I feel like a lot of viewers didn't necessarily absorb just how fucked up Mari, Akilah, Melissa, and Gen's murder plot in the s3 finale actually was. The episode didn't do the best job of communicating what was actually happening, so I do get why people were confused about who was in on what plan. But once you understand the girls weren't involved in Natalie's transponder efforts and had no idea there was still a chance of rescue, the full degree of horridness becomes clear.
Their plan definitely wasn't a distraction to get everyone rescued. It was essentially a revenge plot to take out their most unstable teammates for ruining their chances of rescue, and just as importantly, for being a heinous bitch to them (Shauna with Mari and Melissa) and convincing them they were special (Lottie with Akilah). It was personal and premeditated, and at least as bad or arguably worse than anything Shauna and Lottie had done up to that point.
They poisoned the animals, their only ethical food source and the one thing that might have gotten them through winter without resorting to cannibalism. They baited Lottie and Shauna into calling for another hunt to serve as a distraction while they carried out their murders, nevermind what might happen to whoever drew the queen. Even if they had successfully pulled it off and only the targets died, it would have done little to improve their overall circumstances.
The reality of their plan was this: they kill and eat two problem teammates, but it only sustains them for so long because the group is still stranded in the middle of nowhere during the brutal winter without food. Removing Shauna and Lottie from the equation solves a few of their immediate problems, creates a temporary illusion of security, but it doesn't prevent further violence. In fact, it's easier, because now they have experience actively killing their friends. As they go hungry, they justify more hunts.
What Lottie says is true, "It's in all of us now." Everyone in the group is responsible for the violence and depravity they've devolved into. They've all permitted, escalated, participated in, and benefited from these horrific acts. They've also been deeply traumatized by them. They are all simultaneously victim and perpetrator. Everyone, including Mari herself, is responsible for Mari's death. They're responsible for Ben and Javi and Jackie's deaths. But that reality is so overwhelming and existentially horrifying, they can't acknowledge it and have to find convenient scapegoats to pin all the bad things on.
It's easy to understand how they got there, and Shauna's sadism and Lottie's religious zealotry do make them super easy targets for blame. But we, the audience, aren't traumatized teenagers trapped in desperate circumstances, so we don't need to resort to scapegoating. We should be able to recognize the obvious and severe mental health crises driving Shauna and Lottie's behavior. We should be able to understand a huge part of their deterioration is because they were used by the collective, isolated into damaging roles, and then written off as crazy and dangerous once it stopped being convenient to use them.
I just think every single one of these kids, no matter what horrific shit they get up to, is worthy of our empathy and understanding. Fiction is exactly the place where we can exercise this kind of radical acceptance of the darkest parts of humanity. I'd prefer to save the finger pointing for picking out my favorite unhinged cannibal, instead of looking for villains and heroes where they don't exist.
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