Mari

## Appearances

### Debut

"Pilot"

**Mari** is a character on the Showtime original series *Yellowjackets*. She is portrayed by Alexa Barajas.

## Profile

Mari was a member of the WHS Yellowjackets, a team of talented teenage female soccer players headed for the nationals. Despite not being considered "new blood," she was not part of the core group of stars on the team. Even so, she was aboard the private plane which crashed in the wilderness of Canada, stranding those who survived for 19 months. Although she survived the crash, it is unclear if she survived the girls' time in the woods.

As food became increasingly scarce in the wilderness, Mari lamented the lack of edible berries on the bushes, wondering how there couldn't be any at all. Akilah suggested that birds or mice might be picking them off. When Lottie commented that some animals lived by eating their own vomit, Mari asked if "Dead Cabin Guy" told her that, referring to a skeleton they had found in a cabin. To this, Lottie retorted that they mostly talked about how Danny Mears had dumped her for his own cousin. Mari retorted that they were second cousins, which was legal. Vanessa then advised Lottie to ignore Mari, stating that she didn't think she had pooped for the past two weeks.

Mari joined Taissa Turner as part of the ill-fated expedition to head south and seek help, which ended abruptly when the group was attacked by wolves and Vanessa Palmer's face savagely mauled. As the girls prepared to burn her, believing her to be dead from the wolf attack, Mari realizes that she is still alive and stops them from burning her.

Mari was surprised to learn that Taissa and Vanessa were a couple upon seeing the two of them together at the Doomcoming, similarly to the other girls

Like the other Yellowjackets, she became high on shrooms during the Doomcoming. Although she herself had added the shrooms to the soup, she had no idea that they were hallucinogenic and had been gathered by Misty Quigley with the intention of poisoning Coach Ben Scott. She ended up joining a group which pursued Travis Martinez after he had sex with Jackie Taylor, nearly killing him, so out of their minds that they believed him to be a stag. The next morning, Mari was stunned to learn the true nature of the shrooms and that Misty had allowed her to had them to the food, knowing the truth about them. She called Misty crazy. Later, when Misty tried to help with the preparation of a bear which Lottie had killed, Mari firmly rebuffed her, pointing out that they couldn't possibly trust her around food again.

Two months later, winter had settled firmly into the wilderness. As everyone wondered where Shauna was with the latest rations of meat, Mari asked if they weren't going to talk about the fact that Shauna was spending much of her time in the meat shed with the corpse of Jackie, who had died two months before. Coach Scott told her to leave it alone, that Shauna was still grieving. "Yeah, or she's gone full-on Norman Bates," retorted Mari, wondering what Shauna and "Jackie" could be talking about.

Later, when Misty tried to assist with food preparation, Mari shooed her away, telling her that she knew the rules. Misty replied that it wasn't like she was going to poison anyone... again. Mari, however, told her that she had drawn the four and had to go get the water, leading to Misty to whine that she had been doing it every morning and it was freezing.

Though previously skeptical of Lottie Matthews and her visions, Mari later became heavily involved in the cult-like observances held by Lottie in the woods. Her belief in Lottie seemed to have been cemented by Lottie killing a bear after it seemed to simply kneel before her. Her faith in Lottie was so strong that she went so far as to state that Lottie was the only reason that any of them in the wilderness had any food, referring both to the incident with the bear and another strange incident in which a group of starlings seemingly committed suicide by flying straight at their cabin. When Natalie proposes a one-on-one contest between herself and Lottie to see who can catch more food, it is pointed out that they only have one gun. Mari, however, asserts that Lottie doesn't need a gun.

As the Yellowjackets increasingly starve during the long winter following the initial crash, Mari repeatedly claims to hear a dripping noise in the cabin that nobody else can hear. Eventually, Taissa tells her that she can hear it too. However, only Mari has a vision of blood dripping down the walls, causing her to shout repeatedly "They're dead! They're dead!" Van, though, tells her that it's just the hunger.

## Personality and traits

Mari is always ready with a quip or wisecrack, though these are often sarcastic and snarky, bordering on acid. While she initially seems friendly, if a bit of a jokester, her time in the wilderness seems to sour her personality. She comes to be a huge believer in the ability of Lottie Matthews and often acts as an advocate for her.

Mari is also shown to be slightly at odds with several of her team mates as she consistently makes rude and petty comments to them, especially Misty whom she seems to consistently pick on for being “weird.” Mari is also not afraid to call others out on their hypocrisy and nonsense which has caused most of the survivors to generally dislike Mari’s attitude. In fact, the only person who seems to still be friendly with Mari throughout both seasons is Akilah.

## Trivia

* Although Mari is not shown in adulthood in the "Pilot" of *Yellowjackets*, a publicity photo for the series depicts her alongside the other girls of the team in the woods.
* Since it’s still unclear if Mari survived the wilderness, many fans have speculated that she might be the infamous “Pit Girl” who was hunted, killed, and eaten by the girls in the "Pilot" episode of the series. Lottie Matthews and Jackie Taylor were also high candidates for Pit Girl, however Jackie died from hypothermia and Lottie was rescued with the other survivors in 1998. Mari bears a physical resemblance to the unnamed victim.
* In the first episode of the second season, there is a scene from 1998, post-rescue, where the surviving Yellowjackets briefly show up, with one of them bearing a resemblance to Mari. This has lead to many fans wondering if Mari did in fact survive the wilderness.

## References

1. ↑ Williams, Jordan (April 7, 2023). Yellowjackets: Who Gets Eaten By The Other Girls?. Screen Rant. Retrieved on April 16, 2023.
2. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Yellowjackets/comments/13ozwoh/i\_think\_mari\_is\_alive/