Tamal Kundu
Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, the Showtime series ‘Yellowjackets’ tells the story of the members of a New Jersey high school girls’ soccer team whose plane crashes in the Ontario wilderness while taking them to the nationals in Seattle in 1996. As winter arrives and food becomes scarce, the survivors are forced to resort to cannibalism. In the present, those who have made it out of the Wilderness alive carry their trauma with them. In season 2 episode 8, titled ‘ It Chooses,’ as Lottie’s (Simone Kessell as adult; Courtney Eaton as teen) condition worsens in the past, the survivors decide that they have to kill someone among themselves.
Meanwhile, Scott (Steven Krueger) finds the cave where Javi (Luciano Leroux) had been hiding until he was found. In the present, Yellowjackets come together, and truths come out. Lottie suggests they should resort to their old ways of dealing with the current predicaments. Here is everything you might want to know about the ending of ‘Yellowjackets’ season 2 episode 8. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Yellowjackets Season 2 Episode 8 Recap
The episode begins in the past. After letting Shauna (Melanie Lynskey as adult; Sophie Nélisse as teen) beat her to a pulp so she can release all her pain and anger, Lottie lingers on the verge of death. Meanwhile, the survivors begin to hallucinate because of the lack of food. It turns out that Akilah was hallucinating when she found the mouse in the cabin. It was already dead and dried. Driven to the brink of insanity, Akilah considers whether she should eat the carcass before pocketing it.
After seeing how Nat (Juliette Lewis as adult; Sophie Thatcher as teen) makes Javi smile, Travis (Kevin Alves) reaches out with the olive branch, and they immediately reconcile. Later, while speaking to Scott, Nat lets him know that she saw Javi bowing to one of the Symbols. While she remains one of the detractors of Lottie and is concerned about the effect the girl has on others, Scott seems to have another idea. He seems to realize that Javi must have been hiding near the Symbol he was bowing to. That night, he rummages through Javi’s things and finds a drawing of a tree.
Others also start to have hallucinations. Mari sees the walls are bleedings. The survivors are forced to eat a belt they find. As their hunger starts to consume them, they decide they can’t kill Lottie, nor can they wait for her to die, especially not after what she did for them.
So, they consider what Lottie would have suggested if she was conscious and comes up with the idea that they should let the Wilderness choose. They take a deck of cards, mark one of them, and shuffle the deck. The idea is that each of them will take one of the cards from the deck. The person with the marked card will die. Eventually, Nat turns out to be the loser. But before she can be killed, Travis, remembering the attack on him on Doomcoming, intervenes and lets her escape.
Twenty-five years later, the more time the Yellowjackets spend with each other, the more truths come out. Misty not only reveals that Taissa hired Jessica Roberts to spy on the others but also that she (Misty) killed the woman to keep their secret safe. Misty also figures out Jeff is the blackmailer, not Adam, which predictably causes quite a commotion. Back at the Sadecki home, the police come to search the premise, and Callie later learns about her unborn elder brother. Elsewhere, Walter ponders on the idea of contacting the police.
Yellowjackets Season 2 Episode 8 Ending: Is Javi Dead?
Yes, Javi is dead in ‘Yellowjackets’ season 2. The way the plot builds up in this episode, you, as a viewer, feel that something horrific and dreadful is coming. When Nat is selected, you know she will not die, so it must be someone else. There are hints scattered throughout the episode that indicate that it will be Scott. But they all are evidently misdirection.
As Nat flees, a group of girls subdues Travis while the others run after Nat with their makeshift spears and war cries. Javi catches up to Nat, and speaking for the first time since his return, he urges her to follow him. Although she is reluctant as she doesn’t know whether she can trust Javi eventually does. Together, they run across the frozen lake, with the other survivors hot on their trail. Suddenly, the ice under Javi’s feet breaks and falls into the water. He begs Nat to help him, but Misty and the others arrive and stop her. They all stand there and watch Xavi drown, accepting it as the judgment of the Wilderness.
What Does Scott Find in the Cave?
It’s pretty safe to assume that Javi was leading Nat to the cave he hid when he was missing. From Javi’s sketches, Scott locates the cave underneath a tree with the Symbol. He discovers that the cave has water, canned food, and animal bones, which explains how Javi survived this long on his own.
This is inarguably one of the best episodes of the show. What happens to Javi is a perfect example of cruel irony, perfectly set up by the writers. He knew there was food and water in walking distance, but he never spoke about them because of his trauma. The others let him die because they are hungry, not realizing that he was inadvertently leading them to a solution to their problems. Javi didn’t need to die, and that’s what makes this such a humongous tragedy. When Travis finds out about Javi and the cave, he will break. There is no way around it. It’s no wonder that he was so broken as an adult.
Read More: Is Lottie’s Therapist Real or Her Imagination in Yellowjackets?
