Last week on Valentine’s Day, the most romantic day of the year, people all around the world celebrated their loved ones. I did as well… except, after doing so, I kicked everyone out and watched the double-episode premiere of season three of my favorite cannibalistic homoerotic show, Yellowjackets. This past Friday, episode three was released and I have THOUGHTS. It’s not enough to burden all of my friends who I’ve forced to watch the show with my theories, I need to write about it too.
Yellowjackets is a show that follows two timelines of teenage and adult characters during and after surviving a plane crash that left them stranded in the Canadian wilderness for 19 months. If you haven’t seen the show yet, I highly recommend, but do so with caution and encouragement to check the trigger warnings before watching. If it seems like something you’re up for, get ready for the ride of your life and come back to this article later!
Needless to say, this article contains MAJOR SPOILERS. Here are my thoughts on the season so far:
Episode 3 Hallucination Analysis and Theories
In the most recent episode, the girls storm Coach Ben’s hideout spot, led by Mari after she returns from being his prisoner in a secret underground cave. As they split up to search the premises, Van, Akilah, and Shauna each succumb to vivid hallucinations. Here’s what I think they could mean:
Van Inside the cabin
It’s a great day to be a Coach Ben Scott defender because I truly do not think he was the one who set the cabin on fire at the end of season two. My guess of who did it? The “other Tai.” Who covered for her? Van.
We know that Van has a complicated history with fire from almost being burned alive in the initial plane crash, and then nearly cremated alive after her wolf attack left her presumed dead. In her hallucination, she stares intensely into the lit hearth of the now burned-down cabin and rocks gently back and forth as flames light up her eyes. When the fire begins to spread, she panics and tries to escape but is held down by the arms of corpses. I think this could be a harboring of guilt for what she allowed the other Tai to do at the end of season two, and the worry that other people are going to find out.
Akilah in the woods
Akilah, I’m so sorry, but you’re definitely dying this season.
I have been completely enamored by the Persephone-esque symbolism of her character so far this season. She is thriving in the time of spring, and raising a multitude of baby animals on a little makeshift farm. In her hallucination, she wanders through the woods indulging in berry after berry. I believe this is a clear nod to Persephone eating the pomegranate seeds that bind her to stay in the Underworld. Especially since at the end of her hallucination she is devoured by the soil and pulled underground.
This would coincide with the running “pomegranate theory” that fans have about the imminent death of a character who eats during a vision/hallucination; for example, Jackie drinking the hot chocolate in season one while she froze to death outside.
Shauna in the lake
As we see Shauna deal with the postpartum grief of losing her baby, the creators of the show decided to further twist the knife by showing us a smiling Shauna waving to a young boy on the shoreline as she floats in the center of the lake. When she tries to swim towards him she becomes unable to move and is ultimately pulled underneath the surface.
There’s no theory I have for the symbolism of this, except for the obvious that the death of Shauna’s son will continue to have an extreme impact on her psyche in both the wilderness and her adult life with her daughter Callie. I believe that this was the only time we will see Shauna smile this season.
Jackie Taylor Stays haunting the narrative
The last hallucination sequence of episode three pulls Van, Akilah, and Shauna into the same vision and adds in Lottie and, dead-girl-extraordinaire, Jackie Taylor. In this imaginary classroom, teacher Lottie has written on the chalkboard: “Of all the ways to lose a person, death is the kindest.” Not creepy at all.
Jackie is harmlessly playing with a snap bracelet, a popular trinket of the early 90s, and hands it to Akilah to have a turn. After Akilah tries it, Van asks to have it and is overcome with pain as it latches onto her arm leaving a deep, but harmless, gash. We then watch as Jackie throws the bracelet against Shauna’s neck and it strangles her to death as she bleeds out, Akilah unable to rip it off of her neck.
Some fans have theorized that the bracelet did not hurt Akilah because she was going to die soon, it hurt Van a little because she is dying later on, and killed Shauna because she is going to survive the longest. In relation to the quote on the chalkboard, dying would indeed spare characters from the trauma and further descent into madness in the wilderness. We know for a fact that Van and Shauna survive into their adulthood and continue to suffer through PTSD and Van’s cancer diagnosis but we have no confirmation that Akilah survives the teenage timeline. I like this theory but am also very resistant to seeing if it accurately plays out because I love Akilah and Van.
Predictions for the rest of the season
Coach Ben’s Fate
I do think it is very likely that Ben will be killed this season, but I don’t think it will happen without some serious drama between the girls. At the end of episode three, we see Natalie, Coach’s closest ally, pointing the shotgun at him telling him not to move. However, I don’t think Natalie has turned on him. She is likely playing along with the sentiments of the other girls while she comes up with a plan to keep him safe from the wrath of the team. I think it is also likely that Misty will help Natalie with this because she still has a crush on Ben, and is desperate for Natalie’s approval.
Other Tai goes on a killing spree to save van
In the adult timeline, after Van finds out that her cancer has stopped metastasizing, Tai immediately thinks it is because of their waiter who died of a heart attack from the previous episode. Except I think that in this scene we were actually witnessing other Tai due to the intensity of her body language and her immediate jump to blaming the wilderness, which we know regular Tai does not believe in.
If we go along with the balance theory of the wilderness, every life source requires balance and sacrifice to keep this supernatural force satisfied. If the death of the waiter was enough to satisfy the wilderness so much that it stopped the progression of Van’s cancer, I find it very likely that Tai would like to further test this theory to save the woman she loves. I would predict we are about to see a ferocious killing spree conducted by the other Tai in order to save Van.
Truthfully, I want Van to survive this season so badly that I’m not opposed to this theory, but I do think if it comes true it will eventually ruin Van and Tai’s relationship because Van is too moral to allow it to happen.
Melissa is the eighth survivor and Shauna’s stalker
Aside from the seven known adult Yellowjackets that we know survive the wilderness, fans believe that there is an eighth survivor that we have not met yet based on the snippets we have seen of their rescue scene.
While this prediction is pretty far-fetched, I would be living if it came true. Looking at the cast for this season we see Hilary Swank credited as a guest star in multiple episodes, but have not seen her yet and do not know what character she plays. My guess is that she plays adult Melissa, who ends up being the eighth survivor of the group.
I also believe that due to recent romantic developments in the teenage timeline, Melissa could still be obsessed with Shauna. The cassette that we saw mailed to the Sadecki house and the anonymous phone left in the bathroom next to Shauna could all be the work of Melissa trying to edge her way back into Shauna’s life again.
Is Callie a chosen one???
What the actual heck Lottie Matthews? Why would you give the daughter of someone who lost their best friend in the wilderness, the necklace of said dead best friend? Why!?
We know that Jackie’s necklace has had many different meanings throughout the show. First, it was a good luck charm of safety, and then it evolved into the marker of the prey that the girls would hunt and then feast on.
I’m not sure what Lottie adorning Callie with this necklace in the present timeline means, but I don’t think it can be good.
Psychological vs Supernatural
I don’t think we can say with any certainty yet whether the events of the show are due to group psychosis and mental illness, or a supernatural element of the wilderness, but many fans have very strong opinions about both.
What I will say is that I believe the idyllic scenes of spring in the current teen timeline are not what they appear to be. The intense yellow filter used in the filming of this period makes it seem fake and exaggerated. The writers have also proven that the girls can be unreliable narrators, most notably in reference to Akilah’s dead pet mouse and Shauna’s son.
The toxic fumes that the girls inhaled in the caves supposedly causing them to hallucinate can be used as evidence against the supernatural theory, but still do not explain the full story.
I believe the events of the show are a mix of both psychological and supernatural, which currently lean more heavily toward the psychological side, but I am not convinced. I also do not think it has to be one or the other.
Final Thoughts
If any of these theories turn out to be true let it be known that you heard it here first. And if they’re all wrong, just forget I said any of this.
I approach every Friday with anticipation and excitement for the next installment of season three and look forward to continuing this cycle until the season finale. The actors and creators of the show have all said this is the deadliest season yet, with a gore rating of 9.5. Needless to say, I’m scared.
Watch season three of Yellowjackets on Paramount+ with new episodes every Friday!