[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through Yellowjackets, Season 2, Episode 7, “Burial.”]Quite a few shocking things have happened in the 90s timeline on Yellowjackets, but Season 2, Episode 7, “Burial,” wrapped up with a staggering jaw-on-the-floor moment. Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) nearly beats Lottie (Courtney Eaton) to death and the others just stand by, watch, and let it happen.

In the final scene of the episode, Shauna snaps. She punches Misty (Samantha Hanratty) and accuses the group of eating her baby. Knowing the violence won’t stop, Lottie steps in and opts to submit to Shauna’s rage herself in an effort to spare the others and help Shauna let out her pain so that she can move forward. It turns out to be a colossal sacrifice that leaves Lottie bruised, bloody, and barely breathing.
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Lottie’s intentions are clear, but given it’s such an extreme display of violence, one might wonder why the other Yellowjackets never intervene. While there are some questionable reaction shots that suggest some enthusiasm for the brutality (I’m looking at you, Misty), others are flat-out horrified. Where exactly does Liv Hewson’s Van fall on that spectrum? That’s exactly what I discussed with them during the very first edition of our new interview series, Collider Forces.

Image via Showtime

Here’s what Hewson said when asked for their first reaction to reading that scene and their take on Van’s choice to just stand by and watch it all unfold:

“I’m so glad you asked that because through this episode — it’s like where Van ends up at the end of Season 1 happens in [Episode] 7, because it starts with the baby dies, there’s that scene with Taissa where it’s like, ‘It’s time we all woke up. He was always gonna die. I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t know what I need. I don’t know how to fix this.’ End of the episode, Shauna almost beats Lottie to death and then in playing that scene, watching that happen, I sort of physically realized, ‘Oh, this is when Van accepts that they’re gonna start killing and eating each other,’ because it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be violence.’ There’s a real deepening point of no return thing that happens there, which is like, ‘Oh, it’s violence. We’ve chosen violence, there is no way out but violence, and we are going to start killing and eating each other on purpose, 100%. That is exactly what’s gonna happen,’ and she sinks into that then.”

Crushing. The scene itself is crushing to watch, as is hearing this assessment of Van’s stance on it. There have been dark tinges to Lottie’s practices all along, but is this what she really intended by sacrificing herself at this moment? Was the goal to get the others to accept that “there is no way out but violence?” Or, has Van’s inability to find purpose in her survival warped how she’s processing their current situation and what needs to happen to ensure they live on? Could Van and Lottie be on different paths going forward?

Image via Showtime

While discussing Van and Taissa’s conversation earlier in the episode, Hewson did note that the death of Shauna’s baby has forced Van to question Lottie’s teachings. “What am I fucking doing? Winter’s going on still, we don’t have anything more to eat, and the baby died. And it was horrible. Shauna’s still here, but by what margin and for how long? I do think it’s time we all woke up.” They also added, “It’s not like a giving up necessarily, but it’s a shift in the things that she believes and how much hope she’s got.”

We’ll find out how things progress for Van and Lottie when Episode 8, “It Chooses,” becomes available to stream on Friday, May 19th. After you watch it, be sure to come right back to Collider for Hewson’s 50-minute Collider Forces interview which includes some curious details about what goes down in that episode!

In the meantime, check out Jasmin Savoy Brown’s recent episode of Collider Ladies Night below: