After A Rocky Season, Yellowjackets Ends With An Explosive Finale That Actually Makes Me Excited For Season 4
Warning! SPOILERS ahead for Yellowjackets, season 3, episode 10, “Full Circle!”
Yellowjackets season 3 has been the rockiest addition to the show so far, and while I didn’t walk away from the season finale fully satisfied, I’m not giving up on the series yet. Yellowjackets, season 3, episode 9, left us wrecked by Van’s death, but we barely have a second to breathe before we’re shoved back into the heat of the action in “Full Circle.” As always, Yellowjackets has been sitting on the most exciting action of the series, saving it for the moment of devastating impact, but this time around, the season finale was more fun than sad.
I’m happy for the fans who have been guessing that the pit girl was Mari from the beginning. However, I’m most pleased by the way the episode made good on the promise of its title. By the end, we had gotten some hard-earned answers to questions that had been swirling since the pilot. This was a smart move and opened the door for the show to move forward with a clean slate. Though the efforts have been clunky, Yellowjackets has been trying to reinvent itself this season, and I’m holding out hope the finale indicates it might just succeed.
“Full Circle” Takes Its Time Answering Our Questions, Paving The Way For Yellowjackets Season 4
Though The Answers Feel A Little Forced, I’m Still Glad I Know The Truth
“Full Circle” managed to pull off a strong balance between leaving very few questions unanswered and not cutting off potential for season 4. I don’t doubt that we’ll be back in the Canadian wilderness before too long, and I’m more excited for the next installment than I thought I would be. It’s difficult to maintain the tension and stakes of a show like Yellowjackets, which was proven in seasons 2 and 3. If Yellowjackets can stick to its guns and build off Nat’s contact with the outside world, it could regain some of the intrigue from early in the series.
Though I believed Callie was Lottie’s killer, this twist would’ve been more effective if we had spent more time with Callie over the last few episodes. Instead, Yellowjackets paused the story for an extended flashback scene, packed with exposition, to explain how and why Callie shoved Lottie down those stairs. I don’t doubt that mother and daughter both have equal capabilities for murder, but I wish Yellowjackets had found a more creative way to reveal what was supposed to be the season’s biggest bombshell.
I wanted Yellowjackets to have a planned trajectory, but the finale didn’t feel like that.
In both the past and present, Shauna has made quite a mess for herself. Jeff and Callie are gone, and Nat and the rest of the team have successfully undermined her and made contact with the outside world. There’s not much left tethering Shauna to the pretense of morality she’s been carrying with her. “Full Circle” was an additional reminder that I’m not thrilled with where they’ve taken Shauna’s character this season. The grief and pain that underlie her actions have faded from the show’s memory, which undermines her development as an antihero and descent into violence.
Like Shauna’s half-baked character evolution this season, a few of the reveals in “Full Circle” were a little too convenient. Melissa’s letter falling under the fridge, Callie’s willingness to confess, and Tai’s decision not to go after Melissa were storytelling decisions that came off as lazy rather than intentional. It was fun putting together the pieces of how Mari became the pit girl and how this hunt was the ultimate sacrifice the Yellowjackets had to make for freedom. However, I wasn’t certain it was intentional. I wanted Yellowjackets to have a planned trajectory, but the finale didn’t feel like that.
We’ve Solved Lottie’s Murder, So What’s Next For Season 4?
Since They Can’t Erase The Past, Will The Yellowjackets Start Embracing It?
Shauna has pushed everyone so far that Tai has turned to Misty for help, and Jeff and Callie are in the wind. However, all the adults in the present have decided independently that forgetting the past and pushing it away won’t work anymore. The wilderness is coming into the real world, and the Yellowjackets have lost enough that they’re ready to welcome it. One of the most interesting moments of “Full Circle” was Lottie’s admission that she’s been waiting for Callie to take the place of Shauna’s child from the wilderness and become even more vicious than the Yellowjackets ever were.
Yellowjackets season 3 is book-ended by Shauna’s diary entries, putting her at the center of the narrative, but I could see season 4 passing the torch to Callie. Jeff might want to shield Callie from Shauna’s trauma, but that darkness is inside her, and the show won’t stop until it comes out. Yellowjackets season 3 has wiped the slate clean for the next installment of the show, and we can only hope that the series won’t waste the opportunity to show us what the wilderness can really do.
