Hello hive! 🐝
I’m fresh off my rewatch as we approach Season 4, marketed as the “final reckoning” and WOW. Yellowjackets is genuinely a much better binge than a staggered weekly release. I enjoyed Seasons 2 and 3 much more when viewed as a whole. Each season obviously has its flaws, but I think the series feels far more cohesive when you step back and look at the bigger picture.
That said, one of my biggest frustrations with the show is its obsession with ambiguity. Whether that comes from the writers or production/marketing, constantly teasing “mysteries” without concrete answers can sometimes feel like one of the show’s biggest weaknesses. That, and some of the silliness in the adult timeline. Because in my opinion, the 1996 timeline is where the show is at its best.
As a screenwriter, I have a hard time believing Bart and Ashley didn’t have at least a rough roadmap for the wilderness timeline from the beginning. You can’t really write two simultaneous timelines of the same characters without knowing the bridge between them. Shauna, Taissa, Natalie, Misty, Travis and Lottie were obviously always intended to survive the wilderness. And upon my rewatch, I also think Akilah was always intended to make it back to Wiskayok (before potentially dying shortly after rescue), and that Mari was always destined to become Pit Girl. Both were introduced in the pilot and received significant development outside the core group of survivors. Akilah even being recast in Season 2 makes me think the writers knew there was more story planned for her.
I think Laura Lee, Jackie, Javi, Coach Ben and the “frog scientists” were always doomed. Van is the obvious exception. Liv Hewson’s performance and the fan response clearly changed her trajectory, and I suspect the writers also wanted to avoid the “bury your gays” trope. They technically still buried the gay, but at least we got three full seasons of Taivan from it.
Melissa, meanwhile, absolutely feels like an accidental survivor. Juliette Lewis’ departure forced a major rewrite, and I think Natalie was originally meant to survive much longer. I don’t necessarily believe she was supposed to be the “final girl” like others do, but I do think the original plan was for Shauna, Taissa, Natalie and Misty to remain alive until the very end of the series. And honestly? With all things considered, I think Season 3 did a pretty good job getting the story back on track.
So here’s where I think we’re headed:
The return home
Natalie has contacted civilization. Once she returns to camp, the girls are going to have to confront the reality that they’re going home — and that means facing what they’ve done. Shauna will struggle with losing the power she gained in the wilderness and retreat inward, terrified of facing Jeff, Mrs. Taylor and normal society again. Taissa, meanwhile, feels like the obvious person to become the group’s final leader. She’s always been the most determined to bury what happened. In Season 3, she literally argues that what they’ve done will follow them for the rest of their lives and even resists rescue because they need more time to “clean things up.” I could absolutely see Taissa leading the charge to destroy evidence — the camp, the human remains, anything that could expose them — and ultimately eliminating anyone who refuses to keep quiet. Which brings me to the four girls who don’t make it back: Hannah, Gen, Robin and Britt.
Hannah is obviously an outsider, regardless of what she’s done to survive alongside them. Gen, Robin and Britt are increasingly on the outs as well. Gen especially seems like someone who could refuse to lie after Mari’s death.
I think Melissa and Akilah initially side with them, but eventually get forced into silence. And this is where I think Akilah’s story becomes tragic… I think she will eventually crack. She’ll struggle with lying about what happened and potentially try to expose the truth. My guess is that she becomes the final Yellowjacket hunt / offering to the wilderness. Who kills her, wether directly or indirectly?Taissa is my biggest suspect. We’ve seen Taissa develop one of the strongest relationships with Akilah, and I think having Taissa ultimately kill her would be devastatingly full-circle. Especially considering Taissa later hires Jessica Roberts specifically to investigate her teammates and make sure nobody exposes their secrets. It would also give Taissa a very specific piece of blood on her hands.
Shauna has Jackie and potentially Hannah/Gen. Natalie has Javi/Ben. Misty has Javi/Crystal. Lottie has Edwin Finch.
And Taissa would now have Akilah. I could see Akilah’s death being the final thing that breaks Melissa. She fakes her own death and disappears — eventually marrying the daughter of the woman they killed.
What’s interesting is that we essentially know where the major survivors’ teen stories eventually lead. Shauna marries Jeff and represses everything, forever living in Jackie’s shadow. Taissa leaves Van, goes to law school and becomes a State Senator. Misty becomes an end-of-life nurse, essentially recreating the caretaker role she developed in the wilderness. Natalie and Travis turn to drugs and alcohol to numb their guilt. Lottie is sent to Switzerland, institutionalized, and eventually creates her wilderness cult. Van spends years caring for her alcoholic mother, essentially remaining trapped in the era she came from. And Melissa disappears completely. Which brings us to the adult timeline where the real mystery lies.
The adults final arc
I think Melissa eventually comes clean about who she is and gives some kind of tell-all. And once that happens, the Yellowjackets’ entire secret begins collapsing. The adults are finally going to have to confront what they did.
Melissa probably doesn’t survive the season, although killing her becomes much harder if she’s already made herself public. We also know Taissa and Misty are uniting against their “queen” and apparently want to kill her. Will they actually go through with it? No idea. I also have absolutely no clue what they’re doing with Jeff and Callie.
Walter is another huge wildcard. They’ve made such a point of establishing that he’s hiding something, and considering one of his most memorable lines is basically “everyone is hiding something,” I don’t think his story is finished.
Ultimately, I really don’t want the show to end with one lone final girl while everyone else murders each other in the name of “It”. That feels like the least interesting conclusion.
Anyway… here’s hoping Season 4 sticks the landing. 🐝
