A trial resulted in some of the best drama of this season of Yellowjackets. Shauna continues to gain power and strength in the teen years. However, in the present, someone hunts her. Meanwhile, Misty tries to find her own new path forward. It’s not only one that requires her to rethink her relationship to the Yellowjackets, but Walter as well. “Did Tai Do That” also gives us insight into its titular character. Her struggle between her former life and future with Van continues to cause her grief. Combined with the group’s shared sadness about Lottie’s death, there’s a lot to work through.
Yellowjackets — “Did Tai Do That” — The Recap
In the morgue, Misty (Christina Ricci) stands over Lottie’s body. She speaks with the mortician about Lottie’s personal effects and blackmails him so she can take the items. While he’s out of the room, she does some quick investigative work over her body. Afterward, she calls a meeting with Taissa (Tawny Cypress), Van, and Shauna (Melanie Lynskey). Misty breaks the news of Lottie’s death to the other women but immediately believes something is off about their friend’s death. Shauna asks where Misty was when Lottie died. The group starts throwing accusations around. Misty promises to find out who killed Lottie and storms out of her own house.
Coach Ben sits in his “prison cell,” surrounded by the animals the girls keep for meals. He makes small talk with Akilah (Nia Sondaya) about the animals, but she tries to give him no info about his upcoming punishment. The other teens discuss how to execute him for his crimes. After some disagreements, Nat pitches a firing squad. They’ll draw cards, and as Van (Liv Hewson) points out, the “winner” should draw the King of Hearts this time.
In the present, Misty calls back to the morgue when she realizes Lottie’s cell phone is not in her effects. She goes out to investigate, but Shauna is tailing her from a distance. When she drives through the streets, Shauna realizes she’s also being tailed by a blacked-out sports car. Shauna pulls into an alley and brake checks her tailer. It turns out Walter (Elijah Wood) was suspicious of Shauna because she’s killed before, but as Shauna points out, so have Misty and Walter. They agree to work together.
Van and Tai go out to eat, but Van is still struggling with Lottie’s death. Tai admits that nothing about their lives makes sense. Van asks Tai where she was when they were in the city, but they’re interrupted by Tai receiving a phone call from Simone. Misty walks into the hotel where Lottie died and immediately breaks into the crime scene. She notices scratches on the walls and grows even more suspicious. Misty speaks with the doormen and realizes that Lottie had not only lived in the building since she was a kid, but Lottie had been living with him over the last few weeks.
In the forest, the teens draw their cards and show their hands. The wilderness picks Tai to deliver the sentence to Coach Ben. Van tries to coach Tai on how to shoot the gun, but her girlfriend is struggling. Van thinks that she can bring out the “other Tai” to come out and shoot Ben. As Tai expresses more doubt, Van thinks it cannot hurt to try to summon the other version.
Teen Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) sits alone on the creek side and sharpens a knife. Melissa (Jenna Burgess) comes over to give Shauna a gift of items she’s made. Shauna does not understand why Melissa cares about her, but Melissa tells her that just because others have treated her poorly, the woods has helped a stronger side of Shauna come out. Shauna thanks her and uses the new knife sheath Melissa made.
Teen Misty brings Coach Ben a big meal of fish and veggies. When she does, Ben realizes that something is off immediately, and Misty admits that they are coming at dark. Misty tells Coach what he’s meant to her, and from there, say goodbye. Teen Lottie asks Akilah to return to the cave. They agree to head out into the woods.
In the present, Misty knocks at Lottie’s Penthouse door. Marty, her father, sees through Misty’s lies at first, but she convinces him with a few specific details about Lottie. He agrees to let her into the hall, and Misty finds a $50000 bank transaction receipt in Lottie’s fur coat. She’s even more surprised when Walter and Shauna are already in the house, as the two of them are pretending to work for the internet provider. Misty and Walter agree to go head-to-head on the case.
Teen Van tries to help Tai fall asleep, but at first it’s not working. However, they decide to take a more intimate approach and begin to sleep together. Travis, Akilah, and Lottie reach the cave to try to recreate the visions. Akilah struggles to go back into the cave, but with Travis’ assurance, she decides to go into the cave.
Tai and Van arrive at the park, where Simone sits on a bench. While Tai goes to speak with Sammy, Simone sizes up Van. However, they’re interrupted when Sammy acts freaked out by his mom.
Misty investigates Lottie’s bedroom but gets caught by Marty. He tells her to leave, but in the process, she gets Shauna and Walter booted as well. Walter realizes Misty found something but they head in opposite directions down the hall. Walter and Shauna discuss the situation with Misty, and he tries to get her to agree to swap hair for DNA purposes. She does not agree, but Walter finds some of her hair in a hat.
Teen Tai and Teen Van give up trying to fall asleep and bring out the alternate Tai. However, on the way back, they hear one of their traps has successfully grabbed a rabbit. Van pushes Tai to kill the rabbit as practice, and when she does, the winds blow through the trees, indicating the wilderness is happy with her actions. Akilah goes into the cave, and while she does not experience the visions at first, but after some time, Travis feels the rope go slack. Travis and Lottie find her passed out and quickly retrieve her. Lottie tells Travis to give Akilah a minute before waking her up.
In the present, Walter and Misty continue to fight. She thinks she’s found the phone, but Walter has already cloned it. He offers to share the information but Misty gets angry at his betrayal. She storms off, telling Shauna they deserve each other. Shauna steps into Lottie’s bedroom and tries to place herself in Lottie’s shoes. As she does, Marty walks in and speaks to her as if Shauna is Lottie. We see a juxtaposed flashback, but it’s clear Marty is suffering from a form of dementia.
Adult Taissa replays her conversation with Sammy, where he asked her if she’s still his mommy. He ran away and hurt Taissa deeply. Van comes in to check on him, and Taissa tells Van they should leave this place.
Akilah finally wakes up and tells Travis and Lottie about her vision. She walked up to a cliff, but she was standing on a large version of Coach Scott. He was suspending her in the air. With this, she could not see the darkness on the other side of the cliff, but she felt hopeful. Coach Ben wakes up from a dream with Paul, but the girls are standing around him instead. They put a bag over his head and they take him to the place for his execution.
Natalie gives Coach her necklace, and Coach Ben begs for them to not do this. They try to cover his face again, but he will not let them. He wants them to look him in the eye, but eventually, they put the bag over his head. He continues to plead for his life and the crowd begins to sob. Tai cocks the gun and prepares to shoot.
As she does, Travis and Lottie intervene. They call Coach Scott the bridge and everyone stops. However, later that night, Melissa and Shauna walk into his prison. They pull out a knife, and Coach Scott begs them not to kill him. Instead, Shauna pushes Melissa to slash his Achilles, ensuring that he cannot escape the camp. They return to the other girls, who all seem shell-shocked by the screams. When Nat tells Shauna she should not enjoy it, Shauna reminds Nat that she’s no saint either. They all part ways for the night.
Was “Did Tai Do That?” Worth Watching?
“Did Tai Do That” was one of the more consequential episodes of Yellowjackets after an excellent one last week. Not only do we dig deeper into the Coach versus the team mentality, but Shauna is starting to wield her power in dangerous ways. Meanwhile, the Lottie faction continues to grow. The past paves the way for integral events in the future, and Yellowjackets thrives when it highlights the differences between each era.
The Van and Tai relationship also proves fertile ground for exploration. In the present, Van grows suspicious that Tai’s “other” has come out in spurts. It also represents a general distrust in her partner, which could soon bear fruit. The same can be said of the Tai’s struggles. She has always had difficulty hurting creatures or people, especially Sammy. This makes Van’s suspicions even more relevant. Something had to happen in the woods to make her wonder, “Did Tai Do That?” when it came to Lottie’s death.
“Did Tai Do That?” also shows Misty and Walter have hit a rough patch. Misty’s jealousy towards Shauna has always been part of the show, but in this case, Walter clearly pushed the button to illicit a reaction. Even though Shauna was the best person for this moment, Walter did it for spite. Knowing it would get a rise out of Misty, he pushed it hard. The dynamic between the three is executed to perfection in “Did Tai Do That?,” allowing for a comedic foil to exist within the larger stakes of the show.
It’s another well written episode of Yellowjackets, and “Did Tai Do That?” might rank among its best directed. After the sequence with Coach Ben at the tree, it felt like Yellowjackets was ending on a strong note. To then immediately follow with that final scene was genius. Having the Achilles slash also means the trial still holds strong meaning. It shows that even when Yellowjackets feels like it hit a new high, it can find a way to subvert the expectation effectively.
“Did Tai Do That?” airs on March 7, 2025. Yellowjackets airs on Friday on Paramount+ and Sundays on Showtime.
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