Yellowjackets Season 2 upped the stakes with one simple move: winter setting in. Now that the wilderness is covered in snow and ice, hunting is harder, morale is low, and, most importantly, Javi is missing. Travis’ younger brother disappeared after Season 1’s “Doomcoming” and hasn’t been seen since. It’s tortured Travis, and while Lottie keeps his hope alive, Natalie wants him to come to terms with the obvious — even going so far as to fake evidence.
But at the end of Episode 4, we learned just what Javi’s fate was. But how could that come about? The explanation may have come earlier in the episode.
Warning! Major spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 2 Episode 4 ahead!
Episode 4, “Old Wounds,” follows Natalie and Lottie as they finally come head to head. Natalie doesn’t believe in Lottie’s spiritual leadership, but their teammates seem drawn to her for hope. So the group proposes a test: both girls will venture out, and whoever finds the most food wins.
Lottie makes a blood sacrifice to the symbol — after all, it worked in getting the birds last episode — but instead goes on a hallucinatory journey that sends her into what appears to be an underground bunker leading to a dream-like mall.
She eventually returns to the real world and is revived by her teammates, but later that night Tai and Van head out into the cold while Tai is sleepwalking, only to run into Javi, finally returned after months alone. Is his return because of Lottie’s sacrifice, or is there something more practical at hand?
Wild theory time: What if the bunker Lottie hallucinated actually exists, and is where Javi’s been hiding out? It may not be exactly where she found it, but there have long been theories that underground mining may have caused everything we’ve seen in the wilderness.
Maybe those mines also included a bunker. There’s evidence that there’s warmth underground, especially with that mysterious tree trunk that melts the snow around it, something Van stumbles on only moments before she and Tai find Javi.
“Secret bunker” is not a new concept for mystical survival dramas, as it was one of the first big plot twists in Lost. The ABC series is often mentioned as a spiritual predecessor for Yellowjackets, so while it would be a huge plot twist for Yellowjackets, it would make sense for the show as a whole.
Now that we know that Javi’s alive, it’s one less mystery surrounding this show, but the mystery of how he survived is still lingering.
