Best Yellowjackets Episodes, Ranked

Summary

• Yellowjackets blends horror and thriller elements, exploring characters’ traumatic pasts and supernatural events.
• Episodes like “Croak” and “It Chooses” highlight intense survival decisions and shocking plot twists.
• The series’ best episodes delve into psychological strain, sacrifice, and betrayals, maintaining tension and character development.

Yellowjackets tells the story of a group of teenagers who suffer a plane crash and end up isolated in a forest, until supernatural events start to occur. Shifting between 1996 and 2021, the series explores the consequences this accident had on the characters’ lives, as they are forced to make extreme decisions to survive. Carrying this trauma, their past returns to haunt them when they feel hunted.

Blending elements of horror and thriller, the best episodes of Yellowjackets not only explore the consequences of their past but also expand on its mythology, which remains strong even after their rescue from the forest. Facing their own traumas, the protagonists have grown into women with personal conflicts, while their past continues to haunt their present lives, including terrifying supernatural events.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Yellowjackets.

10

Croak

Limits Are Crossed In One Of The Series’ Most Intense Episodes

• Season: 3
• Episode: 7
• IMDb Rating: 8.2

A direct follow-up to Thanksgiving, the chapter explores the consequences of the protagonists’ past actions as palpable danger mounts during the scientists’ tense encounter with the survivors, finally exposing the forest’s grim boundaries to viewers. The clash establishes an unrelenting pace and underscores how isolation erodes trust among the stranded women over weeks of mounting psychological strain.

Misty’s investigation delivers a stunning plot twist that proves the series keeps its shock factor even as the seasons progress, employing strong elements of horror and investigative thriller to sustain constant tension and carve a distinctive narrative atmosphere. The hour unleashes bombshell revelations and portrays its characters in raw detail, consolidating its status as one of the show’s finest installments.

9

Thanksgiving

Yellowjackets Keeps Surprising Fans With Its Explosive Revelations

• Season: 3
• Episode: 6
• IMDb Rating: 7.9

In the past timeline, a group of adults approaches the survivors in the forest, sparking a deadly confrontation with extreme consequences, while distrust spreads through the camp as the girls question one another about recent supernatural incidents. Back in 2021, Shauna navigates an unconventional family holiday rife with tense revelations that shake her relationships deeply.

Packed with twists, the episode explores the escalating violence of survivors distancing themselves from their humanity amid isolation, while the present-day plot exposes secrets in explosive fashion and tests alliances among the protagonists. Blending family drama with rising horror, it secures a place among the finest installments of Yellowjackets for its relentless pacing and character insight.

8

It Chooses

With A Tragic Ending, This Is One Of The Most Important Episodes Of Yellowjackets

• Season: 2
• Episode: 8
• IMDb Rating: 7.8

With winter’s threat looming, the survivors take a drastic decision to confront starvation, agreeing that sacrifice is the group’s only path to survival, and a grim drawing scene sentences a beloved character to death. In the present timeline, the ritual repeats, forcing each woman to reckon with secrets thought buried.

Reenacting former terrors, the survivors confront trauma in a therapy session where truth emerges in the bloodiest way imaginable, culminating in a tense hunt that ends tragically. Simultaneously, 2021 revelations about the blackmailer erode trust across timelines, making the chapter pivotal to the series’ overarching mystery and redefining the stakes for everyone involved in both place and time.

7

Edible Complex

With An Impactful Turn, This Episode Of Yellowjackets Is One Of The Series’ Most Visceral

• Season: 2
• Episode: 2
• IMDb Rating: 7.9

The survivors finally resort to cannibalism, and the meal is presented in a dreamlike sequence that intercuts with the stark reality of their condition, producing a moment as disturbing as it is symbolic. Crossing that line ensures the characters will never be the same, making the hour a clear turning point for the ongoing narrative.

Marked by striking visuals and a script unafraid to expose uncomfortable truths, the episode explores the protagonists with intimate focus while dramatizing the psychological toll of hunger. Shauna’s conversations with Jackie’s corpse underscore the eroding sanity of the group and cement the installment’s visceral reputation as the forest closes in on their minds and bodies with relentless pressure.

6

Qui

With A Somber Atmosphere, This Is One Of The Best Episodes Of Yellowjackets

• Season: 2
• Episode: 6
• IMDb Rating: 7.9

Alternating between reality and hallucination, ‘Qui’ stands among the series’ saddest chapters, depicting Shauna’s childbirth in agonizing detail and delivering consequences that are brutally real and cruel. By teasing hope only to reveal illusion, the ending douses viewers with cold water, amplifying despair and reinforcing the unforgiving tone of the season for every character involved.

The survivors gather at Lottie’s compound, setting the stage for the season’s final chapters, as the group braces to deliver Shauna’s baby while contending with police scrutiny over Adam’s death in the present. Meanwhile, Misty prepares to confront Lottie, fearing for her friends’ safety and deepening the internal fractures among the women within their rapidly splintering support network.

5

Saints

Featuring A Tense Sequence, This Is One Of The Best Episodes Of Yellowjackets

• Season: 1
• Episode: 6
• IMDb Rating: 7.5

In the 1996 timeline, Shauna chooses a drastic course regarding her pregnancy with Tai’s help in one of the show’s most nerve-racking moments, while Lottie undergoes a baptism performed by Laura Lee, emphasizing the importance of her visions amid the chaos. In the present, Shauna attends dinner with Jackie’s family, and Taissa uncovers answers about her sleepwalking.

Shauna’s desperation drives her toward an abortion attempt that illustrates decision-making under extreme circumstances, where rescue seems impossible and vulnerability is stark. Supernatural elements surface through Tai’s experiences, deepening the mythology and showcasing the lead actors’ performances, securing the installment among the series’ best while highlighting the thinning line between faith and menace in the wilderness.

4

F Sharp

One Protagonist Makes A Tragic Decision That Changes Her Destiny Forever

• Season: 1
• Episode: 2
• IMDb Rating: 7.9

After the crash, the survivors face fear and tension as they try to rebuild among the wreckage, and the hour focuses on Misty, who thrives amid chaos and takes a radical step that dooms the group once she senses her newfound importance. The story impresses through stark realism and psychological horror as trauma settles over every character.

Misty showcases medical skills while aiding injured passengers at a moment when hope is scarce and then makes the tragic choice to destroy the emergency transmitter. With graphic injuries and burgeoning supernatural hints, Shauna turns to unconventional methods to revitalize her relationship with Jeff, revealing her chaotic nature and ensuring the episode’s place among Yellowjackets highlights.

3

Flight of the Bumblebee

One Of The Season’s Most Emotional Episodes With The Loss Of A Beloved Character

• Season: 1
• Episode: 8
• IMDb Rating: 7.9

Recovering from a wolf attack, the survivors prepare to cremate Vanessa’s body, only for Van to awaken suddenly, revealing she is not dead under the shocked gazes of her friends. Meanwhile, Adam’s murder haunts Shauna and her family, while Laura Lee decides in the past to fly the plane and find help, an act that symbolizes dwindling hope.

As one of the show’s most tragic hours, the episode demonstrates that the narrative never shies from real consequences, whether in Laura Lee’s courageous flight or Vanessa’s injuries. When hope is lost, the installment balances action and drama masterfully, creating an emotional high point for the season and leaving viewers truly breathless at every turn.

2

Doomcoming

The Forest Sequence Is One Of The Series’ Scariest

• Season: 1
• Episode: 9
• IMDb Rating: 8.1/10

Facing the onset of winter, the survivors arrange a party that spirals into fatal consequences when they unwittingly ingest psychedelic mushrooms and their behavior turns erratic amid the oppressive deep darkness of the forest night. In 2021, Shauna acts on growing suspicion toward her lover Adam, taking decisive measures that reverberate through her family life.

Acting as a prelude to the season finale, the episode explores the survivors’ escalating savagery as ritualistic aggression surfaces, revealing how the wilderness magnifies their primal instincts. Blending horror and mystery, it probes the characters’ psyches and their reactions to mysticism, emphasizing the supernatural thread throughout the hour with imagery that lingers well beyond the credits.

1

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

Reaching The Height Of Tension, This Is The Best Episode Of Yellowjackets

• Season: 1
• Episode: 10
• IMDb Rating: 8.2/10

As the first-season finale, ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi’ stands as the best episode of the series, wrapping narrative threads introduced in early chapters and opening the door to a second season. Surprising and emotional moments profoundly impact the characters at the center of the story while setting new personal stakes for each survivor in 2021.

During the 25-year reunion night, the core survivors confront the fallout of their recent actions as long-buried secrets surface on a night meant for celebration yet steeped in dread. In 1996, tension from the Doomcoming ritual triggers extreme conflict among the girls, culminating in the death of one of them and crystallizing the relentless stakes of Yellowjackets.