‘Yellowjackets’ FINALLY Answered These 7 Burning Questions by the Season 3 Finale
Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for Season 3 of Yellowjackets.It has been two weeks since the intense and shocking Season 3 of Yellowjackets was released, and all there’s left to do is wait and hope for a Season 4 renewal announcement. The third season of the survival drama saw some major shifts in both the past and present timelines. In the past, the Yellowjackets had a chance at rescue, but Lottie (Courtney Eaton) and Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) prevented this from happening.
In the present timeline, the remaining Yellowjackets dealt with the fallout from Lottie’s (Simone Kessell) murder for much of the season. Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), meanwhile, became more and more paranoid, only made worse by the DAT tape she received in the mail from Melissa (Hilary Swank). The season finale certainly leaves a great deal of room to explore more of these storylines in a potential Season 4, but it also answers a number of questions that we’ve had, some even since the pilot episode of Yellowjackets.
7
Will Cannibalism Ever Reach ‘Yellowjackets’ Adult Timeline?
The answer is heartbreaking.
Since the start of Yellowjackets, the present-day Yellowjackets have been haunted by the atrocities that they committed back in the wilderness, and have been concerned that these will one day be revealed. A major aspect of this is the Yellowjackets’ cannibalism back then, and not just for survival. There has always been a question as to when this would enter the adult timeline, if ever.
…The present-day Yellowjackets have been haunted by the atrocities that they committed back in the wilderness…
Several episodes ago, Shauna bit Melissa’s arm and tried to force her to eat a piece of it. This was certainly a step towards present-day cannibalism, but in the Season 3 finale of Yellowjackets, Tai (Tawny Cypress) finally crosses that line after all these years. Grieving the loss of the love of her life, Van (Lauren Ambrose), Tai eats Van’s raw heart as a last act of love and devotion before burying what is left of her.
6
To What Extent Will Jeff and Callie Stand By Shauna?
They finally reached their limit.
Jeff (Warren Kole) is the one character outside the Yellowjackets who knows pretty much the full extent of what happened out in the wilderness, because he read Shauna’s journals from back then. He stood by her in spite of this, and continued to do so after she cheated on him with Adam (Peter Gadiot) and then killed Adam (for which Jeff was partly to blame due to his blackmailing of the Yellowjackets).
In Season 3, Callie learned more of the extent of what happened out there from Lottie…
Callie (Sarah Desjardins) seemed like she might turn on Shauna after learning about Adam, but she still stayed loyal to her. In Season 3, Callie learned more of the extent of what happened out there from Lottie, and it was weighing on her for a while. Coupled with Shauna’s growing paranoia, and Callie’s guilt over what she did to Lottie, this reaches a breaking point in the Season 3 finale. Without telling Shauna ahead of time, Jeff and Callie finally leave her.
5
Was Melissa Telling the Truth About Her Letter?
What were her real intentions behind sending the tape?
When Melissa sent Shauna the DAT tape all these years after faking her own death, Shauna was convinced that Melissa was out to get her. This led her to break into Alex’s (Jaylee Hamidi) house, only to discover that Melissa lived there too, and that she was still alive. Melissa tried to convince Shauna that she had sent her the tape as a form of closure and forgiveness (of each other and themselves), but Shauna didn’t believe her.
…The letter said exactly what Melissa said it would, but it has the opposite effect on Shauna when she reads it.
While there was certainly a possibility that Melissa was lying to Shauna, it is revealed in the Season 3 finale of Yellowjackets that Melissa was actually telling the truth. When Callie opened the package, the letter accidentally fell under the fridge before she could even see that there was one. As it turns out, the letter said exactly what Melissa said it would, but it has the opposite effect on Shauna when she reads it.
4
How Long Can Shauna Keep Her Past and Present Separate?
The wilderness has finally caught up to her.
After being left by Jeff and Callie, finding out what Callie did to Lottie, and reading Melissa’s letter about the wilderness, Shauna finds a terrifying new sense of peace. Shauna misses the power that she felt back in the wilderness, and she decides to embrace it once again. From the start of the show, the two Shaunas had always felt drastically different, so it was only a question of if and when Shauna would ever revert to her teenage self.
Shauna misses the power that she felt back in the wilderness…
Although Shauna had killed since then, it is the loss of her family that finally frees her to return to that terrifying and bloodthirsty version of herself. Now no longer compelled to keep up the façade of her normal life, Shauna is ready to seek out the same sense of power and control that she had back when she was the Yellowjackets’ leader and Antler Queen in the wilderness, no matter what – or who – is the cost.
3
Who Killed Lottie?
The answer had been foreshadowed for a while.
The adult timeline of Yellowjackets saw two major deaths in Season 3: that of Lottie, and that of Van. Neither one was handled with the same care as the deaths in the teen timeline this season, but Lottie’s was turned into a whole murder mystery. As such, the question of who killed Lottie hung over the entire season, all up until the Season 3 finale. If Walter (Elijah Wood) was to be believed about the DNA found under Lottie’s fingernails, the obvious suspect was Callie.
Sure enough, in the Season 3 finale of Yellowjackets, it is revealed that Callie killed Lottie. Callie went to confront Lottie after Lottie took the DAT tape, and Lottie started to be a little too honest with Callie. She told her about some of the things they had done in the wilderness, expressed her joy at the presence of the wilderness in Callie, and pointed out Callie’s similarities to Shauna. In an impulsive moment, Callie pushed Lottie down the stairs, killing her.
2
Who Is Pit Girl?
We’ve been wondering since the pilot episode.
The very first scene of Yellowjackets opens with the Yellowjackets hunting a dark-haired girl wearing a white dress, and chasing her until she falls into a pit lined with spikes. For the entirety of the show, there has been a question about who this person, called “Pit Girl” by Yellowjackets fans, was. This season made it clearer that it was probably Mari (Alex Barajas), with moments of foreshadowing like her falling into Ben’s (Steven Krueger) pit trap earlier in the season.
For the entirety of the show, there has been a question about who this person, called “Pit Girl” by Yellowjackets fans, was.
The introduction of Hannah (Ashley Sutton) posed the possibility that she was actually Pit Girl, but that turned out to be a red herring. The Yellowjackets hold a hunt in the Season 3 finale to choose who to sacrifice after the deaths of Akilah’s (Nia Sondaya) animals. Van (Liv Hewson) and Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown) rig the cards to pick Hannah, but Shauna intentionally messes this up so that Mari will be chosen instead. The Yellowjackets hunt Mari, though many of them try to give her the chance to escape. Ultimately, Mari falls into the pit trap that Travis (Kevin Alves) previously set for Lottie, killing her.
1
How Did the Yellowjackets Get Rescued?
It all comes down to Nat.
The central question from the start of Yellowjackets, even more so than that of Pit Girl’s identity, is how the Yellowjackets ended up being rescued. The likely assumption was always that it was just by chance that someone happened to find them, but this was debunked in Season 3 after they were found, but destroyed their own chances of being rescued. The Season 3 finale introduces a third timeline that reveals that many of the Yellowjackets teamed up to help Nat (Sophie Thatcher) get away with the newly-fixed satellite phone.
Nat is at the top of a mountain with the satellite phone, and she gets a signal, making contact with someone on the outside.
In order to distract Shauna, the Yellowjackets planned a hunt, even though that meant Akilah sacrificing her animals, and all of them risking their lives. In a scene that has still not been fully explained, Shauna is angrily looking for Nat shortly after Mari’s death, but Hannah is actually wearing Nat’s clothes and pretending to be her. Nat is at the top of a mountain with the satellite phone, and she gets a signal, making contact with someone on the outside.
