Yellowjackets episode 6, titled "Saints," is where the show finally stops flirting with the supernatural and starts leaning into the terrifying reality of what these girls are becoming. Most people remember the big stuff—the seance, the wolf attack—but "Saints" is the quiet, jagged heart of the first season. It’s the episode where belief becomes a survival mechanism. Honestly, if you aren't paying attention to the religious imagery here, you're missing the entire point of why they eventually start wearing animal skins and ritualizing murder.
It’s heavy.
We see Lottie’s descent into something unexplainable, or maybe just a mental health crisis exacerbated by a plane crash and a lack of Loxapine. It's hard to tell. That’s the brilliance of the writing. By the time we hit the halfway mark of the season, the show stops asking "what happened?" and starts asking "who are they now?"
The Baptism of Lottie Matthews
In Yellowjackets episode 6, Lottie’s transformation is the anchor. You’ve got Laura Lee—bless her heart and her misguided conviction—deciding that a literal lakeside baptism is the cure for Lottie’s visions. It’s desperate. It’s also one of the most visually arresting scenes in the whole series. When Lottie goes under that water and sees the deer with the mossy antlers in a French-style cellar, the show shifts. It isn't just a teen drama anymore. It's folk horror.
The contrast between the 1996 wilderness and the present-day timeline in this episode is jarring. In the past, they are looking for God or a spirit to save them. In the present, Tai is dealing with a different kind of "saint"—her own sleepwalking shadow.
Tai’s story in "Saints" is basically a slow-motion car crash. She’s trying to be the perfect political candidate, the perfect wife, the perfect mom. But the "Bad Tai" is waking up. The scene where she finds the bite marks on her son’s playground equipment? Pure nightmare fuel. It reminds us that whatever happened in those woods didn't stay there. It’s in their DNA now. It’s a literal haunting of the self.
Why the Condom Scene Matters More Than You Think
People talk about the blood and the gore, but "Saints" gives us that incredibly awkward, high-stakes moment between Kevin and Natalie in the present, and the desperate search for a condom in the past. It’s gritty. It’s a reminder that even when you’re starving and stranded in the Canadian wilderness, you’re still a teenager with hormones and terrible judgment.
Jackie’s influence is waning here. You can feel it. She’s trying to hold onto the social hierarchy of high school, but in the woods, the "Saints" aren't the homecoming queens. They’re the ones who can find food or, in Lottie’s case, the ones who can see the future. Shauna’s pregnancy is the ticking time bomb that underpins every interaction she has with Jackie. The betrayal is so thick you can practically taste it.
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When Shauna attempts a DIY abortion using a wire hanger and a prayer, the show pushes the audience to a brink. It’s hard to watch. It’s supposed to be. It highlights the absolute isolation of their situation. There is no help coming. There are no adults. There are only these girls and the increasingly blurred line between hallucination and ritual.
The Secrets of the Attic
We have to talk about the "Hunter" or "The Man with No Eyes." While he isn't the primary focus of every second of Yellowjackets episode 6, his presence looms. The cabin is a character itself.
- The French connection: Lottie speaking French during her "episodes" isn't just a spooky trope. It links back to the cabin’s original owner.
- The Symbols: We see more of that weird carving. It’s everywhere. It’s on the trees, it’s in the floorboards.
- The Sacrifice: This is the episode where the idea of "giving thanks" to the woods starts to take root, even if it’s just through Laura Lee’s religious lens initially.
The showrunners, Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, have mentioned in various interviews that the religious elements in "Saints" were designed to show how humans create structure out of chaos. If you can't explain the wind, you call it a spirit. If you can't explain your survival, you call it a miracle.
Natalie and the Search for Truth
Present-day Natalie is the only one actually trying to solve the mystery, which is ironic considering she’s the one most people write off as a "mess." In episode 6, her dynamic with Kevin Tan is crucial. She’s using him, sure, but she also genuinely needs a connection to someone who isn't a survivor.
The blackmail plot moves forward here too. The postcards. The "Who is Adam Martin?" question starts to get louder. Honestly, Adam is such a massive red herring for most of the season, but in "Saints," he’s the catalyst for Shauna’s brief moments of joy—which makes the eventual fallout so much more devastating.
You’ve got to admire the pacing. The editors move from the 90s to the present with this rhythmic, thumping energy. One minute you’re watching a girl get baptized in a freezing lake, the next you’re watching a woman smear dirt on her face in a suburban backyard. It’s the same trauma, just different decades.
Misconceptions About the "Saints" Title
A lot of fans think "Saints" refers specifically to Laura Lee. It’s a fair guess. She’s the most overtly "holy" character. But I’d argue the title is plural for a reason.
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Everyone in this episode is trying to be a martyr or a savior.
Jackie thinks she’s saving their morale.
Tai thinks she’s saving her family by running for office.
Shauna thinks she’s "saving" herself from a life she never wanted.
None of them are actually saints. They’re all just terrified people making choices that will haunt them for twenty-five years.
The Ritualistic Roots
If you rewatch Yellowjackets episode 6 now, knowing what happens in Season 2, the foreshadowing is almost painful. The way Lottie looks at the deer. The way the group starts to gravitate toward her for answers. It’s the birth of a cult.
It’s not just about cannibalism. That’s the "hook" of the show, but the substance is the psychology of the group. "Saints" shows us how easily a group of rational, modern girls can slip into mysticism when the world stops making sense. When the plane crashed, the old rules died. In this episode, we see the first drafts of the new rules.
The music choice in this episode—as with the whole series—is stellar. It captures that mid-90s angst perfectly. It’s the sound of a generation that was promised everything and given a wilderness instead.
What to Watch for on a Rewatch
If you’re going back through the season, pay close attention to the background during the baptism. There are shots of the other girls' faces that tell you exactly who is going to follow Lottie into the darkness and who is going to resist it.
- Misty’s eyes: She isn't looking at God; she’s looking at the power dynamic.
- Shauna’s guilt: Every time she looks at Jackie, you can see the weight of the secret she’s carrying.
- The Deer: The imagery of the "Shedding Deer" is a metaphor for the girls themselves. They are shedding their civilized skins.
How to Process the Episode 6 Ending
The ending of Yellowjackets episode 6 leaves you feeling greasy. There’s no resolution. Tai is still sleepwalking. Lottie is still seeing things. Shauna is still pregnant and lying to her best friend.
It’s an episode about the things we do to survive the truth. Sometimes we turn to religion. Sometimes we turn to sex. Sometimes we just go for a walk in our sleep and eat some dirt.
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To really get the most out of this narrative, you need to look at the historical context of "Saints." The show draws heavily from the 1972 Andes flight disaster (the "Alive" story) but adds that layer of Lord of the Flies psychodrama. Episode 6 is the moment where the "survival" part of the story ends and the "tribalism" part begins.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you're trying to piece together the deeper lore of the show after this episode, here is what you should do:
Compare the "vision" Lottie has during her baptism to the actual layout of the cabin's basement revealed in later episodes. The consistency in production design is intentional; it suggests Lottie's visions aren't just random hallucinations but are tied to the physical history of the location.
Analyze the color palettes. Notice how the 1996 scenes use a lot of "dead" colors—browns, greys, muted greens—except for when something "spiritual" or "violent" happens. In "Saints," the blue of the water during the baptism is almost unnaturally vivid. It marks the event as something outside of the normal survival routine.
Track the transition of leadership. This episode is the unofficial handoff. Jackie is still the "captain" on paper, but Lottie and even Natalie are becoming the emotional and practical centers of the group. Watch how the other girls physically position themselves around Lottie toward the end of the episode versus how they treat Jackie. The social shift is the most dangerous thing in the woods, even more than the wolves.
Review the present-day political ads for Taissa. The imagery used in her campaign often mirrors the "masking" she does to hide her trauma. It’s a brilliant bit of meta-commentary on how public figures curate their identities while their private lives are literally crumbling under the weight of past sins.