), they’re able to keep it together and even throw like, an Edward Sharpe-themed homecoming for funsies. But we’ve seen the group splinter off once already, via Taissa’s short-lived exploratory venture into the wilderness. What if that happens again — but this time, the former teammates divide themselves into opposing factions?

It’d be a sports metaphor worthy of one very dark Disney Channel Original Movie, but it’s possible: perhaps survival is the ultimate championship trophy. Maybe the teammates don’t literally eat each other, but once those food reserves start dwindling, a little open warfare wouldn’t be out of the question. —Delia Cai

Shauna’s baby doesn’t get eaten, either

Sure, we’ve all seen Snowpiercer, and Shauna’s dream of giving birth to a roast chicken was a pretty clear acknowledgement of the horrible thought on all our minds. But just like that heavily foreshadowed cannibalism, everyone deciding to eat Shauna’s baby seems dark but not all that interesting—especially since we’re all expecting it. With the confidence of a season 2 renewal, I expect Yellowjackets’s creators to lean even harder into body horror, and Shauna’s baby is a prime opportunity for going full-scale bonkers. Born with bony antlers? Born with adult Jackie’s face? The possibilities are truly endless. —Katey Rich

The girls played the most dangerous game

I want to believe that Yellowjackets has a beautifully thought-out plan that will be satisfying in the short run yet somehow lend itself to an equally thrilling second season that gives all these actresses something they can, er, sink their teeth into. Belief is hard in a post-Lost TV world (is the man with no eyes the new smoke monster?), but the writers have left a lot of narrative doors cleverly ajar.

The one that nags at me most is all the people missing from the present timeline. Like Delia, I think the young women's competitive nature could turn toxic on the island. Echoes of Lord of the Flies and The Secret History abound. Our household’s theory is that the night of shroom-derangement spirals into a kind of feral Hunger Games ritual in which the starving, hallucinating Yellowjackets literally compete—either for primacy or for sustenance. That might explain why the ghost of Jackie tells adult Shauna, "It's not your fault." All is fair in the game of survival. –Joy Press

There are more Yellowjackets lurking in the woods

I’m with Joy. It’s definitely strange that, oh, 18-odd people seem to have survived the crash, but only a handful of them are confirmed to have survived into the 21st century (our Core Four of Misty, Taissa, Natalie, and Shauna, plus Travis, may he rest in peace). There must be more survivors out there in the present-day timeline, people our main characters don’t stay in touch with for whatever reason. And while I’m sure some of them are living perfectly normal-ish lives, I also believe that at least a few of them are still lurking in the wilderness—either because the Core Four intentionally left them behind during the rescue, or because they chose to stay in the cabin after being incontrovertibly seduced by the call of the wild.

I anticipate that in the next season or two, the main survivors will have a “we have to go back” moment before returning to the scene of the crash. There, they’ll have to confront the Yellowjackets they either deserted or couldn’t convince to come with them: most likely Lottie, and maybe Van, which would lead to a very emotional arc for poor Taissa. —Hillary Busis

We’re not done with Adam

Although Shauna may have stuck a knife through the heart of her lover like he was just another stag in the woods, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Adam. There are too many unanswered questions lingering: Why wasn’t Callie able to find him online? Why did he have a book and a magazine about the Yellowjackets in his apartment? Why did he randomly show up at Shauna’s house at four in the morning? As much as I would love to believe that it was all as simple as Shauna experiencing a life-affirming, confidence-boosting extra-marital affair when she needed it most, I fear the truth is more complicated than that.

Yes, there was something insidious that Adam (RIP) was hiding—something I believe ties into the greater narrative of Travis’s murder (he was obviously murdered) and the Yellowjackets blackmail that we have yet to pin down. Did Travis also know about Shauna’s diaries? Did he drain Travis’s bank account (how else could he afford to live in that huge loft off an artist’s salary)? Or was he sent by one of the “off-the grid” Yellowjackets? I wouldn’t put it past Jackie to seek her revenge. —Chris Murphy

Because Adam… is Javi!

As much as I Iove to overthink everything, I do think some things are just obvious. Despite what some conspiracy theorists think, the Yellowjackets did get attacked by wolves; wolves live in the woods! Taissa is simply a sleepwalker; Lottie is off her medication, which explains her “magic.”

I do, however, think that Adam is Javi, and that he just wanted to win Shauna’s love without revealing his identity. His feelings for her have been growing since she showed him kindness in the wilderness. I think when Misty shows up to help Dexter his body, she is going to immediately recognize him, since she is a bit of a stalker. I am also convinced Javi survives the woods since he is the only one who wears converse sneakers, and they make a prominent appearance in the wilderness-girls-gone-wild eating ritual.

I also truly believe Jackie made it out of the woods; she is so calculating there is no way she would lose playing that most dangerous game meets Lord of the Flies. And the reunion will reveal other living Yellowjackets, like Van and Lottie. Speaking of the game: I think as time goes on and winter sets in, they are actually unable to hunt or forage and they decide to take the shrooms to play the hunting game so that they are able to manage that mindset.

With that said, I still wonder if the fact that Lottie’s parents chartered the plane has anything to do with the crash. This is all because I cannot explain that symbol being in the woods prior to their arrival. Or maybe the carvings were just directional markings for the crypt keeper in the attic? —Nicole Chapoteau

Misty was masterminding the whole thing

The least surprising conclusion would be if present-day Misty opens her closet to reveal the corpse of Coach sitting, Psycho-style, in a rocking chair (his Yellowjackets jersey and homecoming corsage hanging from his tired bones), then announces that she and Coach wanted to plan some sort of murder-mystery reunion in the spirit of the forthcoming anniversary. This would not explain Shauna’s disappointing present-day plot (Melanie Lynskey deserves better!) and romantic decisions (see previous parenthetical), but it would be a start.

Something is still missing—and I’m beginning to cynically suspect that maybe the show’s citizen detectives have put more thought into various storylines than the show’s writers have. (I hope I’m wrong). My fear is that the issue of cannibalism, the team’s fate in the wilderness, and other logical questions will not be resolved by the end of the season-one finale.

Which is fine… if we could close out season one by establishing where the reality bounds for this show begin and end. The girls have hijacked a (surprisingly homey!) cabin from a wilderness corpse, and even after a series of traumatic setbacks (plane crash, coach losing a limb to an ax-wielding Misty without pain meds, Natalie grave-robbing Travis’s own father, Laura Lee’s fatal plane voyage, a wolf mauling, butchering a deer for food, etc.), they’re still upbeat enough to pull out the formal dresses they packed and stage a DANCE. Food may be meager, but the decorations are plentiful! Jackie even found a vanity table in the wilderness (with a perfectly clean mirror) to apply her makeup. Some clarity, please! Or at least, a more coherent plot for the present-day women. They were resourceful and resilient enough to throw a PROM while stranded in the woods surrounded by their dead friends and family members. Can’t they be doing a little better (or smarter) for themselves in the present? —Julie Miller

The reunion is where it’ll all go down

Jackie is the team captain. The pretty one. The one everybody is supposed to rely on... not to mention the one with the gold heart necklace, which happens to be around the neck of the mysterious girl who appears to be hunted and killed at the beginning of the series. So automatically, it seems easy to assume that Jackie is the one the group killed in the woods. Possible? Sure. But then again, it's just as easy to assume that Jackie is alive. Until episode nine, it seemed possible that she somehow got out of the wilderness (unbeknownst to the other survivors) and was the one blackmailing them. Now we know the blackmailer wasn’t Jackie—but could this mean she is still out there?

We all know Shauna is nervous/unsettled about going to the reunion (also because she doesn't want to wear that yellow dress Jeff bought her). But I do think the Core Four are going to show up to the reunion, try and dodge annoying people's questions, and face what I'm calling the Reunion Wrath.

I think that while the reunion will honor in some way those who have passed away, a.k.a. all the Yellowjackets who died in the woods (or who they think died), there will also be a surprise Yellowjacket in attendance who’s there to shake things up. We're talking “Carrie covered in pig’s blood at the school dance”-type shaking things up. Someone—maybe Lottie, Van, or Jackie, who happens to be still alive—will show up to surprise the survivors, or reveal (a.k.a. confirm) that there are more survivors out there.

When it comes to cannibalism, I'm leaning more toward the various theories that the group murdered its own members as part of the dark rituals introduced by their spiritual leader, Lottie (who may or may not be posed by demons—as may Taissa). Though we don't really know what these rituals are yet, we do know they involve hunting and potentially the sacrifice of human blood. And whatever rituals they practice in the woods, it's also possible that Misty still does them in the present day, explaining why she has a creepy bunker for a basement. —Morgan Evans

And Jackie lives! Or lived, anyway

I never bought the theory that Jackie’s a time traveler, and if there are a whole lot of supernatural shenanigans to come, the show will lose me—please let these thrills all just be maximum headgame. Still, I predict we will get more affirmation that Jackie is alive in the present day, or at least that she made it out of the woods.

To shore up my hunch, degrees less baked than a proper theory, I re-watched the brunch scenes in episode 6 (“Saints”)—and I think there are a few suggestions in the dialogue on second watch.

The first half of the brunch scene features Jackie’s parents sitting Shauna and Jeff down with a picture of Jackie at her 15th birthday. (If she died in the woods, don’t you think they’d use a picture of her final birthday?) “Happy birthday, baby,” says the mom, as she and Jackie’s dad both look toward the heavens—which implies they at least believe she is dead in the present day. The Taylors present Shauna with rabbit reference #973, a ceramic bunny (with babies, no less…), and they offer to help with Callie’s tuition. Spidey shivers when Mr. Taylor calls Callie “such a special little child.” Who says “such a special little child” about a teenager? Wouldn’t you say “lovely daughter”? I would. “Special little child” feels so personal, almost mystical. It means something! But what, we’ll have to wait and see. There are theories out there that Callie is somehow Jackie’s biological daughter, and I’m not not-buying them.

The very next scene, after current Shauna excuses herself to go to the “little girls’ room” (ahem), is young Shauna and Jackie in the woods, hungering for rabbits (circled as Jackie’s pet in her MA$H diary) and discussing whether Jackie really loves Jeff (she doesn’t). One of Jackie’s lines: “I’d sell my firstborn for a cheesesteak right now.” Oh would you, Jackie! Or—oh did you. Perhaps for cheesehuman.

Then we cut to Travis and Nat’s fuselage hookup, then back to the cabin (where Nat calls Jackie an “uptight prudish little bitch”—poor Nat doesn’t know Jackie’s about to prove her wrong), then to Taissa and her wife arguing.

Then back to current Shauna, poking around in Jackie’s girlhood bedroom. An apparition of Jackie appears and says, “It’s not your fault. What happened.” Shauna says, “I know.” Again, their exchange pinged my Yellowjacket-dar. Though you might at first think they’re talking about Shauna and Jeff cheating, that’s not quite what you would say to the best friend who cheated with your boyfriend. Or about Jackie dying in the woods. The “what happened” plus Shauna’s easy “I know” feel like whatever happened, happened after the crash and the rescue. Or, spun another way: it at least makes whatever happened to Jackie seem accidental, not like a maliciously-set torture hole filled with spears, followed by a hearty meal of Jackie Wellington.

Then Jeff comes in. After they head back downstairs, he has a moment of truthtelling with some tuna casserole: “Shauna and I were sleeping together when Jackie and I were still a couple.”

“Still a couple”? When did they break up? Hm. “Were sleeping together”? Feels not like a more exculpatory “fell in love before the crash.” (The crash is never mentioned explicitly, even.) The way he says it so easily, much like Shauna’s “I know,” without any excuse or apology, has the tone of there being some other kind of emotional marker than a tragic plane crash for Jeff and Jackie’s relationship dissolving.

Is Jackie one of the ones who loves to live off the grid (like Hillary, I believe there are more adult Yellowjackets yet to emerge, including Van), as the fake reporter puts it? Maybe. I think the finale will give us more indications. And hopefully total prop intentionality. —Claire Howorth

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