Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the Yellowjackets Season 3 finale.Last week’sYellowjacketsfinale finally answeredsome of the show’s biggest questions, like the identity of Pit Girl and how it is the team eventually comes to be rescued, setting up what’s guaranteed to be an eventful Season 4 (though it’s yet to be confirmed). With Lottie (Simone Kessell) and Van’s (Lauren Ambrose) deaths in Season 3, in addition to Natalie’s (Juliette Lewis) death in Season 2, the number of surviving adult Yellowjackets is getting smaller and smaller. And if the season finale is any indication, Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) may very well be next.
Shauna has always been the central protagonist ofYellowjackets, and in Season 3, she had the most significant character development in both the past and present timelines,turning her into something of a villain. Teenage Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) has never been more unhinged than she was this season, ultimately seizing power andbecoming the new Antler Queen, while adult Shauna obsesses over the tape to the point where she nearly kills Melissa (Hilary Swank). With adult Tai (Tawny Cypress) and Misty (Christina Ricci) fed up with Shauna’s recklessness,the season finale suggests they may be plotting to kill her.
Shauna Shows Her True Colors in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3
Season 3 showed us the extent ofwhat Shauna is capable ofthroughout both timelines. As a result of the trauma from Jackie’s (Ella Purnell) death and the loss of her baby, Shauna often lashes out in anger towards the other girls, especially when they try to enjoy themselves in the warmer weather because Shauna has nothing to smile about. Once she startsspending time with Melissa(Jenna Burgess), Melissa reinforces Shauna’s belief that she would make a much better leader than Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) and encourages her to embrace the darker side of herself. Ever since Season 1, Shauna has shown that she doesn’t shy away from doing what needs to be done to survive in the wilderness, from becoming the butcher to being the first to dabble in cannibalism. As Shauna writes in her note towards the end of theSeason 3 finale, she felt most alive when they were stuck in the wilderness and got to be who she really is at her core.
In adulthood, the darkness Shauna was able to unleash in the wilderness reveals itself time and time again back in civilization. From Adam’s (Peter Gadiot) misguided murder in Season 1 to herrecent attack on Melissa, during which she forces her to eat a piece of her own flesh,Shauna is a destructive force in both timelinesand those around her in the present day have grown tired of it.
‘Yellowjackets’ Wouldn’t Exist Without This Failed Attempt To Adapt a Classic Novel
Don’t tell women what they can’t do.
Tai and Misty Seem to Be Plotting Shauna’s Death in the ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Finale
By the Season 3 finale, Travis (Andres Soto), Natalie, Lottie, and Vanhave all died. Though it is still unclear whether other minor characters like Akilah (Nia Sondaya) and Gen (Vanessa Prasad) make it to adulthood, the number of surviving Yellowjackets is shrinking rapidly. With this in mind, it seems increasingly likely thatall the adult Yellowjackets will wind up dead by the time the series ends, and Tai and Misty are starting to catch on. During their conversation at a diner in the season finale, Tai shares her realization that Shauna has continued to bring death and destruction into their lives, and that things can’t go on the way they are. Tai sees the writing on the wall, telling Misty, “If we keep letting this slide, she’s going to end up being the last one standing,” with Misty in total agreement.
Misty, tired of being used and discarded by Shauna, has already expressed her frustration with Shauna’s impulsive behavior and the assumption that she and Tai will come to help her clean up her messes. As for Tai, sheblames Shauna for both Van and Natalie’s deaths, doesn’t trust her, and finally starts to remember the extent of what she put them through in the wilderness. Though Shauna may be the most unhinged of them all, we already know the kinds of things both Tai and Misty are capable of, and in this diner scene, they seem to be planning to kill her. Whether “It” is actually real or not,Shauna was the ringleader of some of the most disturbing thingsthey did out in the wilderness, and has been an unpredictable and chaotic force in the present day. Even Jeff (Warren Kole) and Callie (Sarah Desjardins) are afraid of Shauna, distancing themselves from her at the end of the episode. Shauna’s potential future death in Season 4, as planned by Tai and Misty, could be the key to bringing peace to their lives and moving on for good.
All episodes ofYellowjacketsare available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
Yellowjackets
A wildly talented high school girls' soccer team become the unlucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the Canadian wilderness.
