Tamal Kundu
Showtime’s ‘Yellowjackets’ is split into two timelines. In 1996, the eponymous high school female soccer team is involved in a plane crash. The survivors find themselves stranded in the Ontario wilderness. As the weather becomes harsher with the advent of winter and resources become scarce, the survivors are forced to make drastic choices, including cannibalism.
Misty Quigley (Christina Ricci as adult; Samantha Hanratty as teen) is one of the main characters in ‘Yellowjackets.’ She is initially not part of the soccer team but still travels to the Nationals in Seattle with the others. In season 1 episode 2, titled ‘F Sharp,’ Misty destroys the plane’s emergency locator transmitter or the flight recorder. If you are wondering about the reasons behind her actions, we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Misty’s Desire for Acceptance
In season 2 episode 5, titled ‘Two Truths and a Lie,’ Misty seems to have found a friend in Crystal (Nuha Jes Izman), a Yellowjacket introduced in season 2. A theatre kid, she initially irritates Misty and the other survivors with her singing and humming, but the two girls grow close and begin to share secrets. Crystal reveals that her real name is Kristen. On the first day of practice, one of the other girls called her Crystal the Pistol, and the nickname stuck. Crystal didn’t bother to correct it because she never had a nickname before. She also revealed that she was supposed to have a twin but devoured them while they were in their mother’s womb.
In response, while out running an errand together, Misty tells Crystal that she found the flight recorder and destroyed it. Realizing that all the misery and deaths since the crash can be attributed to Misty, Crystal is understandably horrified. Seeing the sudden changes in the other girl, Misty tries to backtrack, claiming that it was only a joke, but Crystal, being a performer, sees through the lie. Misty then tries to threaten Crystal, who accidentally falls to her death from the cliff.
Before the Yellowjackets got stranded in the Wilderness, Misty was a nerdy outcast who was attached to the WHS Yellowjackets, a high-school female soccer team from Wiskayok, New Jersey, as the equipment manager. Even though she desperately wanted to be one of the girls, she was never truly part of the team. After the crash, things suddenly changed for Misty, as she assumed the role of the healer among the survivors because of her first-aid skills. Suddenly, Misty found herself with a modicum of power and influence over the others. The rest of the survivors actually needed her and acknowledged her. Misty used to have an eager-to-please attitude. That transformed into a savior complex in a short time after the clash. When she found the flight recorder, she simply didn’t want this newfound sense of achievement to end. As a result, Misty decided to destroy it.
Misty virtually worshipped the Yellowjacket members and desperately wanted to be one of them. The crash effectively erased that gap and made her a part of the fledgling community. Because of this, she is the antithesis of Jackie (Ella Purnell). The captain of the soccer team, Jackie struggled to adapt to her new circumstances after the crash, with many of her teammates accusing her of not doing her share. She eventually died of hypothermia after spending a night in the open. In contrast, Misty adapts with terrifying ease, becoming a leading figure in the community who serves an important purpose.
Misty lost much of the trust she gained after she poisoned the food with hallucinogenic mushrooms during the Doomcoming. However, tntly begun to change again in season 2, especially after how she handles herself when Shauna goes into labor. We know that the survivors will split into groups in the future and try to hunt each other. We also know that Misty will be the leader of one of these groups. Like any other Yellowjacket who has made it out of the Wilderness alive, the present-day Misty is made up of the skills and behavior she accumulated while she was stranded, making her truly terrifying.
