Spoiler Alert: This article contains detailed spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 3.
Yellowjackets delivered yet another action-filled and mind-bending storyline with Season 3, Episode 8, titled 'A Normal, Boring Life. The episode dives deeper into the lives of the Yellowjackets, who are scrambling to keep their sanity amidst the chaos. The episode brought forth Academy Award-winning Hilary Swank as the adult Melissa. The relationship between Melissa and Shauna takes a twisted turn.
Shauna makes a startling discovery
The episode starts with Shauna having a disturbing dream. In a grocery store, teenage Shauna is scanning several packets of meat absentmindedly. Jackie questions her about why she is wasting her skills. When she looks down, she sees that all the packets are filled with severed body parts. Adult Shauna wakes up in the car outside the house of Hannah’s daughter, Alex.
Shauna sneaks into the house and, shockingly, finds that Melissa, who was previously thought to be dead, is alive and well. A puzzled Shauna faces off with Melissa, forcing her to tell the truth. Melissa, who now goes by Kelly, married Alex, and they have a child together. She reveals that she faked her death so she did not have to be around the Yellowjackets anymore, especially Shauna. Melissa decided to change her identity so as to get a fresh start.
Misty called upon Shauna, showing her displeasure at not being present at the hospital. Tai is informed by the doctors that Van, whose condition is worsening, will need to opt for hospice during her last days. But Tai has her own agenda in place as she asks Misty to help her out.
The teenagers get ready to be rescued
We go back to the 90’s, where teenage Misty finds her broken glasses and wanders around the forest lost. Akilah is leaving with Travis and Kodi, but she is feeling guilty about leaving others behind as she had a vision of her getting back home with Ben. Travis gives it straight to her when he says that she is not a prophet and her visions can never become reality. Akilah refuses to accept it and leaves items for Misty to find.
Everyone questions Hannah, but her knowledge is limited as she knows very little about the situation other than something she heard on the news. The girls are upset that people have abandoned them in the place, and no one seems to be looking for them.
In the present, Jeff and Callie are at a hotel. Jeff gets tense when he sees the businessman with whom Shauna had wrecked a potential deal. He tries to make another offer but fails. He gets a call from a frantic Misty, who is angry at Shauna for having disappeared on her. She goes on to ask Jeff where Shauna was the day Lottie died, hinting at her possible hand in the murder. Jeff is confused by it all and constantly tries to reach Misty but to no avail.
A younger Akilah distracts Travis and Kodi so the others in the group can find them. Akilah goes on to defend Travis’s plan that would have led to everyone’s rescue. They realise that they have about six days to get to the rescue point, a small bit of sunshine in all the misery. When Nat asks everyone to pack their things, Shauna and Lottie express their displeasure about going to the rescue point. Shauna reiterates that Nat is no longer the leader, and Lottie believes that they should stay in the wilderness. But everyone else is determined to get home.
Shauna continued to bombard Melissa with questions. Shauna asks where she got the tape, for which Melissa responds that Hannah had given it to her in the hopes that she would give it to her daughter, Alex. But she did not carry out her wishes.
Melissa reveals that she loves Alex, but she doesn’t know anything about Melissa’s past, and she wants to keep it that way. She also shares that she did not send the tape to Shauna as blackmail; instead, it was meant to be a way for Melissa to accept the past. She reveals that she had even sent a note with it explaining the same, but Shauna never got it. Shauna refuses to believe Melissa.
Tai is caught between present and past
Tai, meanwhile, is determined to save Van in any way she can. She finds a dying man in the hospital and screams in his face, and he dies after his heart gives away. Showing glimpses of the wildness in Tai even as an adult.
Back in the forest, everyone is preparing to leave the wilderness behind. They all start imagining living in the civilized society again; from drinking slurpees to using toilet papers and sleeping on mattresses, they eagerly wait to experience it all. Tai is fearful that her relationship with Van may be tested in the world outside, and people may judge all of them for their activities in the woods during that time. Nonetheless, a rational Van assures her that getting home is far more important than everything else.
Meanwhile, teenage Melissa points out that Shauna has been oblivious to her. Shauna refuses to accept that she is a self-centred person. That is again made obvious when she doesn't care for Melissa and when she shares about things she wants to do once they are rescued.
At Melissa and Alex’s house, Shauna points out that Melissa is leading a ‘normal, boring life’ shrouded in secrets, which is unfair.
In the wilderness, the teenagers are preparing to go to the rescue point when Akilah gets a vision that all her animals have died. Lottie feels that the negative vision means that they should stay back. Nat, however, is all set to bid farewell.
Tai is regretful of her act in the hospital and pleads with the other Tai to let her see Van. The other Tai says that she can’t, making one suspect that the Other Tai has been in front all along.
Shauna takes charge
The teenagers are almost ready to leave the camp when Lottie announces that she is staying back. Shauna and Tai also decide to remain in the wilderness. The three express that something feels off about the whole situation as their minds continue to concoct unwanted scenarios.
Back at the hotel, Jeff and Callie meet the businessman again. Jeff decides to get bold and tells him that he is the right man for the job. Callie feels proud of her father for believing in himself.
The episode finishes in signature Yellowjackets style, as Shauna attacks Melissa and bites off her skin. She threatens her, saying that if she doesn’t eat it, she is going to reveal Melissa’s true identity to her family.
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