Tamal Kundu
Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, the Showtime series ‘Yellowjackets’ tells the story of a group of female soccer players from a New Jersey high school who get trapped in the Ontario wilderness after their plane crashes. To survive in hostile surroundings, they must make certain extreme decisions, including cannibalism.
Portrayed by Luciano Leroux, Javi Martinez is an important supporting character in ‘Yellowjackets.’ He is the youngest and one of the three male survivors of the crash. If his absence at the start of the second season has made you wonder of his whereabouts, we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Javi’s Disappearance After Chaotic Night
Javi is the younger brother of Travis Martinez (Kevin Alves) and the son of Coach Bill Martinez. The latter was killed in the crash, and the survivors found his body impaled on a branch of a tree. His father’s death left Javi traumatized, and he continued to chew on gum his father gave him until his brother forced him to spit it out.
As their time in the wilderness stretched on, Javi befriended one of the other survivors, Shauna Sheridan (Melanie Lynskey as adult and Sophie Nélisse as teen). One time, Shauna caught Javi rummaging through her bag. Although he claimed that he had been looking for her knife so he could carve some artwork, Shauna didn’t believe him and placed her diary on the rafters of the house.
In the present day, after Shauna meets artist Adam Martin (Peter Gadiot) and they begin an affair, a considerable portion of the audience began to think that Adam is secretly Javi. This was later proven incorrect, though series creators told Variety they considered the idea before discarding it. “It felt infinitely more tragic to us,” Lyle stated. “It being Javi come back is fun, but it feels a little mustache-twirly, which is not necessarily the place we want to go.”
In the past, following the death of Laura Lee, the survivors became increasingly pessimistic about their chances of getting out of the wilderness alive. So, they organized “Doomcoming.” If they were back home, they would be attending homecoming. But stranded in the middle of nowhere and with no apparent chance of a rescue, throwing a party called doomcoming seemed fitting.
Javi started the party by ringing a bell. Unbeknownst to the other survivors, Misty Quigley (Christina Ricci as adult and Sammi Hanratty as teen) put magic mushrooms in the food to poison Coach Scott, whom she had a crush on. Under the influence of the mushrooms, the girls’ behavior became erratic, and they started chasing Travis. Shauna spotted Javi and told him to run away. The following morning, Travis couldn’t find Javi anywhere.
A Grim Twist of Fate for Javi
As season 2 begins, two months have passed since Javi has gone missing. Almost everyone among the survivors, except Travis, has given up on him. Travis and Natalie (Juliette Lewis as adult and Sophie Thatcher as teen) often go on a hunt together and look for Javi, but they find neither. In the season 2 premiere, Travis has an anxiety attack thinking about his brother. As Nat tries to calm him down and fails, Lottie Matthews (Simone Kessell as adult and Courtney Eaton as teen) steps in and gives Travis hope, telling him that he will see his brother again.
In episode 4, Lottie’s words prove to be true. While out trying to find more Symbols in the woods, Taissa and Van spot someone running away from them. They give chase and eventually catch the person. When they see the person, their faces light up. They subsequently take the person back to the cabin, where the rest of the survivors are stunned to discover that Javi is still alive.
Javi looks wild and confused and doesn’t speak to anyone, including his brother, who hugs him and realizes that Nat lied to him. Meanwhile, Lottie’s followers are now more convinced than ever about her abilities, and Van has started to think that whatever is inside Taissa is a force for good. After all, they wouldn’t have been at that part of the woods and encountered Javi if it weren’t for the Symbols.
In episode 8, Coach Scott learns from Nat that Javi has been bowing to one of the Symbols, making him realize that he must have been hiding somewhere near. He finds drawings of a tree among Javi’s things that night and sets out to find the location in the following morning, eventually coming across a cave with water and canned food. Unfortunately, just when it seems that Scott has solved their food problems, at least temporarily, the others let Javi drown in freezing water for the same reason.
Read More: Who Are Alive in Yellowjackets? Theories, Explained
