Spoilers. Obviously. 

The season finale of Yellowjackets airs this weekend. I do not believe one of the biggest mysteries will be solved. 

In episode 4, “Bear Down,” Nat and Kevyn are in her room, listening to Dinosaur Jr., specifically “Feel The Pain,” placing the scene some time between 1994 and 1996. The two begin talking about Nirvana. Nat throws out the very true and very fun tidbit that Kurt Cobain wanted J. Mascis to join Nirvana. This leads to the biggest WTF moment in the first 9 episode of Yellowjackets. 

Nat: I thought you didn’t even like Nirvana anymore?

Kevyn: Uh, no, you know, they’re alright. It’s just, it’s just that ever since they left Sub Pop they’ve gone so mainstream so…

Nat: It’s not their fault everybody loves them. 

Kevyn: Yeah. Yeah, no, I guess…

Nat: Sorry.

Kevyn: Go on. Um, yeah, no, it’s just, uh, I guess. I guess I liked them better when they were just ours.

Nat and Kevyn are members of the class of 1996. Let’s be generous and say he’s 18 at high school graduation. This means Kevyn was born in 1978, making him 11-years-old when Bleach was released. I do not believe an 11-year-old in suburban New Jersey was consuming songs like “About A Girl” and “School” in junior high. I do not believe anyone in the Yellowjackets class of 1996 was enjoying Nirvana in 1989 or 1990. How did Kevyn know about Nirvana in 1989? How?

If you’re of a certain age, you remember how difficult it was to discover any music that sounded remotely different in 1989. Other than maybe an hour long locals only show on the rock radio station and some public access TV shows, there wasn’t 5% of the options currently available to pre-teens for musical discoveries. There was no YouTube, no Spotify, no MySpace, no online form of discovery. There wasn’t even American Online in suburban New Jersey homes in 1989 or 1990. MTV sure as hell wasn’t playing Nirvana in 1989, modern rock radio was definitely playing Nirvana in 1989 and hero worship rock mags like Hit Parader were definitely not spilling ink on the Seattle group. 

I do not believe Kevin knew about Nirvana before the trio released Nevermind on DGC on September 24, 1991. Since the scene is not played for comedy or irony or anything but awkward sincerity between two teenagers, we’re supposed to believe Kevyn is well versed in late 80s indie labels as a preteen. This is wholly unbelievable. 

I do believe Kevyn and Nat fell in love with Nirvana in the fall of 1991 when Nevermind was released and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was played incessantly on modern rock radio stations and MTV. It’s very believable the band changed their lives. No music hits harder than the music you first hear at 13, 14, 15 and Kevyn and Nat were quite lucky to be those formative ages in modern rock radio’s best era. But Kevyn used the word since. He hasn’t liked Nirvana as much since they left Sub Pop. Kevyn did not know about the band until their Sub Pop era ended. Kevyn, who later became a cop that didn’t even know when and where his gun was used, is a liar. 

Kevyn also said he preferred when the band, “was just ours.” Nirvana was never just theirs. The biggest band in the world is never just two teenager’s special band.

I know this is supposed to be a throwaway line, something to satisfy the nostalgia seekers and pacify the music snobs. Occurring right before Nat’s dad comes home, discovers Kevyn, throws him out of the house and accidentally kills himself with a shotgun, the Nirvana exchange is also a little bit of foreshadowing. 

I do not believe the audience will find out Kevyn is behind all of this. But that doesn’t mean I’ll ever trust a cop that said he’d preferred Nirvana on Sub Pop as an 11-year-old. That’s bullshit. If he said he liked In Utero more than Nevermind, I might believe him. 

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