<i>Yellowjackets</i> Season 3 Finale Closes Out with Natalie’s Game-Changing Discovery

Spoilers below for Yellowjackets.

Season 3 of Yellowjackets gets closer than ever to getting the girls out of the wilderness, which would finally begin the convergence of the 1996 “teen” and 2021 “adult” storylines in the series. But when faced with the option to leave the wilderness—via the frog researchers they encounter and the discovery of the transponder that Misty hid in season 1—the teens have to grapple with a new reality: What if some of them don’t want to leave?

The springtime glow that enveloped the teen timeline in season 3 is fading fast with winter once again around the corner, and the girls are split into two factions: one determined to stay in the wilderness, led by Shauna (Sophie Nélisse); and another desperate to return home, led by Natalie (Sophie Thatcher). When Akilah (Nia Sondaya) discovers that the animals she was raising have died—just like her vision predicted—the girls are at odds about what to do next. Natalie reasons that “It” (a.k.a. the wilderness) wants them to leave, while Lottie (Courtney Eaton) suggests that It is asking them to spill blood, specifically sacrificing one of their own instead of an enemy. To do that, they must initiate another hunt. Burgeoning Queen Bee Shauna seems concerned at first before agreeing. “We must show the wilderness our respect,” she reasons.

Instead of allowing the cards to fall where they may (pun intended), Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown) suggests that Van (Liv Hewson) rig the deck to hunt Hannah (Ashley Sutton), the frog researcher who has joined the Yellowjackets' cause for self-preservation. Van isn’t thrilled by the idea and when the time comes, she shoots Tai a concerned look before proceeding with the card draw. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Shauna, who inserts herself into the lineup and effectively sets Mari (Alexa Barajas) up to be killed. Feeling smug about derailing the plan and the fate of her enemy, all Shauna says is, “tough break, Mar” before fastening the doomed heart necklace around her neck and beginning to count.

As the hunt kicks off, a drugged out Travis (Kevin Alves) warns Shauna about the consequences of their actions. Her savage streak continues as she cuts back at him saying, “Do you want to make it two-for-two with the brothers?” hinting that Travis will meet a bleak death like his brother Javi (Luciano Leroux) if he doesn’t fall in line. Travis has had more of a backseat in season 3, but his mushroom trips with Lottie seem to have altered his brain chemistry; he tells Shauna that he is sharing a consciousness with Javi and Jackie’s spirits, citing inside information about the former best friends’ relationship, and then ominously asks, “Don’t you wonder about whose reality we’re in?”

Shauna doesn’t pay much attention to Travis’s warning. She attaches herself to Tai during the hunt, not only because Tai is a formidable hunter, but also because she doesn’t entirely trust what transpired during the draw. When Gen (Mya Lowe) appears in a clearing to seemingly lure Tai away by saying Van is injured, Shauna doubles down on her suspicions until Tai invites her along to prove they’re on the same side. Tai seems to be the only one willing to stand up to Shauna’s increasingly hostile leadership, and it’s the first time we’ve seen Shauna back down from a fight this season.

Despite Lottie suggesting the hunt and the sacrifice to appease the wilderness spirit, she takes refuge in the caves while the violence occurs above ground. When Akilah joins her, their conversation reveals that Akilah killed the animals on purpose in order to set up the hunt. “I know it must’ve hurt to do what you did,” Lottie tells Akilah, angering her and making Akilah doubt the validity of her visions. “This place is in us now,” Lottie responds ominously. “Even if we go home, It will come with us.”

Shauna’s former ally Melissa (Jenna Burgess) is still (rightfully) pissed about Shauna almost shooting her in the previous episode, and takes the first opportunity she has to tackle and strangle Shauna in the middle of the forest. There’s hurt, anguish, and anger in Melissa’s eyes and genuine fear in Shauna’s, but right before the point of no return, Melissa lets up, allowing Shauna to breathe. Her renewed lease on life doesn’t soften Shauna, though; instead, she spits an insult at Melissa, telling her she knew she’d “turn out to be boring.” It’s no wonder Adult Melissa (Hilary Swank) faked her own death to get as far away from Shauna as she could.

Mari’s survival instincts are on overdrive for the second time this season: She strips down to her undergarments in order to use her clothes as a red herring. But unfortunately it’s not enough. Mari runs directly into the animal trap we saw Travis set up in the previous episode, her entire body impaled on spikes at the bottom of the hole—an eerie parallel to how she began the season. Her bloody footprints in the snow lead the group to discover her fate, and Shauna coldly orders her underlings to gather her body for the feast.

Donning the Antler Queen garb, Shauna commences the feast. Mari’s hair decorates her outfit, and Shauna commands Natalie to do the honors of cutting into Mari. But Natalie doesn’t say anything, nor does she move a muscle, and the lack of deference angers Shauna. She rips off Natalie’s mask to reveal Hannah behind it, dressed in Natalie’s war outfit. Shauna is pissed, but the camera lingers on Misty’s (Samantha Hanratty) face that lights up with a knowing smile.

While the team was searching for Mari, Natalie took advantage of the distraction to collude with Hannah to use the hidden transponder and the long range radio to make contact with the outside world. Natalie and Hannah swap clothes and masks so that Natalie can slip away to find a signal. She treks to the top of a snowy hill, away from the tall trees that make up their home and block radio waves, and frantically turns the radio on. Crying into the receiver, she asks over and over if anyone can hear her. The season ends with a glimmer of hope when a male voice on the other end responds affirmatively: “Yes, I can hear you.”

Van’s (Lauren Ambrose) tragic death in the penultimate episode is top of mind for Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) and Tai (Tawny Cypress), who take her body into a secluded area to bury her. But Tai, who understandably blames Shauna for her girlfriend’s death, doesn’t want Shauna to participate in the final ritual with Van’s body. Alone, Tai cuts into Van’s cold body and takes a big ceremonial bite out of her heart before leaving her to rest for eternity in an unmarked grave.

The biggest mystery hanging over the adults in the majority of season 3 of Yellowjackets is who killed Lottie (Simone Kessell), who disappeared midway through the season without an on-screen death. The finale “Full Circle” confirms her demise, and unlike Natalie (Juliette Lewis) and Van’s deaths, Lottie doesn’t find herself back in the plane to grapple with her life choices before dying. Still haunted by the wilderness, Lottie’s vision before death takes her to a candlelit staircase in search of a crying baby. But when she comes to, the candles are gone and she’s enveloped in silence. “Are you there?” she asks the empty room, and the next time we see the stairs, her dead body is at the bottom of it.

The episode reveals who killed her: Shauna’s daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins), though it wasn’t premeditated. Citizen detective Misty (Christina Ricci) sniffs this out by triangulating Shauna’s alibi, the DNA under Lottie’s fingernails, and a picture of Callie on Lottie’s phone. Callie fesses up immediately, telling Misty it was an accident that occurred when she went to the city to confront Lottie about taking the tape that was addressed to Shauna (which we now know was sent by Melissa). While Lottie did have the tape, she also insinuates that Callie is a child of the wilderness and that “It” is within her. “It took our baby and gave us you,” Lottie explains. “It’s the pulse of life, it’s why we did what we did out there. All of those thrilling, terrible things.” When Lottie tells Callie she’s just like her mom, it triggers her and she pushes Lottie down the stairs out of anger, grabbing the tape before fleeing the crime scene.

Misty is somewhat understanding and advises her to tell Jeff (Warren Kole), who reacts about as well as a father can after finding out his daughter murdered someone. He apologizes to Callie for not protecting her from “her,” likely referring to Shauna, whose prickliness has rubbed him the wrong way throughout the season. When Shauna returns from her road trip, she finds that Jeff and Callie’s clothes are gone and Callie’s phone line is dead.

Shauna is an avoidant who never takes ownership of her own mistakes, so her first instinct is to go to Misty’s house to accuse her of driving a wedge between her family. Misty holds her own, telling Shauna what her daughter did and noting that Shauna knew that Lottie gave Callie the heart pendant necklace that would mark her for death. Misty’s growing disdain for Shauna has been a season-long development, and it culminates in a coffee chat with Tai who unequivocally blames Shauna for Van’s death. Just like in the “teen” timeline, which showed splinters in Shauna’s regime, the adults are also fed up with her, which sets up an inevitable showdown between the remaining Yellowjackets teammates in an as-yet unannounced season 4.

While Misty and Tai discuss Shauna’s carelessness and self-centered actions, Walter (Elijah Wood) pulls up outside of the coffee shop and wordlessly watches their interaction from his car. Yellowjackets has many long-standing character arcs and storylines, but Walter’s significance has yet to become clear. Aside from his wealth, fixation on Misty, and his desire to prove that Misty’s friends have bad intentions, Walter hasn’t added much to the story since he was introduced in season 2—hopefully future seasons will illuminate his purpose in the larger plot.

Despite being alienated from her family and friends, Shauna still ends the season on a personal high note. She finds the note from Melissa that accompanied the tape under the fridge, which floods her with memories about the wilderness. Cross-cutting between Teen Shauna’s Antler Queen christening and Adult Shauna journaling, a voiceover of the journal entry reveals that those violent memories aren’t bad reminders of the awful things she’s done, but rather aspirational. “I think we can’t or won’t remember it clearly because we recognize that deep down, we were having so much fun,” she narrates just as her younger self is solidifying her power after Mari’s death. “That’s the terrible truth that we left out there buried, along with the people we called our friends. I let all of it slip away from me. It’s time I start taking it back.”