When it first arrived on our screens, it was clear that Yellowjackets was a knockout idea. It took a girls’ high school football team, crashed their plane in a mysterious wilderness, and teased viewers with their eventual descent into sacrifice and cannibalism. That, alone, would have sustained most shows. But Yellowjackets divided itself in two and added a retro twist. The wilderness, flesh-eating years were flashbacks to the 90s, while it added an outer coating of the survivors as they are now, in their 40s, still trying to cover up what they did when stranded. It had an outstandingly culty cast, including Juliette Lewis, Melanie Lynskey and Christina Ricci, and above all, it was a lot of fun.

But the second season faltered slightly and seemed unsure what to do with its own success. It lurched forward, but the plot became circular, and began to eat its own tail; whole episodes passed without shifting things in any significant direction. And then, with a typical flourish of excess, it set fire to the past and the future. In the wilderness, it burned down the cabin in the woods where the girls (and Travis) had been sheltering; in the present, it unexpectedly killed off one of its big-name leads. Yellowjackets may have taken its time to get there, but boy did it get there – and with panache to spare.

It returns having undergone a necessary reset. Based on the four episodes available in advance, in taking a torch to things, it appears to have rediscovered that initial anarchic energy. It is funny and zingy, and occasionally scary, too. In the wilderness, still miraculously alive and even more miraculously undiscovered, the group has made it to spring. The chill and hunger of winter have abated, meaning they no longer have to eat the frozen corpses of their teammates. At least, not for now, but these girls are not quitters!

Following Lottie’s lead, they create their own pagan-ish faith and rituals, to give thanks for their survival. It all goes a bit Midsommar via Glastonbury festival. Some of the girls are onboard with this. Young Shauna (Sophie Nélisse), whose viciousness has been building since the beginning, is emphatically not onboard with this, not least because her dead baby plays a significant part in the group’s ceremonial posturing. Meanwhile, Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) is still missing and suspected of arson and attempted murder. Poor old Travis (Kevin Alves) is being coerced into taking mushrooms by Lottie (Courtney Eaton), who sees him as a visionary, and some of the peripheral cast, who barely got a word in early on, are starting to play a bigger role. “What, do you like, actually have a personality?” says Shauna, a knowing nod to the new-ish Yellowjackets’ move into the spotlight.

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Its sense of humour is definitely back, too, which is a relief for a show about teenage cannibalism. In the present day, one of the best running gags is that Shauna (Lynskey) is now a suburban mum and wife, who has mundane household chores to do. Yet she was the butcher in the wilderness, and her bloodthirstiness hasn’t gone anywhere. Watching her kick against domestic obligations is a treat. Meanwhile, adult Misty (Ricci) is reeling from the events of the season two finale, and is questioning whether the group really sees her as a friend, while trying out a hilarious new identity. Van (Lauren Ambrose) and Taissa (Tawny Cypress) are bringing the horror, as their rekindled relationship enters creepy waters. Newcomer Hilary Swank will join the cast later in the run.

After four episodes, it isn’t clear whether Yellowjackets has entirely shrugged off the issues of season two. The survivors must be about halfway through their ordeal in the woods, but it is hard to say whether it has regained that sense of momentum, or whether it still feels as if they’re making it up as they go along. It does appear to have seen the need for a coherent thread to tie everything together, and is giving it a go, while simultaneously twirling that thread around in the air like a big camp lasso, grabbing anything it brushes past. It might take the whole season to work out if it has grabbed anything useful. Yellowjackets remains witty, self-aware television. The soundtrack is great, it dares to wander off into long, hallucinogenic dream-like sequences, and you’re never quite sure who is going to make it out alive (in the present day, at least). Even if they are winging it plot-wise, it’s hard to care too much, when it’s as enjoyable as this.

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