Image via Kailey Schwerman / ©Paramount+ with Showtime / Courtesy Everett Collection
A series that was a breath of fresh air when it premiered, Yellowjackets has hit some rocky terrain. The Showtime television show set up an engaging survival story, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the heyday of Lost. Even better, it had a predominantly female cast that delved into the complexities and trauma of what it is to be a teenage girl. The first season of Yellowjackets follows a high school girls’ soccer team in the ‘90s that crash-lands in the Canadian wilderness. While the team struggles for survival, the series also flashes forward to the present day as their crimes come back to haunt them decades later.
Yellowjackets had a killer first season, but as the show wore on, certain narrative choices divided the fandom. The series, now set to finish after the upcoming Season 4, hasn’t lived up to its promises as well as it could have. While fans eagerly await the conclusion of the story, there is a demand for a cutting vision of female rage in a series less likely to disappoint viewers. Next on the docket for fan-favorite horror director Mike Flanagan is Carrie, an adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel. The planned miniseries has cast the usual suspects of Flanagan collaborators and is expected to be more streamlined than Yellowjackets, which has languished in purgatory for four seasons.
‘Carrie’ May Be a Better Vehicle For Teenage Trauma
Sissy Spacek on stage in Carrie receiving her Prom Queen flowers and crown
Yellowjackets was the highlight of appointment television when it introduced the world to the titular soccer team. Taking the idea of Lord of the Flies and running with it, the first season shows that there is nothing more dangerous than a teenage girl. Just because they were on a team together didn’t mean they were committed to the idea of sportsmanship. Divisions quickly arise between the girls, particularly Jackie (Ella Purnell) and Shauna (Sophie Nélisse), whose toxic codependency leads to death.
The series is exemplary at showing how teenage trauma can lead to violence, but Yellowjackets stumbles when it comes to long-form storytelling. Many of the questions about the wilderness are still a little too mysterious. Season 4 offers the potential to finally answer these questions and confirm if the show is really supernatural or not. Yellowjackets’ struggle with pacing may show that the story would be better off as a miniseries.
Mike Flanagan’s Carrie has the potential to do just that. While Stephen King’s short novel isn’t a story that necessarily needs to be adapted into a miniseries, it still gives Flanagan the potential to explore themes of vicious womanhood. Without needing to spread itself too thin over seasons of television, these themes can be cutting and direct.
Just as in Yellowjackets, Carrie strips away any notion that teenage girls are more civilized than any other demographic. Carrie White is abused at home and bullied at school, with little room for safety. Her tormenter, Chris Hargensen, is unrepentant and brutal, showing that girls can be some of the worst bullies. Yellowjackets has shown these types of dynamics, but Carrie can push it even further.
Flanagan’s history of adapting The Haunting of Hill House and The Fall of the House of Usher shows his talent for developing an existing work and making it his own. Trauma is at the center of these stories, and with the source material in Carrie, he can increase the tension even further. Carrie should be bloody and unrelenting, and the structure is fairly straightforward if the director sticks with the book. There is a clear ending to this story where Flanagan is sure to stick the landing.
Perhaps Yellowjackets will answer some burning questions and land on a high note. But in the meantime, fans can fill the void of female rage in another classic horror romp from an esteemed filmmaker.
