Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2.
The time has finally come: everyone’s favorite cannibalistic soccer team has made their return to our TV screens. Yes, Yellowjackets is back with its highly anticipated third season, which premieres this week with its first two episodes, titled “It Girl” and “Dislocation.” The Season 2 finale left viewers with some explosive cliffhangers, from the cabin burning down in the wilderness timeline to the tragic death of a beloved Yellowjacket in the present day. Season 3 has to address these big plot points, but it does so smartly, slowly trickling out details in a way that doesn’t feel like info-dumping. The season also opts to jump forward, allowing the ghosts of past events to haunt in the background. If there’s one thing we’ve learned throughout the show so far, the Yellowjackets cannot escape their past, no matter how hard they try.
It’s Mari vs. Shauna in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3

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Season 3 begins with a direct parallel to the very first episode, as a girl runs through the woods in a panic. The girl is revealed to be Mari (Alexa Barajas), and she’s being chased by the rest of the group. Mari’s eventually tackled by Shauna (Sophie Nélisse), who begs her to “give it up,” even biting her hand in an effort to get her to do so. However, Mari’s just a decoy, and it’s actually Misty (Samantha Hanratty) who has the object Shauna desires – a bone on a rope, used for the team’s makeshift version of capture the flag (which they’ve deemed “capture the bone”). It’s now summertime in the wilderness, a stark difference from when we last saw the team standing outside in the snow as the cabin burned to the ground — but it’s not just the season that has changed. They have new shelters, made from sticks and other materials found in the forest, revealed to have been built by Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown), and they’re raising ducks and other small animals for food. Perhaps most jarringly of all, Mari and Shauna are in a massive feud, and Shauna is on the warpath, but it’s unclear why as of now.
To cleverly fill us in on what we missed in the time jump, Van (Liv Hewson) hosts a summer solstice festival, where she tells a story about the Yellowjackets and what’s happened up until now. She reveals that the team seems to believe it was Coach Scott (Steven Krueger) who burned down the cabin, and that they spent 12 days and nights feeding the fire. Then spring came, and brought a new beginning along with it. While Van tells her story, Shauna writes in her diary about how much she hates everyone, as well as her own version of events: “Once upon a time, a bunch of teenage girls got stranded in the wilderness and went completely f*cking nuts.” It’s a very tense dynamic, to say the least.
Travis Is One With the Woods in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3

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Almost every member of the Yellowjackets has fallen under Lottie’s (Courtney Eaton) spell at some point or another, but one of her most loyal followers is Travis (Kevin Alves), and Season 3 is no different. We see him drinking from a mug that Lottie has prepared with mushroom-enhanced tea, and he immediately starts hallucinating and tapping into his more heightened senses. Lottie guides him through the trip, and tells him that it’s OK to be mad about what happened to Javi (Luciano Leroux) and his dad, but Travis has a hard time doing so when he believes Shauna has it way worse than he does after losing her baby. He ends up panicking when he thinks he hears the trees screaming, but Lottie can’t hear anything, so they shrug it off temporarily. Cut to that night, during the festival, where Lottie leads an invocation about those they’ve lost, thanking Jackie (Ella Purnell), Javi, and Shauna’s baby, among others, for providing them guidance and strength as the team releases paper lanterns into the sky. The same screaming that Travis heard earlier starts up again, but this time, everyone can hear it.
The next day, when everyone is away from camp, Lottie and Travis try to tap into whatever might be making the sounds, but Travis has an extremely bad trip and starts screaming. When Tai and Van show up on the scene, they discover Travis choking Lottie, who seems completely unbothered by the near-death experience, shrugging it off as Travis simply learning to hear “It.” Travis is visibly shaken by the experience, though, and tells Lottie that the voice told him that It didn’t want him, hinting that It may actually want Akilah (Nia Sondaya). Whether this is the truth or just him being afraid is unclear as of now.
Coach Ben Is Hiding in the Woods in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3

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Early in the premiere, Nat meets with a handful of team members to discuss whether or not they’ve seen any sign of Coach Ben while in the woods. Although some want to go out and hunt for him, Nat is convinced he’s dead and refuses to hear otherwise. The episode then immediately cuts to Coach Ben hobbling through the woods and resetting a trap. As he continues on his walk, his crutch suddenly meets something hard and hollow. When he moves the dirt and foliage aside, he discovers a hatch. Inside is a survival kit, complete with bear spray, first aid supplies, and, most excitingly, peanut butter protein bars. He leaves the hatch open but covered, taking the survival kit with him. Back at the camp, Mari and Shauna’s feud reaches a boiling point when Shauna spits in Mari’s food, and Nat punishes both of them with house arrest, causing Mari to storm away from the camp in frustration – only, she never returns. The next morning, when Coach checks the hatch, he initially hears whimpering and believes he’s trapped an animal, only to find a wounded and terrified Mari inside.
Ben walks Mari through popping her dislocated knee back into place, but when she looks up, he’s gone. Believing him to have walked away, Mari insists that she doesn’t believe he had anything to do with the cabin fire. Ben reemerges, but he seems to have no idea what she’s even talking about, claiming that he has no idea what happened to the cabin. He’s been staying as far away as possible from the rest of them so he doesn’t end up like Javi. Coach Ben pulls Mari out of the hole but tackles her and ties her up — because now that she’s seen him, he can’t just send her back to the others, or they’ll come looking for him, especially since they believe he burned the cabin down. He blindfolds Mari and brings her back to his hiding spot in a cave, where he gives her hot chocolate. Mari starts to let her guard down, but then she hears him talking to himself and wonders just how far gone Coach Ben is at this point.
While this is all going on, everyone except Shauna is looking for Mari, and Misty and Nat are paired up when Nat spots one of Coach’s traps. Nat immediately tries to distract Misty, but she notices it and thinks it’s a clue. Nat claims it’s one of theirs and suggests they start looking in the other direction. This immediately tips Misty off, and when she gets back to camp, she corners Shauna, admitting that she suspects Nat knows where Coach Ben has been hiding this entire time.
Misty’s Guilt Cup Has Runneth Over in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3

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In the present-day timeline, we pick up six weeks after the Season 2 finale. Natalie (Juliette Lewis) has been cremated, and her funeral is today. Misty (Christina Ricci) finds herself unable to get out of bed to attend, even when Walter (Elijah Wood) shows up and offers to go with her. Instead, he says that he’s been digging into Natalie and discovered that she had a storage unit, conveniently dropping a key on Misty’s nightstand on his way out. Naturally, Misty does just that, and she finds one of Natalie’s iconic leather jackets, pairing it with one of her own famous cat sweaters. She then heads to a bar after touching up her makeup for a more heavy-liner look — inspired by Natalie, of course — and orders a whiskey straight up in her honor. Then another. And another, until she’s had seven and is cut off by the bartender. Misty starts hallucinating a teenage Natalie and decides to confront a guy who had complimented her jacket when he walked in, threatening him with an unlit candle before promptly passing out. Walter ends up finding her as she’s walking home and tells her that she left her phone at the bar, and the bartender called every one of her contacts — but no one, not even her supposed best friends, picked up until he got to “W.” Misty then breaks down in Walter’s arms, crying because she misses Natalie, and it’s her fault that she’s dead.
The next morning, Walter checks in on Misty and tells her that her behavior sounds like a cry for help that none of her friends seem to notice. She defends them repeatedly and tells Walter he just doesn’t understand their bond, only getting out of bed when Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) calls and asks her to come over. A concerned Walter points out that Shauna is only just now calling back and didn’t even mention Misty calling her the night before, but once again, Misty defends her and sends Walter on his way.

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Taissa and Van Find Love in a Hopeless Place in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3

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Taissa (Tawny Cypress) and Van (Lauren Ambrose) were reunited mid-Season 2, only for Van to drop the bombshell that she has cancer — and it’s terminal. Following the trauma fest that occurred at Lottie’s (Simone Kessell) “wellness commune,” Van is now staying at Tai’s place, and the two are living in a strange sort of peace. They have the most low-key storyline of the premiere, but considering the show they’re on, that’s not a bad thing.
Tai convinces Van to go on a dinner date with her, but when she realizes how uncomfortable Van is at the fancy restaurant, she suggests they dine and dash. This sequence results in one of the best needle-drop pairings of the season so far, as they’re chased by their waiter to Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now,” then have a steamy makeout session in an alley to Bush’s “Glycerine.” They pause briefly when Tai sees the Man With No Eyes watching them, but nothing can deter her from finally having Van back so she ignores him. Meanwhile, their waiter suffers a heart attack a block away, something that notably leaves Tai shaken when she learns of it later on.
Callie Finds a Surprising Ally in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3

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Jeff (Warren Kole) is understandably worried about Callie (Sarah Desjardins) in Season 3, especially after she witnessed the hunt that killed Natalie in the Season 2 finale, but was initially intended for her mom. Callie herself has always been one to challenge her parents’ authority, but she had a breakthrough with Shauna in Season 2, and we see it again here, albeit in a very atypical way. Callie overhears some girls talking about the Yellowjackets and their time in the woods, namely about the cannibalism rumors. So, in retaliation, she orders some animal guts — hilariously delivered by Randy (Jeff Holman) on a scooter — and gets her revenge, but not before asking a friend to document her dumping all of it onto the girls’ lunch table. Once Callie explains the whole situation, which naturally gets her suspended, Shauna asks to see the video, and finds it hilarious, requesting it be played again. It’s a twisted bonding moment, but it is nice to see the two getting along for once.
Callie’s arc follows into the next episode when Lottie shows up on Shauna’s doorstep, having just been released from psychiatric hold with no place to go. Callie begs her parents to let Lottie stay, and they relent, but Callie’s request has an ulterior motive. The night before, a package is anonymously delivered to the house — with the eerie symbol we’ve become so familiar with etched on it, and a cassette tape inside. Callie is the one who finds the envelope and is interrupted by Jeff before she can look into it further. With Lottie in the house, she’ll be able to ask any questions she has about the Yellowjackets’ time in the wilderness. Only Shauna knows her daughter too well, and she doesn’t trust Lottie, so she enlists Misty to come over and babysit them while she and Jeff attend a work dinner. Misty, however, doesn’t know why she’s been invited over, so she’s mildly disappointed, but she takes her role seriously and refuses to let the two be alone together.
Callie suggests they make the night into a sleepover, which Misty says she’s never done before. This just gives Callie more ammunition, and she makes the three of them some rum punch and suggests they play Truth or Dare. Misty is against the idea, but Callie refills their glasses, claiming that she’s going to put some grenadine in them to make them sweeter. Instead, she puts cough syrup in Misty’s so she’ll fall asleep, giving her full access to pick Lottie’s brain. She asks if Lottie was really going to kill her mom, but Lottie claims that her only intention was to offer “It” what it wanted. Callie then asks what “It” is, and that’s when Misty tries to put a stop to the game, so Callie dares Misty to chug her drink and asks Lottie if they really ate each other. Lottie says it wasn’t at all like people say, but she doesn’t get a chance to explain further because Misty passes out cold.
Shauna Is Haunted by a Mysterious Caller in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3

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Jeff’s work dinner involves trying to woo a duo of hotel bros, so Shauna spends the majority of the time texting Misty for updates and not receiving any replies. Eventually, she excuses herself to the bathroom to try calling, but while she’s in the stall, she hears footsteps and sees a shadow pause outside her stall. Suddenly, the lights go out, and Shauna panics, struggling to get out her keys as a self-defense weapon, as well as her cellphone’s flashlight. But when she walks out of the stall, there’s no one else in the bathroom The faint sound of a ringtone plays in the stall next to her, and the clever song choice immediately tips her off: “Queen of Hearts” by Juice Newton.
Later that night, Shauna calls the restaurant to see if anyone claimed the phone after she turned it in to a bartender, and the scene is cleverly intercut with one from the wilderness timeline, where a younger Shauna hears a noise and finds Melissa (Jenna Burgess) hiding in the bushes spying on her. Melissa tells Shauna she’s only following her because it can be dangerous in the woods, and they should all be watching out for one another. Meanwhile, present-day Shauna finds out that someone did claim the phone she handed in. We again flip to the wilderness timeline, where Melissa tells Shauna that everyone is afraid of her, but she isn’t. Shauna snaps and pins Melissa to a tree, holding a knife to her throat and threatening her — but her threats are cut short when Melissa kisses her. Present-day Shauna asks what the person who claimed the phone looked like, and the episode cuts back to the wilderness timeline once more to see Shauna return Melissa’s kiss, hinting that the phone belongs to Melissa and that Shauna may be in for the surprise of her life.
New episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3 premiere Fridays on Showtime and on the Paramount+ with Showtime app.

Yellowjackets

Yellowjackets returns with a time jump, a surprising new love interest, a feud, and a downward spiral for one Yellowjacket in particular.

Release Date

November 14, 2021

Network

Showtime, Paramount+ with Showtime

Showrunner

Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Jonathan Lisco

Directors

Benjamin Semanoff, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Deepa Mehta, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Liz Garbus, Scott Winant, Eva Sørhaug, Jamie Travis

Pros & Cons

Season 3 ups the humor and offers great one-liners.
Tensions are high in the wilderness timeline, which spells trouble.
Melissa is being set up to be a bigger character in both past and present.
Natalie’s reign as Antler Queen is already satisfying.

Episode 1 was a bit slow, but Episode 2 picks up immensely.
There are new background actors in the wilderness timeline who we’ve never seen but are said to have been there the whole time.