The Wilderness Bites Back in Yellowjackets Season 3

After nearly two years away, everyone’s favorite soccer-playing, plane-crash-surviving, cannibalizing girl group is back in Yellowjackets Season 3. 

It’s no secret that Season 2 wasn’t entirely well-received by the public, with critics and fans alike begrudging their beloved show as it almost turned into a buddy-cop mystery its second time around the block. Season 2 had plenty of drama but drew its audience into a bit of a predictable lull, further building out the characters and relationships but not really moving the plot forward. 

Season 3, however, has learned its lesson. There is no waiting in the wings with bated breath, at least not in the first four episodes released to reviewers. It feels like returning home to the old familiar routine of the first season, with each scene feeling like it has a true sense of purpose. Each character, however small or significant, drives the plot ahead. Dialogue feels consequential, and not so circular as some of the conversations in last season could seem. 

I’m loath to bring up the sore spot, but it’s perhaps the biggest thing on everyone’s mind as they go forth into Season 3, directly into an immediate bittersweet note. Last season ended with arguably the most painful death of a character so far, a mic drop that no one wanted nor saw coming: the quasi-murder of (adult) Natalie. 

Watching teen Nat (Sophie Thatcher) in the ‘90s timeline finally flourish as their newly-elected “leader” in Season 3 is now laden with implications in every decision made or conversation had, leaving viewers to pick up the pieces and fit them together into the larger puzzle. She flounders a bit like a baby bird learning to fly. Although Nat is seen as the character with the best heart, the truly “good” one of the bunch, seeing her juxtaposed with teen Shauna (Sophie Nelisse) is fascinating. Tensions have always run high on this show, but they’ve been ramped up to Level 1000 now that Nat sits on the throne and Shauna must bow to her. Yet I am still left with the question: if Nat was the leader, why did the wilderness pick her (as Lottie claims) as its sacrifice?

Plagued by her demons, Shauna is by no means evil, neither as a teen nor as an adult. Still, it’s a sticky situation to see adult Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) deal with the aftermath of Natalie’s death. It almost feels as though Shauna has finally gotten what she’s always wanted. With Nat no longer in the picture, Shauna can reclaim what she always believed was her rightful place as the leader of what’s left of the Yellowjackets girls. There is definitely an undercurrent of this throughout the first several episodes, with adult Shauna reckoning with this newfound, self-appointed role, and the other remaining women tentatively following suit. 

To be honest, adult Shauna and teen Shauna continue to grow more and more insufferable. Make no mistake: I understand the reason for their character portrayals. The deep trauma instilled in both versions is unimaginable, and I can’t say for certain I wouldn’t act similarly in either position (in the wilderness or during the modern day). But she mopes, and she mopes, and she… mopes. She lashes out at people who mean to comfort her. She is desperate to get to the secrets behind that plane crash and the ensuing events, and yet she lashes out at her fellow survivors—in both timelines. 

There’s this perpetual mix of anger and sadness in her eyes, a blank righteousness that has not been deserved, no matter how much Shauna wants to insist she is the best fit as leader. The more Season 3 progresses, the more you want to grab her by the shoulders and shake her out of whatever hole she fell into long ago. This is not a fair critique, given the context, but adult Shauna’s arc still falls flat for me. 

Adult Van (Lauren Ambrose) fills the spaces left behind by the other women, who are either dead or otherwise occupied (cough Lottie cough). She has always been a bright spot even in the most disturbing of times, and her adult arc continues to serve that same purpose as we get to know her more this season. She is a predominant player in Season 3, especially regarding her relationship to Taissa (Tawny Cypress); we finally get to see even more of how their relationship has carried on after those tentative moments as teenagers. But she still holds her own. She has her own shit to deal with, and she’s not there to play therapist to Taissa and her own demons (both literal and figurative—that fugue state is here to stay).  

Despite this, the first few episodes actually feel very light, for lack of a better word, during the teenage timeline, especially compared to last season. A lot of the scenes are actually somewhat reminiscent of the show The 100, during which a plethora of teenagers are sent back down to Earth after a nuclear apocalypse to re-discover if it’s inhabitable. And the Yellowjackets have certainly made this isolated Canadian island inhabitable, even a bit homey, as much as one can make the complete wilderness contain any modicum of coziness. 

The early episodes of Season 3 largely get this show back on track. It’s not quite at the level Season 1 operated on, but it’s fresher. It propels the audience forward, bringing us back to our roots of odd, potentially paranormal activity. Lottie’s cult leader tactics and woo-woo speculation come to a head this season, and once again the wilderness is firmly at the forefront as a villain lurking in the shadows, as that entity that may or may not actually exist. The bittersweet moments feel more tangible, and the stakes feel higher as we get back on the tarmac from which Flight 2525 took off in the very first episode. 

The first two episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3 premiere on Paramount+ with Showtime on Feb. 14, 2025, before premiering on Showtime on Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Gillian Bennett is a writer and editor who has been featured in Strike Magazine, Her Campus, and now Paste Magazine. She enjoys watching copious reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and fantasizing about living in London. You can find more of her neverending inner monologue and online diary on her Twitter or her blog.

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