[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 3, Episode 4.]

Summary

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff talks with Yellowjackets stars Jasmin Savoy Brown and Liv Hewson about Season 3, Episodes 1–4.

The duo offer some insight into Taissa and Van’s relationship, and how it evolves in Season 3.

They also discuss those bizarre visions in Episode 3 and why Taissa didn’t look too pleased with Van’s vote after the Episode 4 trial.

Out in the wilderness of Yellowjackets, one of the brightest spots of that plane wreck of a situation is the relationship between Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Van (Liv Hewson). They’ve survived a deadly winter, cannibalism, and pagan rituals, but can they survive Season 3?
Since the Season 2 cabin fire, the team has rebuilt their community under the guidance of the newly appointed Antler Queen, Natalie (Sophie Thatcher). Everyone seems to have found their purpose under the new monarchy, but when Van is “trying to achieve a hard reset for herself,” Taissa seems to be struggling with the Antler Queen snub. In Episode 4, “12 Angry Girls and 1 Drunk Travis,” Tai may have found her stride, however, as the prosecutor for Coach Ben’s (Steven Krueger) trial. But, when all is said and done, what’s going through her head when Van ultimately votes Ben guilty?
In their conversation with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, Brown and Hewson share their insights into their characters’ relationship this season, what’s going on between Van and Lottie (Courtney Eaton), and how Taissa’s feeling after Ben’s speech. Hewson also shares their thoughts on that trippy dream sequence with Akilah (Nia Sondaya) and Shauna (Sophie Nélisse), and Brown teases the role she’s playing in Scream 7.
Does Van Still Revere Lottie in Season 3?

She was a pretty loyal disciple in Season 2.

PERRI NEMIROFF: I’m going to start with a question about the time between Seasons 2 and 3. Did you have any big burning questions for Bart [Nickerson], Ashley [Lyle], and Jonathan [Lisco] in terms of what happened during that period, so when you started Episode 1 of Season 3, you knew where they needed to be?
JASMIN SAVOY BROWN: I love that. I feel like I had a lot of questions, but I’m always afraid to ask them, so I just kind of fill them in for myself. But you actually ask your questions.
LIV HEWSON: Sometimes. Sometimes, I just sit with them myself. There were a couple of things I asked them about. One thing that I was curious about is the shift, if there had been any, in Van and Lottie’s relationship because, in Season 2, Van is all about Lottie’s teachings and the belief system she’s developed, and then at the start of Season 3, Lottie’s sequestered off with Travis, and it really seems like there’s been a sort of changing of the guard. It’s like Van’s not so fussed about that anymore, and there’s, in fact, maybe some disconnect there.
So that was interesting, but it wasn’t something that I wanted resolved going in because I was really interested in what would happen going forward. Especially since the shift between [Seasons] 2 and 3, to my mind, especially with Van, was really about burying what happened in [Season] 2, like, “That is over and don’t think about it anymore.” So, the parts of Season 3 that felt like a hard reset for Van felt helpful to me because I’m like, “Well, no, she is really trying to achieve a hard reset for herself.”

Image via Parmount+

I’m a nerd for backstory details, and one thing I was especially curious about with both of your characters is this small council they have going. Do they have particular roles? Were they elected into those roles? Did the wilderness choose them? I’m busy obsessing over all of this!
BROWN: Those are great questions. All I know is that Tai thinks she should be leading.
HEWSON: Yeah, totally. Tai has sort of assumed a deputy position almost.
BROWN: Yeah.
HEWSON: And then I think for Van, there’s a lot of validation for her in fulfilling an organizational role where it’s like, “I don’t want authority necessarily, but I want to be able to tell everybody what the plan is.” The speech at the beginning of this season is so much about setting the story straight for everyone, and I think her involvement in the council is really trying to make sure that there are no cracks in the facade. Van’s supportive of Taissa when she has questions about Natalie’s leadership, but ultimately, Van’s not looking for there to be any conflict anywhere.
Taissa and Van’s Relationship “Shifts Over the Course of the Season”

These two can’t catch a break.

Image via Paramount+

What would you say is the biggest difference between what Tai and Van need from one another in Season 3 versus past seasons?
BROWN: Oh, that’s a great question.
HEWSON: Yeah, and it shifts over the course of the season, I would say.
BROWN: Yeah, it does. It certainly does. I think at the beginning, they, in different ways, need the same thing, which is for everything to be good and for everything to be light, but they go about that differently and then cling to it differently as the season goes on.
HEWSON: Yeah. I think that’s a real ongoing thing in Van and Taissa’s relationship that becomes an issue for them over and over of, like, they’re mismatched expectations. So often, they realize they’re not on the same page about something but don’t quite know how to talk about it.
Liv Hewson Breaks Down Van’s Vision in Episode 3

Is the “magic of the wilderness” failing Van, or is she “losing access to it?”

Alright, let’s get into some specifics now. This one is for you, Liv. It comes from Episode 3. I am so curious about that dream scene, especially in terms of what you need to know in order to play it right given, as an audience member, we’re not fully aware of what the reality of that is.
HEWSON: Actually, I found the dream sequence largely intuitive. It made sense to me that Van would return to the image of the cabin because Van is really seeking a sense of, like, safe home a lot. I remember Karen [Joseph Adcock] and I talked about this, even filming the finale of Season 2, that Van comes from an unstable home environment even before they crash in the wilderness. So, she clings to the cabin, she clings to the village. It’s like, “I’m going to find a safe environment, and if I can’t find it, I’m going to create one or so help me.” So, returning to the cabin made sense to me.
Fire is a really strong recurring motif for Van, so that made sense to me. The safety of home being infringed upon, this sense that death keeps coming for her and then leaving her behind like that, those arms grabbing me in the chair. That’s like Javi, Laura Lee, Jackie; if you look at everybody’s costumes, it’s like the arms of our dead teammates. So, that all tracks for me. I was like, “Okay, yeah. Pulling. Keeping you in the airplane chair. Pulling, grabbing you, taking you down. Death returning and coming back.” I was like, “Yep, great. Makes sense to me!”
Then, the shared sequence, the classroom stuff, I think there’s a lot of interesting room there, wondering about what the slap bracelet means and to what extent the magic of the wilderness is failing Van or whether she’s losing access to it. I don’t know. It’s cool. I liked it.
Taissa Is Conflicted About Her Part in Coach Ben’s Trial

“She can’t admit that she’s wrong.”

Image via Paramount+

Jasmin, for you, I love me a good reaction shot, and the one for you I wanted to focus on was in Episode 4, specifically when Van votes against Ben. I know that your character is essentially advocating for that in the trial, but when it cuts to you, it almost looks like she’s a little disappointed. How does she feel, especially after he delivered that really convincing speech?
BROWN: Oh, that’s such a good question. I think conflicted. I think that Tai’s pride and need to be right and need to win and need to lead and have power means that she has to stick to her side. Even if in that moment she believes him, she can’t say, “Okay, I’m wrong. Let’s save this man,” because she can’t admit that she’s wrong. So how that relates to Van, I think it’s conflicting because it’s like, “Wow, this person really loves me and is going to have my back to the point that I’m pretty sure that she just went against her own self.” That’s really intense, and I’m a bit disappointed and a bit judging but also grateful. It’s complicated.
Jasmin Savoy Brown at least likes the idea!

Image via Paramount

Jasmin, I’m going to give you one last question that’s unrelated to Yellowjackets. I’m just curious to see your reaction. It’s a Scream 7 question. In that movie, are you playing Mindy or are you playing Jasmin?
BROWN: [Laughs and shrugs] Mmm?

Related

“Surprise, Sidney!” Matthew Lillard Is Back for ‘Scream 7’!

Well…he said he’d be right back.

I had a feeling that was going to be the reaction. I respect that!
BROWN: I love that question.
Yellowjackets Season 3, Episode 4 is available to stream on Paramount+ and Showtime. Subsequent episodes are released every Sunday.

Yellowjackets

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

Writers

Liz Phang, Sarah L. Thompson, Ameni Rozsa