If you’ve been following the descent into madness that is the Showtime survival drama, you know that "No Hay Una Mujer" is where the vibes shift from "scary plane crash" to "maybe we're actually cursed." This isn't just another hour of television. It’s the moment where the supernatural elements stop being a background whisper and start screaming. By the time the credits roll on this Yellowjackets season 1 episode 7 recap, you’ll realize the girls aren't just fighting the wilderness anymore; they’re fighting their own disintegrating sanity.
The Red Room and the Séance
Things start off heavy in the cabin. The group is desperate. Jackie, who is honestly struggling to maintain her "queen bee" status in a world where popularity doesn't buy you food, decides a séance is a great idea. Lottie is already acting weird. We know Lottie has been off her meds since the crash—a detail the show handles with an incredible amount of tension—and this episode proves she’s tapping into something the others can't see.
During the séance, the atmosphere gets suffocating. The window slams open. Lottie starts speaking French, which she supposedly doesn't know well, and her voice drops an octave. It’s chilling. She talks about "it" wanting blood. This is where the fan theories really started exploding back in 2021. Is it a ghost? Is it a mass psychosis triggered by starvation and trauma? The show keeps us guessing, but the immediate impact is a fractured group.
Taissa, ever the pragmatist, is losing her mind over the superstition. She’s the anchor of logic, but we see her anchor starting to drag.
Taissa’s Expedition and the Wolf Attack
Taissa decides that sitting around waiting to starve isn't an option. She gathers a small crew—Van, Misty, Akilah, and Mari—to head south. They’re looking for help, or at least a sign of civilization. This is the "A" plot of the 1996 timeline and it is brutal.
The woods in Yellowjackets are a character themselves. They’re vast, indifferent, and apparently full of hungry predators. While the girls are camped out, Van gives Taissa a bone charm for protection. It’s a sweet, grounded moment in a show that usually trades in dread. Then, the wolves come.
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The attack is chaotic. It’s fast. It’s messy. It’s exactly how a wolf attack would feel to a group of teenagers with one flare gun and zero experience. Taissa climbs a tree in a fugue state—another hint at her "Sleepwalking Tai" persona—and watches in horror as Van is mauled. The practical effects here are stomach-churning. Van’s face is literally ripped open. It’s one of the most visceral moments of the first season. When Taissa finally snaps out of it and fends off the wolves with a torch, she’s convinced she’s killed her girlfriend through her own negligence.
The 2021 Timeline: Blackmail and Body Shops
Back in the present day, our adult survivors are dealing with a different kind of predator: a blackmailer. Natalie, Taissa, and Shauna are trying to figure out who is demanding $50,000.
They track the burner phone to a high-speed chase that ends... nowhere. Well, it ends at a messy drop-off point where they lose the trail. But the real meat of the adult storyline in this episode is the interaction between the women. You can see the decades of shared trauma simmering under the surface. Natalie is a mess, but she’s the only one being honest about it. Shauna is playing the bored housewife, but we see her stabbing a rabbit in her garden earlier in the season—she’s the most dangerous one of the lot.
We also get more of Jeff. Oh, Jeff. At this point in the series, everyone suspected Jeff was the blackmailer or that he was cheating. The "No Hay Una Mujer" title, which translates to "There is no woman," plays into this. Shauna follows him to a hotel, convinced she’s about to catch him with a mistress. Instead, she finds... well, the show keeps that card close to its chest for a bit longer, but the paranoia is palpable.
Why the Title Matters
The phrase "No Hay Una Mujer" comes from Lottie’s possession/outburst. It’s a direct reference to the lack of a "woman" or "mother" figure in the cabin. Without the societal structures of home, the girls are reverting to something primal. They are losing the "womanhood" that 1990s society expected of them and becoming something else entirely. Something darker.
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Misty’s Manipulations
You can’t have a Yellowjackets season 1 episode 7 recap without talking about Misty Quigley. In 1996, she’s subtly sabotaging the expedition’s chances. In 2021, she’s holding an investigator hostage in her basement. Christina Ricci plays the adult Misty with such a terrifying, chirpy energy that you almost forget she’s a sociopath. Almost.
Misty is the one who keeps the group together, but only because she’s the one who broke them in the first place by destroying the flight recorder. In episode 7, we see her watching the others with a clinical detachment. She needs to be needed. If they find help, she becomes a social pariah again. If they stay lost, she’s the only one with first-aid skills. Her selfishness is the engine that drives a lot of the show's tragedy.
What Most People Get Wrong About Episode 7
A lot of viewers think the wolf attack was a hallucination. It wasn't. The physical toll on Van is very real and carries over into the rest of the season. However, Taissa’s experience of it is distorted. The show uses this episode to establish that while the threats (wolves, hunger, cold) are real, the survivors' perception of them is being warped by the "Bad Dirt."
Another misconception is that Lottie is "evil" here. She’s not. She’s a vessel. She’s terrified of what’s happening to her. The transition from Lottie Matthews, the girl with the rich parents, to Lottie the Antler Queen starts right here in the attic of that cabin.
Key Takeaways for Your Next Rewatch
If you're going back to watch this before diving into later seasons, keep an eye on these specific details:
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- The Bone Charm: It shows up again. Objects in this show have memory.
- The French: Lottie’s French isn't just gibberish; she’s quoting specific phrases that hint at the cabin’s dark history.
- The Colors: Notice the heavy use of red in the 1996 scenes compared to the drab, washed-out greys of the 2021 timeline. The past is "bleeding" into the present.
- Taissa's Eyes: Pay attention to when Taissa's eyes look "flat." It’s the tell-tale sign that the "Other One" is in control.
Final Insights
Episode 7 is the point of no return. It proves that nobody is safe—not even the fan-favorite characters like Van. It raises the stakes by showing that even if the girls try to save themselves, the wilderness has other plans.
To truly understand the show's trajectory, you have to look at "No Hay Una Mujer" as the death of hope. Up until this point, they believed they could hike out. After the wolves and the séance, they realize they are trapped in a place that doesn't want them to leave.
Next Steps for Yellowjackets Fans:
- Re-examine the Séance scene: Listen closely to the background audio; there are whispers that become clearer in Season 2.
- Track the Man with No Eyes: Look at the corners of the frame during Taissa’s scenes in the woods.
- Compare the Injuries: Look at how the show handles the makeup for Van’s injuries—it’s remarkably consistent with real-world trauma recovery, which adds to the show's "grounded" horror feel.
The mystery of the woods is only getting deeper.