There are some shows that leave you haunted long after the credits roll and the music fades out, the kind that make you pause, stare at the screen, and whisper, “What did I just watch?” For me, that show is Yellowjackets. It’s fascinating, unsettling, and unlike anything else on television — and now, Showtime has confirmed that it will officially end after the release of season 4.
If you’ve somehow missed it (first of all, how?), Yellowjackets follows a high school girls’ soccer team whose plane crashes deep in the Canadian wilderness in the mid-1990s. What starts as a survival story quickly morphs into something darker and more psychological. Over the course of the series, the group devolves into something primal, blending horror, trauma, and the slow unspooling of morality in a world without rules. The show cuts between their teenage selves in the wilderness and their adult lives decades later, showing that what happened out there never really “stayed” there. Think Lord of the Flies meets Lost, but with way more female rage, cult energy, symbolism, and a crazy-awesome soundtrack.
Why “Yellowjackets” Became a Cultural Obsession
When Yellowjackets first premiered in 2021, it became a cultural phenomenon almost instantly. Critics praised its writing, its unapologetic portrayal of girlhood gone feral, and its stellar cast (Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci, and Juliette Lewis, to name the adult-timeline cast) all giving jaw-dropping performances that somehow feel both tragic and terrifying. It wasn’t just a let’s-all-fend-for-ourselves-now type of drama; it was an autopsy of obsession and the ways teenage girls lean when there are no more rules.
Fans of the show, affectionately known as “the Hive,” became obsessed with decoding clues and theorizing who survived, who died, and who might still be out there. Every episode sparked Reddit threads and TikTok theories about antler queens, “Pit Girl,” the mysterious symbol that seemingly appears everywhere, the list goes on. The writing of the show somehow blends mystery, horror, and psychological drama so seamlessly that you can never quite tell where one narrative ends and the other begins.
The Final Season Announcement
After the season 3 finale ended on a heavy, but longtime-coming, cliffhanger, Showtime and creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson confirmed that the next season will be the last. According to Entertainment Weekly, the show will end with a “twisted” and “delicious” conclusion, which feels perfectly on brand for something that’s never given us comfort or closure (we’re looking at you, Shauna).
While Yellowjackets was originally envisioned as a five-season arc, the creators said the story naturally found its ending sooner. To this extent, fans are divided. The show has always thrived on tension — psychological, emotional, and literal — and drawing it out too long might risk unraveling what makes it so magnetic. On the other hand, knowing that the end is near puts pressure on the writers to tie everything together in only 10 episodes, and there is a LOT left to be discovered.
Christina Ricci (who plays adult Misty Quigly, my favorite character) recently shared that filming is expected to begin in early 2026, meaning the final season will likely air later next year. So yes, we have time to prepare — though if we’ve learned anything from Yellowjackets, it’s that no one ever really can.
Why You Should Watch (or Rewatch) Before It’s Over
If you haven’t watched Yellowjackets yet, now’s the time. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s easily one of the most original, ambitious pieces of television in the last decade. It’s deeply female, psychological, and disturbing in the best way. It doesn’t hold your hand or tell you what’s real, and that’s exactly what makes it so addictive.
It’s a show about what happens when the lack of morality strips everything away, when survival stops being about food or shelter and starts being about identity, guilt, and power. And in its own way, Yellowjackets captures something universal: the messiness of womanhood, the cost of survival, and the ache of trying to be seen after being lost for too long.
The Wilderness Has Chosen
Personally, I wish we were getting a season 5. It’s not because the story necessarily needs it, but because I’m not ready to leave the characters, the theories, or that eerie soundtrack behind. Still, I kind of get it. Let’s just say… the show’s roster has gotten… noticeably smaller. I don’t know if the writers did it on purpose, but I understand why season 4 was decided on being the last (just doesn’t mean I’m happy about it).
If anything, wrapping things up now might give the show a chance to go out the way it’s always operated — sharp, twisting, and unapologetically weird. And unfair. Yellowjackets has never been about happy endings or concrete answers; it’s about survival in every sense of the word. The hunger, the guilt, the secrets — all of it comes back around eventually for these characters.
When the final season drops, I’ll be right there; half-hiding behind a blanket, pretending I can’t handle it but eating it up anyways. Because even when it’s over, I don’t think Yellowjackets will ever really leave. Some fans are hoping for a spinoff, which could be interesting, but I think the writers might end up leaving more to the imagination than expected.
Only time will tell.