yellow jackets The second season finally answered one of the show’s most burning questions: what happened to Shauna (Sophie Nelisse) Baby? This question hung over us from the start, but like the true nature of what the girls were dealing with in the desert, the truth eluded us. For a while, all we knew was that 1) Shauna was pregnant before the crash, 2) she must have had a baby while they were there, and 3) that baby is nowhere to be seen in the present.
Many theories arose about what happened to the child, the most obvious of which was that he was a victim of cannibalism, which kept the girls alive. But there were other wild theories, like that Adam (Peter Gadiot) was her adult child seeking revenge, or that Lottie would sacrifice the child, as she did with the bear in Season 1. These and many other outlandish theories were definitively debunked in season 2, episode 6, where we learn the true fate of the first child: he did not survive childbirth.
The team eats the baby?
The theory that girls will eat the baby has been around ever since we knew the existence of the baby. It seemed like a logical conclusion. We know these girls are cannibals and that this kid never made it out of the woods, so what if they just ate him? There were several scenes in Shauna’s dreams that hinted at this possibility. First, she gives birth to a cooked chicken, which they then eat, and then the much more brutal and bloody eating we saw in Shauna’s dream sequence when she was in labor. But this theory has been debunked for almost as long as it has existed. The writers of the show have confirmed that this will not happen after Christina Ricci expressed disgust at the possibility. But even though the theory was seemingly dismissed, we couldn’t help but wonder if it’s still possible that this could still happen. But no. Among all the tragedies and horrors that have befallen these girls, this one is perhaps the most poignant, because it is so natural, so innocent.
In a show full of supernatural horror, it seemed natural to develop theories that provided supernatural or terrifying answers. But that’s what makes the real fate of Shauna’s pregnancy all the more tragic. We expect a monster or supernatural power, cannibalism, and maybe Lottie (Courtney Eaton) theft of a child. Much worse when there is no reason to blame. There’s a chance that Shauna’s pregnancy would have ended this way, even if they hadn’t been locked up in the middle of nowhere for months. The fact that we never heard anything about the child in the present, either from Shauna or the other survivors, despite their willingness to talk about some of the other terrible things they experienced there, should have been a clue as to what happened to this child was different.
The reason this storyline is so heartbreaking is because it’s so ordinary.
We, like the girls, held out hope much longer than we should have. We could see the same warning signs as they did, but chose to ignore them. Even the episode itself has warnings. The pain that Shauna is in, the huge loss of blood, the placenta comes out first. All of this was a worrying factor, but we, like Shona and the rest of the Yellow Vests, hoped that somehow a miracle would happen. Shauna’s visions of raising a child seem unpalatable, but we literally ignore them until the last moment because we, too, want to believe that they can handle it, that the challenges ahead will be to feed the child and the not painful reality of loss - and when the truth is revealed, Shauna is devastated.
This baby didn’t just mean a lot to Shona; everyone saw this as a sign of hope. They all had fun making baby shower gifts and getting things ready for the baby’s arrival. Everyone was looking forward to this, even if the birth of a child would bring new challenges. The new life will represent hope, change and a future for the girls. The reason why they could all be celebrating instead of being afraid. So that it ended so devastatingly and so flawlessly makes everyone vulnerable. That hope is gone, and with it a new tension will come, because now there is no end in sight, nothing they are striving for but their own survival. It’s easy to see how this depression could easily escalate into more depraved acts in the future, especially seeing how quickly the turning point came after Jackie’s mourning (Ella Purnell) to eat it.
It was really the most terrible result, because it was completely out of anyone’s hands. Like Jackie’s death in the first season, the most crushing sadness comes from the most mundane causes. If they had indeed devoured the child in a feverish cannibal fog, or if Lottie had sacrificed him to the forest, at least there would have been someone to blame. But there is no one else’s fault in a stillborn child, and it’s just heartbreaking, because all this grief and anger has nowhere to go. All these horrible things have come crashing down on these girls completely out of their control or understanding, but it’s so horribly and painfully normal, so flawless.
So many strange things going on in Yellow vests, but it is the worldly horrors that deal the greatest blow. Coach Ben (Stephen Krueger) losing a leg, Misty (Samantha Hanratty), determined to sabotage the black box, Jackie freezes during the night and Shauna gives birth to a baby who never cried out. That’s not what the desert did to them. It’s human, mundane, and horrific. And we knew something was going to happen to Shauna’s baby, and what his absence from the story means, so we theorized wild and terrible things, even when the simplest answer was always at our fingertips. Shauna’s pregnancy always ended in an untold loss. This show is filled with outlandish mysteries and theories, but also with completely mundane tragedies. Our fault was that we thought this unspoken loss was anything but heartbreakingly ordinary.
New episodes yellow jackets Season 2 premieres every Friday on the Showtime streaming app and every Sunday live.
Source: Collider
I have worked as a journalist for over 7 years and have written for many different publications. I currently work as an author at Daily News Hack, where I mostly cover entertainment news. I have a great deal of experience in the industry and am always looking to learn more. I am a highly motivated individual who is always looking to improve my skills. I am also a very friendly and personable person, which makes me easy to work with.
