The Dollhouse

## Episode guide

**"The Dollhouse"** is the third episode of the first season of the Showtime series *Yellowjackets*. It premiered on Showtime on Sunday, November 28, 2021.

## Summary

The Yellowjackets debate the merits of probably dying while staying put or probably dying while looking for shelter; Taissa navigates a dirty attack ad.

## Plot

### Cannibalizing your tax dollars

The girls hold a funeral for Coach Martinez and the others killed in the crash - Rachel Goldman and the plane's pilot (Robert), co-pilot (Fred) and flight attendant (Janet). Laura Lee speaks in memoriam for them and a prayer. As she continues to speak, Taissa Turner slips into a flashback. She is now a little girl, at the bedside of her very sick grandmother, who is in bed, praying. She asks her to come sit with her. Taissa asks if she's going to die and she tells her that dying is nothing to be afraid of, that the Lord calls them back to heaven.

Back in the time of the plane crash, Laura Lee finishes her prayer, but Taissa says that she's going for a walk. In the present day, Taissa is in the kitchen when she receives an e-mail message on her laptop from somebody named "Bethany." It reads "Taissa, we've got a problem," and includes a link. Taissa clicks on it and an attack ad plays, asking what voters really know about Taissa Turner and says that the real way she puts education first is by "cannibalizing your tax dollars," showing images of her savagely eating meat. The message is paid for by her the campaign of her opponent, Phil Bathurst. Taissa asks if he can possibly be serious, and her wife, Simone, describes Bathurst as a "Mitch McConnell wannabe" that nobody cares about. Taissa, however, says that people listen to this stuff. She says that she could dig around in his past and find his family owned a slave or two. Simone, however, reminds her that she said her campaign would be focused on the issues. Just then, their son, Sammy, shows up with their dog, Biscuit, asking to go to the park.

At Shauna's house, Jeff makes some celery juice. He offers Shauna some, saying it's good for blood pressure, but she likes her blood pressure to be high. She then tells him that she has to take the van in to fix the bumper, asking if he can swing by the mechanic's and pick her up. He says he can’t because if obligations at the furniture store, suggesting she take an Uber. He says she should have told him about it yesterday and leaves. Meanwhile, Misty and Natalie are still on their drive, Misty boring Natalie with details about her career in the "citizen detective" community. She asks if Natalie is dating anyone, but Natalie asks how long it's going to take to get to Travis. They pull up at a convenience store, Natalie saying she's starving. She tells Misty to go grab them something while she gasses up the car. Misty says she doesn't know what Natalie likes, suggesting she come with. Natalie says that chocolate is good and to surprise her. However, while Natalie is gone, she looks in the glove compartment. Doing so, she confirms what she suspected all along, that Misty sabotaged her, stealing the battery cable. Misty returns and they hit the road again.

### Hitting back

In the woods of the past, the girls begin rationing what food and water they have. Jackie is busy scratching a poison ivy rash. Shauna tells her not to, but she says that if poison ivy is what kills her then she deserves to die. Travis grabs some snacks and takes off. Lottie asks who “died and made him king of snacks.” "Literally, his Dad," Natalie reminds her. Jackie agrees that they should cut him some slack. They argue about whether or not the rescue team will even be coming, as it's now been three days. Travis finds his brother, Javi, telling him to eat the snack he brought. Javi ignores him at first, but finallly does so. Travis is bothered that his brother is chewing the gum from their father and asks him to throw it out. Meanwhile, Misty tries to get Coach Scott to eat. He is annoyed and insists he's not hungry, but she tells him he hasn't eaten in two days and can't take his medicine on an empty stomach.

Taissa rushes up, saying that she saw a lake from a hill, about four or five miles away. They ask if she thinks they can hike it and she says they can. Jackie, however, is against it, saying they can't just leave. Taissa points out they have two days of water. Jackie asks what would happen if the rescue team came, but Taissa says they'd be there already if they knew where they were. They ask for Coach Scott's opinion and he says they'd have to leave him behind, but Taissa says they could make a stretcher. Jackie is totally against it, but Taissa puts it to a vote, asking who wants to stay and who wants to go. The majority votes in favor of the lake, including, to Jackie's shock, Shauna. They grab their stuff, make a stretcher for Coach Scott, and write a message on the outside of the plane's wreckage: "SOS GONE TO LAKE." Taissa thanks Shauna for having her back as they walk, but Shauna says that while it was the right call, they really don't know what they're doing, that they only think they have a clue.

In the present day, Shauna waits outside Jeff's furniture store. She sees him get in his car and she follows him. She is careful to remain unseen, but nearly loses him. Nevertheless, the pursuit finally ends outside a hotel, which Jeff enters. Seeing this, Shauna shakes her head, her worst suspicions apparently confirmed.

In the past, the girls keep walking when they smell something awful. They soon see the source: the remains of a bear being feasted on by flies and carrion birds. Shauna wonders just what could have done that and Coach Scott says it could have been a wolf, that a big enough pack could take down just about anything . Natalie tells everyone to keep moving.

In the present day, Taissa is at the playground. She takes a call and tells the person on the other end that it's about time. "Sorry," says the other person on the end of the line. It's Jessica Roberts, the supposed reporter who has been digging around about the plane crash. She tells Taissa that it hasn't been easy, that some of them just love living off the grid. Nevertheless, she says, so far nobody has talked. Taissa asks just how far she's been pushing. "Money, book deals," she tells her, saying that it's going to cost extra if she wants her busting kneecaps. Taissa tells her to hurry up and try the rest, that Phil's ad is tanking her numbers, that she's screwed if there's an October surprise. Roberts asks if she wants to hit back, informing Taissa that Phil's daughter is a junkie, and he buried an arrest for her. She's 18 now and fair game. Just then, however, Taissa ends the call because a kid fell off a piece of playground equipment while playing with Sammy. She races over and asks what happened. She asks if Sammy hit the boy and he admits he did. The boy's mother comes over and Taissa apologizes to her, explaining that they were playing rough and Sammy's elbow whacked him in the face.

### Undercover operations

The girls continue to walk through the woods of the past. Taissa hears some sort of strange buzzing. In the present, Simone and Taissa discuss the incident with Sammy. Sammy had punched the boy in the face, thinking he called her a "cannonball,” apparently mishearing his parents say “cannibal.” She says it could be their new normal if she doesn't hit back on the ad. Simone wonders how she can be thinking about this when their son assaulted another child. Taissa goes over to Sammy, saying they need to talk about why he hit the boy. "No," he tells her. She says that you don't hit people no matter what they say, but he relies, "Be quiet." Annoyed, she takes away his doll. He stares at her and stands, telling her to give him back, speaking in a very disturbing tone of voice. Taissa sends him to his room.

In the woods, the girls have been walking for ages and wonder if maybe they missed the lake, and suggest maybe Taissa saw a mirage. Just then, they reach the lake. Excited, they rush for the beach and start stripping down, enjoying the cool, clear water. Travis joins in too, and Mari, seeing him shirtless, wonders if perhaps he is, in fact, hot.

In the present day, Misty and Natalie arrive at the shack where Travis lives. Misty comments that Natalie should have brought her rifle. Natalie shakes her head, but Misty points out that they haven't seen Travis in 25 years and he has Unabomber written all over him. They head up and knock at the door, but get no response. Misty says she doesn't see a car. She suggests they go into town and check things out, but Natalie breaks the door's window. "Or, that works too," but wonders what will happen if the neighbors see. They enter. It's a desolate place and Misty says it's never a good thing when someone is a hermit, that the less someone owns, the creepier they turn out to be. Natalie searches around, overwhelmed by memories of the past and the boy she once knew.

In the past, Misty gets some water from the lake to give to Coach Scott, saying she thought she'd bring the lake to him. She tells him to take his shirt off so she can squirt him. He says he won't do that, so she douses his head instead. While some of the girls play in the water, Taissa braids Akilah's hair. Akilah comments that she has the J.V. team fooled and Taissa asks what she's talking about. "You're not that much of a bitch," she says. They giggle at this.

In the present day, Misty presents Natalie with a pay-stub saying that Travis has been working at Willowbrook Ranch. Natalie points out that Travis has a $200 bottle of whiskey and Misty calls it expensive taste for somebody who's barely making minimum wage. Just then, however, a sheriff shows up. Natalie tries to convince him they're just visiting an old friend. He isn't buying that given the broken window, and arrests them.

At the hotel, Shauna tries to pump a desk clerk for Jeff's room number. She tries to pretend to be Homeland Security undercover, but the clerk isn't buying it. Suddenly, Adam approaches with his phone, saying to Shauna, "Agent Smith, DC’s on the line. Briefing." They walk away together and she asks what he's doing there. He says he was about to ask her the same thing and apparently the answer is anti-terrorism. He tells her that he came there for a drink, that his studio space is down the street. He offers her a martini. She quips that if a bomb goes off, it's on him.

In jail, Misty comments that the slammer certainly smells the way she thought it would and that the cop probably thinks they're hookers. Natalie calls her out for stealing the battery cable, asking why she did it. Misty admits she wanted to come and didn't think Natalie would let her. Another cop shows up to take Natalie to make her phone call. At Taissa's, while she is researching the senator's daughter, she gets a collect call from Natalie. Taissa comments that she's three days out of rehab and arrested, asking if there was some kind of record to beat. She criticizes Natalie for wasting her money, and Natalie says she never asked her to pay for rehab. She explains that she's seeking Travis and got arrested looking around, admitting she broke in. Taissa tells her to go home. "What's that?" Natalie asks. Taissa says Travis disappeared for a reason and that they're the worst for each other. Natalie says it's easy for her to judge others. Taissa tells her she's hanging up. Natalie pleads with her to bail her out. She asks what the point of Taissa's connections is if she can't use them. Taissa asks how it would look and tells her she can't help her. Natalie pleads because she needs to find Travis, but Taissa hangs up. "Not this time."

### The cabin in the woods

In the past, Taissa watches the girls playing in the lake and smiles. Just then, Mari notices something in the distance and points. They see some sort of reflection on the hill and decide to go investigate. After a short trek through the woods, they find a cabin. They knock, shouting and asking if anyone is inside, but there’s no answer. They head inside and look around. The place has clearly been abandoned for a long time. There are empty bottles everywhere, cobwebs and, as one girl notes, it reeks. There are antlers mounted on one of the walls. Taissa directs them to check the pantry and look around for anything they can use, like first aid or flashlights. Jackie finds a can of food, but it's rancid. She shouts that they should have stayed in the plane. She leaves the cabin, calling it a nightmare. She applies some lotion to her poison ivy rash. Shauna sees Jackie through a window, sobbing outside in the porch. In the cabin, Vanessa brings over some magazines, saying they may be stuck, but at least they have porn. They quip that one of the guys in the magazine looks like Travis, and he shoots back that if only any of them looked like the girl in it.

Annoyed with the girls, Travis heads outside. His brother, Javi, pursues, asking to see the porn. Travis denies him and sees Javi is still chewing the gum from their father, and orders him to spit it out. When Javi refuses, he puts him in a headlock until he does so, explaining their father is the reason they are there and now he’s dead. Natalie stares at them from the door of the cabin.

In the present day, Natalie is returned to the jail cell. Misty asks who she called. "Someone I thought was a friend, but I guess I was wrong," Natalie tells her. Misty is taken out to make her call, though Natalie thinks she has no one to call other than her pet bird. Meanwhile, at the hotel, Adam chats with Shauna about his past exploits. He tells her that people are who they pretend to be. He asks why she's really there and she says she's confirming a suspicion. He asks if it will make her happy to do so. "No," she admits. She looks over and, sure enough, sees her husband Jeff exiting with a woman, Bianca. She asks Adam why he's there and he claims he was just getting a drink. He continues, though, that he's starting to think something out there has other ideas.

The cop and Misty return to the jail cell. The cop tells Natalie that her friend phoned a winner, opening the cell. Natalie asks Misty who she called. She replies that it was somebody she thought was a friend and it turned out she was right. "Okay, Kevyn Tan," she admits, saying that Kevyn's been texting with her, but he thinks she's Natalie. Natalie seems annoyed, but Misty says it's not a big deal, that it's obvious Kevyn is super into her. Natalie asks what she's been saying and Misty says she's been trying to channel her by being dark and deadpan. Natalie says she's really weird and Misty asks her not to be mad, that it's a long drive home and long silences make her uncomfortable. "We're not going home," Natalie tells her. "Where are we going?" wonders Misty.

In the past, Shauna comes out and talks with Jackie, saying she has extra blankets. Jackie thanks her and Shauna tells her she didn't mean to hurt her feelings, that she was just following her gut. She didn't want them to die of thirst. She tells Jackie that she's really scared, that the rescue team should have come for them by now. She says she just needs her best friend. Jackie considers for a moment, then tells her to come over. She hugs her, telling her the worst is behind them, that they survived a plane crash.

Meanwhile, Coach Scott tries to fend off stinging insects. He screams and falls off the porch, shouting and swearing. He stares at the girls, asking what they want and slaps away Misty when she tries to help. She pulls him up, shushing him and telling him it's alright. He says he can't just be like this, asking why he couldn't just die in the plane crash. She tells him it's because they need him and that she's there for him, her crush on him more obvious than ever.

### "Why don't people like you?"

Staring at Coach Scott, Taissa slips into another flashback of herself as a little girl. She sings a song to her grandmother when suddenly her grandmother seems to see something in a mirror. "Who are you?" asks her grandmother. Taissa asks if the angel is there and the grandmother tells whoever it is to come over. "Who?" asks Taissa. "That man with no eyes,” says the grandmother and now says the strange figure appears in the mirror, and Taissa screams. "Don't let him take my eyes!" shouts the grandmother as Taissa cowers on her bed.

In the present day, Taissa enters Sammy's room. She tells Sammy she knows he's not asleep, asking if he's going to stay mad forever. She says she knows he wants his toy back, but when people do bad things, they should get punished. She asks if he agrees and he does. She tells him to next time use his words and not his fists and that he can have his doll back in the morning. "Why don't people like you?" he asks. She stares for a moment, then tells him that she's different from what people expect and it scares them. She tells him that whatever people say, it isn't true. "I know," he agrees, "you're not the bad one." She asks him if somebody else is the bad one, but he just shakes his head and wishes her good night. "Good night," she says and leaves the room. She goes to her desk and ponders for a bit, then takes out her phone. She dials a number and tells her opponent, Phil, that she knows about his daughter's drug arrest. She tells him she won't think twice about destroying his family if he makes another move like that, that he makes another move like that and his daughter's face is all over the tri-state area. "Don't fuck with me, Phil," she warns.

In the woods of the past, Taissa confronts Lottie, who won't come inside the cabin. She asks what the deal is, telling her to come in. She tells Lottie she has a bad feeling about it. Taissa agrees that it's stinky and there are spiders, but after the bear they saw, she's not going to leave her outside. She insists she come in, but when Lottie still stands pat, asks if she's kidding her. "A bad feeling?!" She says she doesn't believe in that, demanding Lottie get inside. In the present, Shauna and Adam get a room at the hotel.

In the past, Taissa wakes from a troubled sleep. Present day Taissa does the same. Past Taissa hears a creaking noise from above, while little girl Taissa attends the funeral of her grandmother. Past Taissa heads for the attic of the cabin, present day Taissa to the basement of her home, while little girl Taissa approaches her grandmother's casket. Present day Taissa stumbles over what appears to be an electronic eyeball. Past Taissa enters the attic and finds Lottie crouched in a corner. Present day Taissa enters the basement and finds Sammy's doll, Manny. "Lottie?" asks past Taissa. "I told you," says Lottie, and past Taissa turns and sees something that horrifies her. Present day Taissa stares at the Manny doll, which has his arms and legs broken off. Little girl Taissa opens one of her grandmother's eyes, only to see that it appears to have gone milky, with no pupil. Past Taissa covers her mouth at the sight of a skeleton in a chair, draped in cobwebs. Etched into the floorboards is the strange symbol from before.

Elsewhere in the present day, Natalie and Misty are driving late at night. They arrive at Willow Brook Ranch. where Travis is supposed to be working. They get out in the pouring rain and investigate the grounds. Seeing something, Misty says "Oh God." She tells Natalie not to look. However, it is too late. Natalie sobs and collapses to the ground. Travis's body is hanging suspended from above. Sirens wail in the distance. Misty tells Natalie the police are coming and they have to go. She leads her back to the car and they take off. "Travis didn't kill himself," Natalie tells Misty. Misty hands Natalie a paper, telling her it was the last thing Travis wrote before he died, that she found it in his cabin. Natalie turns on a light and reads it: "Tell Nat she was right." Misty asks if she knows what she was right about. "I don't," Natalie tells her. "But I know I'm right about this. Travis didn't do this. Somebody killed him." The police cars pull up, discovering Travis's body hanging high from a forklift in the barn.

## Cast

### Starring

* Melanie Lynskey as Adult Shauna
* Tawny Cypress as Adult Taissa
* Ella Purnell as Jackie
* Sophie Nélisse as Teen Shauna
* Jasmin Savoy Brown as Teen Taissa
* Sophie Thatcher as Teen Natalie
* Sammi Hanratty as Teen Misty
* Steven Krueger as Ben Scott
* Warren Kole as Adult Jeff

with

* Christina Ricci as Adult Misty

and

* Juliette Lewis as Adult Natalie

### Guest starring

* Courtney Eaton as Teen Lottie
* Liv Hewson as Teen Van
* Jane Widdop as Teen Laura Lee
* Keeya King as Akilah
* Peter Gadiot as Adam Martin
* Kevin Alves as Teen Travis
* Alexa Barajas as Teen Mari
* Rukiya Bernard as Simone Abara
* Rekha Sharma as Jessica Roberts
* Andres Soto as Adult Travis

### Co-starring

* Luciano Leroux as Javi Martinez
* Aiden Stoxx as Sammy Abara-Turner
* BJ Harrison as Nana Bassey
* Bailey Burr as Young Taissa Turner
* Jannen Karr as Taissa's Mother
* K. Scott Malcom as Taissa's Father
* Brahm Taylor as Man with No Eyes
* Kallie Hu as Receptionist
* Winson Won as Officer Beatty
* Nic Harrison as Guard
* Lisa Penz as Bianca
* Ranon Pareja as Howling Boy
* Sigrid Parejas as Howling Boy's Mother

## Trivia

* This episode originally appeared in schedule listings as "Welcome to the Dollhouse," but the title was later changed to simply "The Dollhouse."
* The episode's opening credits are presented in the style of a home video set to a punk rock song. This is the first time an episode has featured an opening credits sequence instead of all credits being shown in the closing credits.
* The following songs are featured in this episode: "Dreams" by The Cranberries, "Grandma's Hands" by Bill Withers, "Cambodia" by Kim Wilde, "Vienna" by Ultravox and "Mr. Mistoffeles" by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Original Broadway Cast of the musical *Cats*.

## Gallery

### Video

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