In episode 2 of Showtime’s Yellowjackets, Misty smashes the black box after the plane crash. Why would she do something so destructive?
Showtime’s drama/thriller series Yellowjackets ends the second episode of season 1 with a shocking twist, one that comes back to haunt its perpetrator in season 2, leaving audiences with the question “why did Misty destroy the flight recorder?”. As the story unfolds audiences are becoming more acquainted with how the crash, and the events succeeding it, affects the girls later on in life, particularly Misty. Yellowjackets’ slow drip-feed of expositions enlightens audiences about the character arcs that are sure to come for the protagonists but doesn’t reveal anything quickly. While season 2 answered many leftover questions, the secret of why Misty destroyed the black box weighs heavily on the teen.
The second episode of Yellowjackets season 1 picks up directly after the fateful plane crash. The most notable part of the wreck is the fact that Misty appears to be wholly in her element. She fearlessly cuts off Ben’s leg with the plane ax after it turns to mincemeat under some fallen debris, dressing the wound after without any difficulty. Citing her Red Cross babysitting training as the reason behind her medical prowess, many of the girls remark that they wouldn’t survive without Misty. After cauterizing Ben’s leg, she finds the Yellowjackets black box and then smashes it to bits — but why did Misty destroy the flight recorder?
Misty Liked Being Important To The Team
Misty destroys the Yellowjackets black box because she has the overwhelming desire to feel needed. Misty’s role on the team is technically the assistant, but she acts sort of as a gopher who is very happy to do whatever anyone needs — at least initially. At the beginning of the episode, viewers are given a glimpse of her insecurities after some classmates bully her over the phone. The phone call obviously makes her feel undesirable. At the end of “F-Sharp”, she relieves herself and overhears Van and Laura Lee talking about how essential she’s been to everyone’s survival thus far.
She comes upon the flight recorder, aka the Yellowjackets black box, and rather than continue to prove her usefulness by bringing it to the group Misty destroyed the black box on a rock and pulls out the wires. Misty’s need to feel essential in order to maintain control turns her to destruction, and ultimately she’s the one responsible for keeping the team stuck for 19 months. Misty’s instability is clear from the beginning, even before Yellowjackets reveals her as the first girl to be unmasked in the notorious tribal ritual. Her abundant desire to be wanted also spills over into her adult life, and she’s shown to be just as manipulative in her later years.
After she grows up she becomes a nurse, does research on cold cases as a citizen detective (where she eventually meets Elijah Wood’s Walter), and shows off her manipulative tactics while on a date with a man who clearly wants to be out of her clutches. Once she reveals to Natalie that she knows where Travis is, Natalie takes off without her. So, what does Misty do? She stalks Natalie to her motel, messes with Nat’s car so that it won’t start, and shows up with two coffees suggesting that they take a road trip. Natalie’s statement that Misty hasn’t changed at all is just too accurate and the answer to “why did Misty destroy the flight recorder?” becomes clearer.
The Black Box Played A Part In Crystal’s Death
Misty smashing the Yellowjackets black box seemed all but forgotten until the question of “why did Misty destroy the flight recorder?” was brought up again in season 2, episode 5. In season 2, teen Misty manages to find a friend in Crystal (Nuha Jes Izman). With their shared oddness and love of show tunes, the two quickly become inseparable, much to the annoyance of everyone else. When Misty accompanies Crystal to do the abysmal chore of emptying the team toilet, they begin to share their deepest secrets. Misty finally tells someone that she smashed the Yellowjackets black box, and it results in Crystal’s death.
Crystal calls Misty a psycho and Misty says that if she tells anyone she’ll kill her. Making good on this threat immediately, Misty backs Crystal off a cliff to fall to her death. While this death explains adult Misty’s odd behavior, the point stands that Misty would rather murder her best friend than lose her essential status within the group. Misty needs to feel needed to feel in control over others, with Walter’s assertion that she’s a psychopath probably not being that far off. With Crystal out of the way, it’s unlikely the rest of the survivors will find out that Misty destroyed the black box unless Misty somehow outs herself.
Misty Destroying The Black Box Plays Into Her Adult Personality
While the question “why did Misty smash the flight recorder?” is still echoing in audiences’ minds, Yellowjackets’ separate timelines prove that her behavior as an adult also informs her teen character and makes the decision easier to understand — though not to excuse. Misty’s pathological need to be needed doesn’t suddenly go away when she grows up. She fittingly, and chillingly, takes on the role of caregiver as she works in an elderly care facility and is constantly either caring for or inflicting her wrath upon her wards. Whether it’s denying medication or flat-lining patients to scare kids on Halloween, Misty revels in her power and control over others.
This is never truer in her adult friendships, particularly with Natalie. Misty feels that she knows “what’s best” for everyone around her, especially her friends, and constantly inserts herself into their business whenever she deems it necessary. She’s removed the wiring in Natalie’s car, kidnapped and killed Jessica Roberts, pressed herself into Lottie’s cult to “save” Natalie, and generally stalked this particular Yellowjacket survivor for her skewed paradigm of the greater good. Though Misty destroyed the black box as a teen, she learns her hardest lesson in the Yellowjackets season 2 finale when she accidentally kills Natalie by overstepping to protect the gang from Lisa.
