One of the best TV shows of all time lands on Netflix today

If a nightmarish survival scenario, dual timelines, hints of the supernatural, and a cast of fascinatingly complicated characters sound like a fun time, then you're in for a treat. One of the best seasons of television I've seen in years has just landed on Netflix and for me it's a must-watch television series.

Yellowjackets first aired in 2022 on Showtime, where it quickly gained a cult following thanks to its twisty story and compelling cast. The series follows a high school girls soccer team across two different timelines.

In the first case, the girls end up in a huge wilderness on the way to a soccer tournament. Here they are faced not only with hunger and the elements, but also with strange visions, scary discoveries and other terrifying encounters that often leave both the characters and the audience wondering whether supernatural forces are at play or whether there are more mundane explanations for it all the bizarre are things that happen. The mystery is captivating.

In the second timeline, we follow some of the girls decades later. We know that at least some of the characters survive, but we're not entirely sure who or, perhaps more importantly,How. These middle-aged survivors have deep, dark secrets and harbor old griefs and terrible guilt. Little by little, both stories unfold in parallel. It's one of the most menacing and gripping seasons of television I've ever seen, with plenty of shocking revelations, sordid betrayals and even a welcome dose of humor.

However, it's the cast that really elevates the show. Ella Purnell (Fallout, Arcane) plays Jackie, the captain of the soccer team and a natural leader who is out of her element in the wilderness. She is best friends with Shauna (Sophie Nelisse), but their friendship is tested as they fight for survival. Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) is the black sheep of the team and probably my favorite character in the series. Other teenage survivors include Travis (Kevin Alves), Lottie (Courtney Eaton), Van (Liv Hewson) and Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) – as well as Misty (Sammi Hanratty), who I can only describe as the Joker, although she might there are more than one. The team's assistant coach, Ben (Steven Krueger), also survives the crash, although he is a changed person.

Meanwhile, in the modern timeline, we mostly follow Shauna (Melanie Lynksey), Taissa (Tawny Cypress), Natalie (Juliette Lewis) and Misty (Christina Ricci). As I said, it's an outstanding cast. The actors in both time series are phenomenal and both stories – which are intertwined in fascinating ways – are great from start to finish, each with their own secrets to unravel and disasters to endure.

Additionally, the original music for the first season of the series is one of the most haunting and haunting scores I have ever heard on a television show.

Only Season 1 is currently available on Netflix, and I have to make a pretty big caveat here: the first season is much, much better than the second, which continues to air on Showtime/Paramount+, although it will appear on Netflix at a later date. Honestly, as a standalone season, Yellowjackets is absolutely brilliant and one of my favorite modern television shows. The second season wasn't all bad, but it wasn't nearly as good as the first, and it really felt like many aspects of the story fell apart in spectacular ways. I think I was so disappointed because I was such a big fan of the first season. But the Season 2 finale really upset me, unlike the brilliant Season 1 finale (which wasn't even the best episode).

I still recommend you watch the first season, and if you like it, you can always form your own opinion about season 2. I'm still hoping that Season 3 gets the series back on track, but no matter what, I'll always be a superfan of the first season, which I've already seen three times. It's one of the best female-led shows out there, mostly because it never dwells on silly girlboss themes and treats each of its characters like well-rounded (and deeply flawed) people. It's great. Do yourself a favor and give it a try. It also made it to my list of the best TV shows of 2022:

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