While Yellowjackets Season 2 has a Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of 94%, its audience score dropped all the way down to 44%, with the season becoming notorious for its constant cannibalism, which is neither casually digestible (pun intended) for the mainstream television viewer nor practical for a stranded cast of characters. Thus, you might be happy to know that there’s no weirdly pious Jackie-style roast in the first four episodes of Season 3. So the question is, when a series’ reputation shifts from being a feminist cannibalism word-of-mouth hit to being a feminist cannibalism show with, like, not that much cannibalism, can it pull itself out of that frantic sophomore slump hole?
Trying to Pick Up the Pieces of Season 2 with Renewed Perspective(s)
Yellowjackets – Season 3
3
/5
Release Date
February 14, 2025
Pros & Cons
- Unwillingness to move on from a shared trauma is an eye-opening theme that is successfully executed and explored.
- Forest-core costuming, realistic SFX makeup, and a descent into the weird make Yellowjackets an aesthetic treat.
- Sophie Nélisse is especially incredible as Shauna, and themes of feminine rage and its relationship with power and control are handled well.
- With so many unanswered questions about the Wilderness, Lottie’s abilities, and Tai’s sleepwalking is frustrating.
- The addition of new supernatural elements feels gratuitous.
Showtime’s dual-timeline nostalgic survival thriller series follows the trials and tribulations of the Yellowjackets, a girls’ soccer team from New Jersey’s Wiskayok High School, after surviving a 1996 plane crash in the middle of the secluded Ontario woods. The vagueness of the Yellowjackets’ wilderness trauma had to come to an end in Season 2, hence the gruesome cremation-gone-wrong cannibalism episode, teammate hunting rituals, suspected arson, and, of course, the shocking death of Shauna’s newborn son. The genre-bending Showtime series’ writers may as well have announced, “Oh, you wanted trauma? Here’s a heaping helping of trauma.”
Unfortunately, balancing such ’90s-timeline darkness with present-day timeline madness made for a convoluted offering of episodes. A Lottie cult? (Sorry, not a cult, it’s “an intentional community.”) Elijah Wood? Did they decide to table the Man With No Eyes plotline? With a lingering sense of melancholy and a headache brought on by ill-conceived mini plotlines à la Ryan Murphy, saying Yellowjackets Season 2 struggled harder to survive than its Canadian wilderness-bound soccer team is far from unsound.
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For Season 3 of Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson’s Yellowjackets, the emergence of spring in the ’90s-wilderness timeline is as symbolic in the story as it is for the future of the show. Themes of renewal and rebirth are palpable in Episode 1’s opening scene, introduced with a soft wash of yellow hues and Cat Stevens’ 1971 version of the biophilic hymn “Morning Has Broken.” The girls have built new shelter in the aftermath of the devastating cabin fire; they’ve raised rabbits and ducks for food, and have found joy and strength in games of tag, community events, and the power of teamwork.
However, radical nuance in perspective is a recurring theme in the Yellowjackets world, as what one character sees as perseverance and a newfound kinship with spirituality, another sees as delusion and desperation in the face of unimaginable trauma. When it comes to the future of the series, perhaps that’s also a matter of perspective. Can leaning into karmic repercussions, the complexities of justice and sacrifice, and a sprinkling of queer fan service keep Yellowjackets above water? In Season 3, it may be enough to keep “the Wilderness,” not to mention viewers, satisfied.
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A Barbaric Past Eats Away at the Girls in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3
With a phenomenal tagline like “the past will come back to hunt you,” it’s safe to say the remaining adult Yellowjackets entering Season 3 — Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Van (Lauren Ambrose), Misty (Christina Ricci), Tai (Tawny Cypress), and Lottie (Simone Kessell) — will never be completely free of the shame, pain, and anguish experienced stranded in the northern woods over 25 years ago. And while the present-day timeline’s core characters struggle to accept the dreadful Season 2 finale death of Natalie (Juliette Lewis), which Misty feels responsible for, there seems to be an underlying sense of calm in believing it’s what the Wilderness, also known as “It,” wanted all along. Natalie did draw the fatal Queen of Hearts card all those years ago; she was chosen.
Giving in to fate, sometimes subconsciously, is becoming a habit of sorts for these women, as if to rid them of responsibility and moral goodness. And while Lottie is the biggest offender here (considering she shaped the woo-woo belief system that worships the Wilderness), this thought process even begins to impact the cynical and innately ferocious Shauna, a non-believer. With little to no interest in appeasing the Wilderness, Shauna’s diluted conscience may relate to her extremely potent take-no-prisoners survival instincts.
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In the Season 3 trailer, adult Shauna asserts that “the only way to be safe is to be the only one left.” Jeff’s (Warren Kole) attempts to get his wife excited about donating to charity and volunteering are met with a lukewarm response from Shauna. Because Jeff is consumed by guilt over his blackmailing and covering up the murder of Adam (Peter Gadiot), he wishes to combat what he believes are karmic consequences with good deeds.
Time and again, Yellowjackets has highlighted the diverse ways these grown women have dealt with their teenage wilderness trauma, for better or worse. From the physical escape into substance abuse to the reliable tranquility of suburban domesticity, avoiding the sins of the past hasn’t really worked for the adult Yellowjackets. Maybe letting go of all remorse and giving in to what “It” wants is how they’ll move forward (if they even want to). And if that means the body count rises, so be it. Viewers got a taste of this in Season 2, but Season 3 sees the Yellowjackets continue to succumb, which makes for juicy television.
‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Is Still Confused About Its Supernatural Elements
Initially, one of the most intriguing aspects of Yellowjackets was its refusal to dive headfirst into the supernatural realm. Many plot points and motifs that seemingly go beyond the laws of nature can be explained away, and that’s by design. The audience is always able to ponder whether a vision or a strange sound is otherworldly or simply a hallucination brought on by hunger, thirst, stress, delirium, et cetera.
Back in 2021, co-creator Ashley Lyle discussed the supernatural nature of the show during an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5 podcast. “We were most interested in that line between a genuine supernatural phenomena or some sort of madness that takes hold,” she explained, which is essentially a non-answer. Of course, a tasteful non-answer leaves room for creativity and backpedaling.
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Season 3 welcomes back the Man With No Eyes — who has been speculated to be a grim reaper-like figure signaling death is near — but whether Tai’s visions of this knockoff Slender Man are rooted in reality is still a big ol’ question mark. The Season 3 addition of “screaming trees” and tripping in mysterious caves adds to the supernatural question mark. With so many questions about the almighty Wilderness and the validity of its furious thirst for human sacrifices, new possibly-supernatural additions feel directionless, as if the writers are figuring it out as they go along. Throw “screaming trees” at the wall and see if it sticks, right?
Strong Women Make the Wilderness a Scary Place
As per usual, the ’90s-wilderness timeline is far more compelling. Season 3 offers beautiful surrealist segments, eye-opening existentialist dialogue, and fantastic performances, specifically from Sophie Nélisse as young Shauna and Steven Krueger as Coach Ben.
Sure, Shauna having a somewhat-romantic interest may feel forced — like a wink and a nudge to the devout lesbian Yellowjackets Twitter stan accounts — but with Shauna’s growing power over the group by way of instilling fear, her having a loyal follower in a backwards cap just makes sense. Her swelling feelings of rage and simmering aggression make Shauna a scary figure in the woods, someone you wouldn’t want to make an enemy out of.
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Nélisse never lets up when it comes to Shauna’s unapproachable body language and permanently downturned expression, allowing the audience to see her emotions without caricaturing her looming pain. While Yellowjackets-Lord of the Flies comparisons are at this point a bit trite, Shauna has slowly revealed herself to be the savage Jack of the woods. Lyle told Deadline in 2022 that Yellowjackets, at its core, is a “story about f*cked up women,” and that’s a promise it has never strayed from. Amen to that.
Season 3 of ‘Yellowjackets’ Is Building Momentum
Steven Krueger as Coach Ben is a real standout in Season 3, infusing humanity and raw emotion into a broken man who’s processing his own shame and disappointment. With nods to Coach Ben’s experience with personal fable in adulthood and a reflective monologue that will warm your cold heart, this is some solid character development.
Coach Ben approaches survival with rationality while simultaneously driven by fear … of being eaten by ravenous teen girls. If Shauna is fight, Coach Ben is flight. Yellowjackets continues to succeed in its nuanced understanding of how different minds process trauma, suffering, and self-preservation — through horror elements and impressive dialogue — and that’s enough of a reason to keep tuning in. Plus, with a chilling stab at a wilderness-bound justice system and having Oscar winner Hilary Swank join the cast, more momentum is promising.
The first two episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3 will be available to stream on Paramount+ with Showtime on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, at 3:00 a.m. EST/12:00 a.m. PST. Episodes 1 and 2 will premiere on Showtime on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST. You can watch it through the link below:
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