There’s a world in which Yellowjackets is a lovely show about perseverance and the power of enduring friendships. It presumably exists exclusively in the mind of one Misty Quigley. And in Nerdist video editor Matt Caron’s incredible mashup, which reframes the spooky Showtime drama in the style of Golden Girls. He cut together an opening title featuring the Yellowjackets in all their murderous, allegedly cannibalistic glory. Using the iconic Golden Girls theme song, of course.
And much like Misty Quigley, the video appears bright and sunny, with some very sinister undertones running through it. Naturally, the ladies centered in the mashup are the quartet of 2021 survivors we kept up with throughout season one: Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Tai (Tawny Cypress), Natalie (Juliette Lewis), and Misty (Christina Ricci). However, we do appreciate that everyone gets their moment. There are the Yellowjackets who didn’t survive season one, the mysterious symbol, the séance, the antler coven gnawing on human remains-turned-dinner. It’s truly a beautiful thing.
And it’s timely, too, considering Golden Girls aired throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s. The Yellowjackets were just middle schoolers, after all, when Dorothy moved out of the house and Golden Girls ended in 1992.
While I’ve gotten a kick out of the mashup’s sheer goofiness, it’s also a great vessel for sleuthing. Who is the masked Yellowjacket potentially eating their teammate? Maybe it’ll click for me on my 500th watch. Like most of the internet, Yellowjackets is buzzing around my brain nonstop. And it’ll likely continue, as the series is reportedly aiming to return for season two later this year. One of the best ways to pass the time while we await news out of the Canadian wilderness is consume as much Yellowjackets content as possible. Reading all the theories and going down a rabbit hole looking for missed clues. But at least I can hum “Thank You For Being a Friend” while I do so.
