With two thrilling seasons prior to it, season three of Yellowjackets had so much to live up to. Spoilers for Yellowjackets if you haven’t seen the show prior to this article, beware. If you don’t care or simply need a refresher, Yellowjackets is a show about a girls’ soccer team that crashes in the Canadian forest. It flashes between their teen selves and adult selves, where we see the teen girl’s life in the woods as the resolve to cannibalism, hunting each other, and all sorts of Lord of the Flies scenarios. Meanwhile in the adult timeline, we see the aftereffects. Here is my brief(ish) review of each episode in the season and my overall feelings, so buckle up and prepare. Again, spoiler alert is in full effect!
“It Girl” (Episode One)
Rating: 4/5
First, I enjoyed the nod and poking at the Pit Girl being Mari theory in the beginning, when in reality they were playing a game showing the stark difference in attitudes. To start the season off, showing this difference from the winter of season two to this joyous festive one was an interesting choice, but I did wish we got to see them building these shacks and that process of rebuilding after the house burning. Though, I think this period shows the relationships we will be seeing: Melissa and Shauna, Natalie and Shauna, Tai and Van, etc. Its folly, though, is the adult timeline where it dismantles Misty’s character arc as she copes with killing Natalie in the previous season. She and Walter should work as we’ve seen, and he tries to hold them together, but I just didn’t see the point of tearing them apart so quickly after building them up. In the vein of relationships, I did like seeing the issues with Vans’ relationship with Tai as an adult and their conflicts. I didn’t like her being okay with continuing their relationship when Tai is still married. I’m happy we got that break to show it’s not perfect. Lastly, Callie is the best part of this episode, as she is dealing with the reality of who her mother is. Plus, who doesn’t love it when she dumps guts all over her bullies. She’s dark and twisted, and I just loved it for her. Anyways, this episode sets up the calm before the storm we will be seeing in later episodes.
“Dislocation” (Episode Two)
Rating:4/5
Coach Ben and Mari will never not be painful. I think this episode is truly the point that cements his fate and starts his sympathetic arc. He isn’t always the best, but this episode shows his care for what happens to these girls. He could’ve killed Mari, but didn’t, and it truly will demonstrate the “kill or be killed” state the girls are in despite the happy atmosphere. Natalie’s hurt regarding Coach Scott leaving her and feeling like another parental figure abandoned her is so relatable, even if you aren’t stuck in the wilderness fighting for survival. Even when she is talking about how little she cares about Coach, she still tries to steer Misty away. She knows that even though Misty loved Coach, she loves the acceptance of the group more (which is exemplified in her adult arc) and will tell the group where he is. We move into the adult timeline, and again Callie, man, love her. She calls out her mother’s hypocrisy as Lottie wants to stay, stating Lottie is dangerous when Shauna killed and cut up her affair partner with the help of her friends. Through her manipulation of the situation and conversations with her, Lottie and Misty demonstrate just how much like her mother she is. Writing-wise, I think the subtle hinting in Van and Tai’s dialogue of Other Tai’s takeover is so well crafted, with the “She tells you to pick up your dishes” that Tai gives, referring to herself in third person. Oh, we also have to shout out Jeff. Dude is trying to live a normal life, and he just can’t. He is the comedic relief of this show (I mean, there was no book club).
“Them’s the Brakes” (Episode Three)
Rating: 3.5/5
The funny set up episode with Ben and Mari pepper spraying each other was such a cute little addition before we see the reality of the situation that hits him and he’s freaking out to Mari. It’s a moment of vulnerability from Mari that is refreshing because usually she’s an idiot or an ass. Contrasted with this scene, we get the warmth of knowing Van might not be dying of cancer anymore. Tai holding and hugging Van will be a theme this season, but it’s nice to see them happy for once, like go lesbians! Callie and Lottie’s dynamic is pretty interesting because you think this will be the issue of the season, which is how close they’ve gotten. We see how Lottie influences Callie, and Shauna is obviously worried. We get the hints further that something isn’t right with the brakes, and at first watch. I thought Shauna was jumping to conclusions, and that seems to be the general consensus. It feels like this episode was a filler episode to build up to Ben’s trial. The coolest and most interesting part was the hallucinations that set up Akilah (my baby girl) to die with the pomegranate theory, and as Lottie’s new disciple. Other than that, this episode was setting up the next episode and didn’t have the impact of others.
“12 Angry Girls and 1 Drunk Travis” (Episode Four)
Rating: 5/5
The setup paid off because this episode is the trial of Coach Benjamin Scott. Tai on prosecution and Misty on the defense, and Shauna… being Shauna. If someone asked me to show them one episode of this show, it would be this one. It perfectly demonstrates the overall theme of this show: nothing is fair, no matter how much you want it to be. It’s full of heart-wrenching monologues and scenes, the most heartbreaking one to me was the speech Coach Ben gives to the girls about caring about them and begging for them to forgive him for leaving. It’s one of those moments that shows the desperation and loss these characters feel because they are hurt that he left. He mattered to these girls, and he walked away from them. They’ve made him the villain due to this hurt. Despite this speech, Shauna scares the jury and pressures them to find him guilty (even though there is no way he set the cabin on fire). The biggest surprise was Van voting him guilty instantly, but they never really had that connection like Misty or Natalie. Moving into the adult timeline, Shauna gets locked in a freezer with ghost Jackie, which I thought was a fun twist of fate, and sets her even more on the rails. In the end, we get the death of Lottie Matthews, a character who I thought would be the final survivor standing. But I understand why, to an extent, like, where do you go with her next? I wish they pushed the reveal of Lottie until the end of season two, or replaced the adult survivor reveal from this season to be Lottie. But alas, she has died and marks the beginning of the ‘Who Killed Lottie Matthews arc?’ of the show.
“Did Tai Do That?” (Episode Five)
Rating: 4/5
“They’re never truly dead unless you see the body”. Well, we got a body! We see Lottie in the morgue, as young Misty stares at young Lottie on the table. We get back the amateur detective that Misty is, and takes her back to her roots (thank god). But in the teen timeline, the girls are deciding the proper execution method of Coach, and are struggling with HOW to kill him and WHO will kill him. They draw cards to see who will shoot Coach Scott, and Tai is the executioner. While practicing, she and Van share a steamy scene while trying to unlock Other Tai to help Tai cope with the weight of killing someone. Other than that, the part of the teen timeline I would like to note for later is how Ben begs to live and needs to cover his face, but he still pleads to live. He doesn’t end up getting shot, which is what he wanted, saved by a vision that Akalih had saying he was the bridge home. He is also not going anywhere because Shauna has Melissa, a minor character in season 2, who was boosted to a love interest for Shauna in season 3, to cut the back of Ben’s ankle. In the adult timeline, we saw mirroring of the Other Tai narrative, as we get hints through the fear Tai’s son has when he finds out Other Tai is present. With going back to her roots comes more character breaking, and this time it’s by Walter, who tries too hard to flirt with her by hurting her. The pair has an issue of jumping in without understanding each other. Misty has just killed her best friend, and her other friend ends up murdered. She is coping with grief and has never found a healthy way to communicate that, and Walter is just doing what made her fall for him. They are different people at this point in time than the original Misty. It’s not purposeful, but it doesn’t hurt less.
“Thanksgiving (Canada)” (Episode Six)
Rating: 1/5
I don’t like this episode at all, because with the context of the episode before, this version of Coach Ben makes no sense. He insults Natalie (yes, I understand it was so she’d kill him), begging to die, the refusal to eat, and just his ending in general. He wanted to live, and he is, the second after he’s begging for death. Was Natalie killing Ben painful? Yes. We see the transition of power to Shauna, who rules using fear tactics and is the downfall of the peaceful era of Natalie. This is one of the moments that broke Natalie, and it was just not set up well enough to have that reaction that a later scene will have. Adult Shauna is so convinced someone is coming after her that she takes her family to a motel. She receives a DAT Tape containing a random person talking, and it scares Tai and Van as well. It’s just in comparison to the previous episodes, boring. The episode ends with the cliff hanger of the girls howling around the head of their coach in a ritualistic fashion as a group of researchers walk up. The “What’s the DAT tape?” mystery is solved within a singular episode.
“Croak” (Episode Seven)
Rating: 4.5/5
The noise we heard was frogs, in a weird, long scene. We get to know who the researchers are, and I really thought Hannah and Kodiak were going to get down and dirty. I found this part extremely boring, but it attempted to set up who Hannah was. They get to camp, and we get the coolest sequence. But first, Lottie just killed Edwin like it was nothing, and then messed with the wound, whispering words. She does this while they push an arrow through Melissa’s body, and I’m not going to lie, I missed the random gore. But while this is happening, we get the animalistic hunting scene. Natalie is leading the pack, acting as the head wolf as they use their senses to find Kodiak and Hannah. Hannah surrenders, and Travis and Akaliah find Kodiak telling him to help them escape. The adult timeline has its highlights, though, as we find out that Shauna’s DNA was found at Lottie’s crime scene, and Van is back in the hospital. Shauna is so paranoid that she goes to handle Hannah’s child by herself. The cinematography in this episode is impeccable, and the animalistic aspects of these girls are starting to show. They’ve adapted to their environment, and even the most sane characters are starting to break down. I just think the first scenes with the researchers is too boring to make this another perfect episode.
“A Normal, Boring Life” (Episode Eight)
Rating: 2/5
The idea of escaping is so close, and it was cute seeing the girls imagine the things they missed, like toilet paper. Melissa has a moment that I think made me like her for a second, where she talks to Shauna about being excited for doing all the things we think of to be boring: buying a gym membership you don’t use, going to college, etc. Which is sweet when you find out in this episode, she is the 8th survivor. While she wouldn’t have been my pick, Melissa being it makes sense with her build-up this season. But her life is very weird, marrying Hannah’s daughter after faking her own death. We get some Van hallucinating in her coma-like state of teen Van. Callie and Jeff agree that Shauna is crazy and that there is no danger, and Callie is to blame slightly for Shauna’s mania, as she took the letter that came with the DAT tape explaining everything. This episode attempts to tie up storylines as we move into the ending of this season, I just didn’t like how fast these mysteries are being closed up. This show thrives on mystery and gore; episodes like this serve to just close up puzzling events that would’ve been cool to explore further.
“How the Story Ends” (Episode Nine)
Rating: 3/5
Listen, I’m biased, completely, because this episode killed off Van. I knew the moment teen Van sent her on the quest, there was no way my favorite ginger would last that long. Though, I am too far ahead in the episode. When the episode starts, we come back to the teens as Shauna tells them they aren’t leaving. It shows the split in the factions. We have some major points that set up the finale, like hints that Van may have rigged the hunts to protect her and Tai, Misty shows she has the transponder from the black box, Shauna shooting at Melissa, and so much more. One moment that stuck with me is the realization that Natalie has heard that Hannah killed Kodac (who I hoped would stick around); it’s one of those scenes that makes this show what it is. We often don’t see the girls cry, but when they do, it’s done so well. As the snow falls, it sets in, we will get another season of the show, great for the audience, TERRIBLE for the surviving girls. Then, to the adult timeline that again ruins this episode, Van goes on this quest for treasure, helps Tai escape the other Tai, and comes to the realization that she doesn’t want to be stuck in the murderous mindset. She wants to be better, only for Melissa, the one who faked her death to escape, killing Van after Van doesn’t kill her. Tai hugging Van will always rip my heart out, but ya, I hoped the finale would fix this, but well-
“Full Circle” (Episode Ten)
Rating: 5/5
One thing that Yellowjackets does well is it never fails at a season finale, and there’s too much to put into a small paragraph. Let me start off with the first big reveal: Callie murdered Lottie. She is just a girl who wants her mother’s love but fears being like her mother. The fandom can justify Shauna but not Callie, and I think that’s a shame because she’s so complex. Callie and Jeff pick up and leave because Jeff swears to protect Callie going forward. When Shauna is confronted with it, she gets eaten up by Misty’s sass. In the teen timeline, things are going down as we enter the second winter, as Shauna is now a full-on dictator with Hannah as her second in command, and all of Akilah’s animals have died. They resort to a hunt to show their respect for the wilderness, which ironically Mari agrees with. This was always planned by Akilah, a crazy twist, as she has been shown to be sweet and innocent with her animals. I think the rigging of the cards was an interesting plot point, and Shauna messing up the plan is pretty accurate. Mari is marked to die, and having this mirror of the opening scene of the season and the first hunt is perfect, and it shows the cycle these girls are stuck in. Mari has fulfilled her prophecy, she is our Pit Girl. Shauna is our antler queen as she remarks about how much she loves and misses her power in the wilderness, as her friends cry. To end the season with a Natalie and Misty team-up was crazy, as Natalie goes “missing” as she climbs up the mountain to contact for help. Leaving the audience with a shot of her screaming for help from the mountain top as a man picks up the phone. Is this freedom? What will life look like after this moment? Credits. A truly powerful end to a season filled with mystery and loss.
Overall Thoughts
Rating: 3.6/5
The show really falters in the adult timeline because it introduces new survivors without knowing what to do with them. Van’s storyline was Tai, and I fear the writers didn’t know what to do with her. Lauren Ambrose is such a talented actress, and I wish they did more to explore Van’s relationship with death in her later years. They should’ve introduced the survivors later, maybe in season 2, because now we’ve gotten to the point where we don’t know where to go. I liked the development of Callie as she was conflicted with this side of her, and the relationship she builds with her father. We’ve only really seen her relationship with Shauna. This season, though, fails at building up tension to resolve it in the next episode. That’s the issue with ten-episode seasons: you have to tie everything up in a short amount of time. This season removed a lot of characters who I loved and became a staple in the show, and some of them felt extremely lazy. The breaking and building of relationships this season was also the strongest factor and the weakest factor of this whole season. While relationships like Walter and Misty break up and Shauna and Melissa feel thrown together, the decay of Shauna and Tai’s relationship in the teen timeline is so subtle as Shauna becomes more paranoid and hungry for power. Everyone cites Lottie as the one who started all the issues, but it was Shauna. The whole group is falling apart, and you can tell where real allies lie. I do hope that in the upcoming season we get to the post-rescue era, and maybe this opens the door for new survivors. I can’t wait to see what season four will offer, as I can’t tell where this show will go.