Tamal Kundu
‘Yellowjackets’ predominantly has two timelines. The first one is set in 1996 and follows the eponymous high-school women’s soccer team and others as they try to survive in the harsh Ontario wilderness after their plane crashes on its way from their New Jersey hometown to Seattle. The second takes place 25 years later, in 2021, as the survivors of those 19 months try their best to navigate their lives.
Shauna (Melanie Lynskey as adult and Sophie Nélisse as teen) is married to Jeff (Warren Kole as adult and Jack Depew as teen), the erstwhile boyfriend of her best friend Jackie (Ella Purnell). After being married for quite some time, things have become stale between Jeff and Shauna. Both the second and third episodes heavily imply that Jeff is having an affair. Here is what you need to know about it. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Is Jeff Cheating on Shauna in Yellowjackets?
Yes, it seems that Jeff is cheating on Shauna in ‘Yellowjackets.’ In episode 2, Shauna learns that Jeff has been meeting a woman named Bianca. So, in episode 3, she decides to follow him. Demonstrably untrained in the sleuth work, she barely manages to keep track of him. He gets to a hotel and vanishes, leaving her to wait in the lounge. This is when Adam (Peter Gadiot), the mysterious and charming man whose car she hit in the previous episode, appears out of nowhere. They share drinks, and Shauna eventually spots Jeff leaving the hotel with a woman, presumably Bianca. This seems to confirm Shauna’s suspicion that Jeff has been cheating on her, and then she proceeds to sleep with Adam.
Jeff and Shauna’s relationship itself began as an affair. He was still with Jackie when he and Shauna had sex for the first time. They apparently felt guilty afterward and decided to stop. Although they didn’t stay true to that decision for long, the guilt remained, or at least for Shauna, it did. Since the crash, it seems that she wants to speak to Jackie about it but isn’t able to muster enough courage. In the coming episodes, it’s bound to be a point of contention between the two of them and might even serve as a critical component that leads to Jackie’s apparent death.
In 2021, the erstwhile popular boy Jeff has turned into an archetypal mundane husband, whose sexual fantasy doesn’t go beyond imagining his wife as a customer at his store. In their own ways, both he and Shauna have become physically and emotionally dissatisfied with their marriage. This has even prompted them to seek help from a marriage counselor.
However, as the series progresses, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Jeff and Shauna seek entirely different things from their marriage. Jeff, who has managed to keep himself in shape, likely seeks the companionship of a woman who also keeps herself in shape. Meanwhile, Shauna wants to fill the dark and delightfully twisted void within her. In episode 3, it appears that Jeff and Shauna have gotten their hearts’ desire with Bianca and Adam, respectively.
Now, it’s entirely possible that Jeff is not having an affair with Bianca, and it was just a plot device that the writers used to make Shauna think that she should cheat as well. Either way, Shauna’s belief about Jeff’s infidelity has led her to Adam, a man she knows virtually nothing about. And that relationship is bound to turn nefarious as the story goes forward.
Read More: Is Yellowjackets Based on a True Story?
