Yellowjackets premiered on Showtime in late 2021 to great fanfare. It is a psychological drama created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson about a girls’ soccer team whose plane goes down in the mid-nineties. Their survival involves warring, forming cannibal clans while the story flashes forward to their lives in the present day. In its third season, episode 9 had its share of eventful moments that director Ben Semanoff discussed with Immersive over Zoom.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and length]
How did you first get involved with this show?
I interviewed for the season 1 finale. I didn’t get it, but the producers remembered me for season 2. I did two episodes, which were big ones. Then they brought me back for season three, which was terrific because they’re a great group.
This show has a very Generation X feel to it. Talk a little bit about that. There are movie references, song cues, and an amazing ensemble of actresses like Christine Ricci.
Generationally, there couldn’t be a better show for me to work on. I was precisely the age of the Yellowjackets when they crashed in my senior year of high school. All of the things that they love are things that I grew up with and loved. I was a product of the eighties and movies like The Goonies.
Talk about working with Melanie Lynskey…
Melanie Lynskey is fantastic. I’ve gotten to do two shows with her now, four episodes. We did the mini-series Candy together, our introduction to each other. Working with these really talented performers is intimidating.
You constantly feel like you need something brilliant and relevant to say, and you forget that’s why they’re hired: they are fantastic performers. You’re not there to reinvent the wheel. You’re only there to sort of help nudge and give guidance.
What is it like working on an established show and keeping that feeling while putting your stamp on it?
Certainly, you acknowledge the constraints. That said, I honestly try not to obsess about them. I learned a long time ago that if you’re trying to please a master, nothing you create ever feels authentic or real. I think the only person you need to be worried about pleasing is yourself.
I’m sure the aesthetics are baked in, but on the day, I just think about what feels right with the show as a whole, with the episode as a whole, with the scene. That would be my advice to every craft in the industry: Just, you know, don’t completely describe, but please yourself. We’re all artists, and we need to do what makes us feel good about our work.
Are there any specific challenges in this episode? There are some elaborate fight sequences and a Lethal Weapon 2 reference.
In the previous episode, Hilary Swank’s character dislocated her arm, and we wanted to tie up the loose end. I said jokingly to Hilary, “If you’re gonna relocate your shoulder, there’s only one way you do it. You slam it against the wall like Mel Gibson did in Lethal Weapon 2,” and she said, “I have to do that.” I’m so glad it made it into the show.
It’s beautiful. Are there any favorite moments in this episode besides the dislocated shoulder scene?
There’s a lot of them. The car sequence was particularly fun. In terms of its photography, it was laborious. We struggled some days shooting in the Pacific Northwest. You start the day, and it’s fog, and you start shooting, and then all of a sudden, it burns off. How is this gonna match?
It was tough logistically from the photography standpoint, but it paid off because it looks great. The actresses were game, Christina mainly. We got these real moments of them in the car with hair flying around and jumping out of the vehicle.
Let’s mention your cinematographer.
Shasta Spahn is terrific. She has been a DP on the show for two seasons, and this was the first time we worked together. It was a match made in heaven.
Let’s take note of the music; you have some Stone Temple Pilots in there.
There are some great songs in the series that really add relevance to what you see on screen. So many times, a track will pop up in the show, and I’ll be like, “Oh, wow.” Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, and Jonathan Lisco love their needle drops.
What was it like working with the showrunners?
It’s an exciting setup because the three share the show-running responsibilities. They operate as an entity in an exciting and welcoming way. Sarah Thompson, who wrote the episode, is a fantastic and collaborative writer. They’re all very collaborative. I never felt like I couldn’t bring an idea to the table and explore something. I’ve been fortunate to find myself in a few productions where I felt supported. It’s great.
What’s it like being on the other end of this particular episode?
The penultimate episode is always the best episode of television in a season. I had this arc with them where I came in last season, and I was only supposed to do one episode, but then things went well, and we were vibing, and they had an opportunity for me to do another episode.
I did two episodes last season, and this season, they wanted me to do multiples, but I couldn’t schedule wise. Then they said, “Well, then why don’t you do the penultimate episode?” That is the highest praise, saying, “Hey, this is our best episode, and we trust you.” That’s how it really feels. I feel like I’m a valued part of that family, and that feels good.
Yellowjackets, S3 E9 is now streaming at Paramount+
