Yellowjackets Season 3: 5 Jaw-Dropping Plot Holes That Will Drive You Wild

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In the third season of “Yellowjackets,” I find myself grappling with the survivors’ preparations for their second winter in the harsh Canadian wilderness, as the remaining autumn days slip away. As the mercury plummets, my fellow survivors succumb further to madness and grow increasingly hostile towards one another. Had it not been for Shauna (Sophie Nelisse), Lottie (Courtney Eaton), and Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown) insisting we remain in our improvised camp, perhaps we could have avoided this second bitter winter ordeal. The seventh episode of the season introduced us to a pair of frog researchers and their guide, who unfortunately stumbled upon our campsite during our feast for Coach Ben. These three individuals might have offered us a way home, but they squandered that opportunity instead.

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Rather than trying to persuade the scientists and guide, a frenzy broke out and one of the scientists met an unfortunate end. Kodiak (Joel McHale), the guide, Hannah (Ashley Sutton), the lone surviving scientist, decided to lead them to safety without disclosing the ritualistic cannibalism they had witnessed. With most of the group eager to gather their remaining items and embark on a six-day journey through the forest, Shauna, Lottie, and Tai argued that it was premature to depart, effectively compelling the entire group to remain where they were.

In episode eight, it seems unusual for them to prolong their stay in the wilderness, given the approaching winter and lack of logical reasons provided. This prolongation creates confusion in both the teen’s and adult’s storylines, adding to the numerous plot inconsistencies in season three. The characters’ actions, connections, intentions, and some unexpected turns don’t seem to make sense.

5
Shauna’s Wilderness Arc vs. Her Adult Arc

This season, I find myself observing a transformation in Shauna that’s left me quite unsettled. While she’s always had a sharp edge, it seems to have grown more pronounced following Jackie and her baby’s demise. Yet, the shift in her character this season is stark – she’s angrier than ever before, and there’s an unsettling delight she appears to take in causing others distress. Whenever she disagrees with something, instead of addressing it constructively, she makes it a burden for everyone else.

Teen Shauna, who was once relatable, has become incredibly hard to empathize with or cheer for. She’s bossy, often insulting, and seems to believe her opinions should dictate everyone else’s actions. Her journey in the wilderness, as well as her growth in the adult timeline, seem discordant. It’s challenging to reconcile these two versions of her character.

Initially, Shauna aspired to attend college and launch a writing career, yet she ended up marrying Jeff (Warren Kole) and adopting a homemaker’s role, raising a family. The reality of Shauna’s adult life is starkly different from the dreams she harbored as a teenager, suggesting a level of discontent one might expect. However, despite her unstable behavior, such as killing Adam in season 1 and forcing Melissa to consume her own flesh this season, Shauna often presents an image of quiet innocence or gentle demeanor, which the other adult survivors seem to perceive similarly.

Through the course of this season’s episodes, up until the last two, adult Shauna appeared to be an entirely distinct individual compared to her teenage self. Now, it seems that her adult persona is converging with her younger self, but there’s a certain inconsistency about it. It appears as though Shauna’s deep-seated emotions have been suppressed for the past 25 years; however, a more gradual deterioration of her mental state might have made for a more coherent narrative.

4
Teen Shauna’s Dominance Over the Girls

In the timeline involving teens, the team, including girls and Travis, have assigned various leaders. Lottie, Natalie, and currently Shauna have all taken turns leading the group through survival situations. Among them, it was widely agreed that Natalie made the best leader due to her calm demeanor and fair approach. However, since Shauna took charge, she has instilled fear within the group with her aggressive reactions towards any dissent or questioning. This behavior is largely why the team decided not to join Kodiak and Hannah in their search for rescue.

In my account, I can’t help but express my astonishment at an incident involving Shauna. She brandished a weapon towards Melissa when the latter challenged Shauna about being kinder. To reinforce her point, Shauna lightly brushed Melissa’s jacket with a bullet. This display of power has made it clear to the other Yellowjackets that Shauna holds dominance through violence, and none have dared to challenge her since.

Because Shauna turned out to be ruthless and selfish during her teenage years, this trait impacts her adult self as well in the adult timeline. If Shauna exhibited such aggressive behavior while surviving in the wilderness, wouldn’t it be reasonable for the other adult survivors to view her with suspicion or mistrust? However, they seem to treat her as if she’s not a danger and couldn’t have possibly killed Lottie. Misty (Christina Ricci) is the only one who suspects Shauna of the crime, yet she has longed for Shauna’s friendship throughout most of this season.

As a supporter, I can’t help but find it intriguing how my teen self seemed to exert such influence over the decisions of my peers in the wilderness, whereas now, as an adult, I struggle to get my daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins) to comply with my requests. It seems somewhat surprising given that I don’t believe the fiery spirit that once fueled my dominance has simply vanished.

However, it’s also clear that I still have unresolved traumas and issues to address as an adult, which might explain why my influence is not as strong as it once was. This paradox is indeed thought-provoking.

3
The Relationships in the Adult Timeline

As a movie enthusiast, I find myself questioning the dynamics of the adult characters’ relationships, particularly those surrounding Shauna. While it’s undeniable that they’ve bonded over the harrowing experiences they shared in the wilderness for a year and a half, the resilience and harmony shown among them in the third season seems inconsistent with the traumatic events that have unfolded recently. I can’t help but wonder if their relationships should be more strained given the circumstances we’ve witnessed thus far.

In the scenario where Lottie, Shauna, and Tai opted to remain in the wilderness rather than join Kodiak for a rescue mission, it could be reasonable to expect that these three individuals developed a bond with each other as adults. On the contrary, Van, Misty, and particularly Natalie had no compelling reason to trust or maintain relationships with Lottie, Shauna, and Tai in their adult lives. Shauna’s animosity towards Lottie could have been justified by the altercation between their teenage selves in season 2; however, their alliance in the teen timeline this season contradicts this narrative.

It’s clear that both versions of Tai and adult Van share a deep bond, which makes it logical for adult Van to forgive much of Tai’s actions across the timelines. However, it feels strange that in the first season, Tai had a spouse and child, only for them to disappear by the end of the second season. Despite their history, it seems unusual for Tai to abandon what she built for someone who represents her tumultuous past.

It doesn’t seem logical for Misty to assist the other Yellowjackets or form friendships with them given their past behavior towards her, a fact that Walter (Elijah Wood) has been emphasizing throughout the season. Moreover, the relationship between adult Natalie (Juliette Lewis) and Travis (Andres Soto) appears unstable due to events in season 3. In the teen timeline, they’ve barely interacted, with their only significant encounter being when Travis watched over while Natalie ended Coach Ben’s suffering.

2
Adding in the Scientists and Kodiak

In the third season’s seventh episode, we meet the frog researchers, including their guide, Kodiak, for a brief moment. The threesome unwittingly stumble upon the Yellowjackets’ camp during their grisly dinner tribute to Coach Ben, where his decapitated head was displayed on a makeshift altar. This shocking scene leaves the researchers and Kodiak terrified, leading to a long night of pursuit by the teens. The chaos results in the male researcher’s death, leaving only Hannah and Kodiak with the group of young survivors.

After Shauna announces they won’t depart from the wilderness just yet, she confines Hannah and Kodiak within the animal enclosure, similar to how Coach Ben was held captive earlier. A group consisting of Natalie and several other girls devise a plan to free the pair and use them as guides for their rescue mission. However, Shauna discovers this plot and warns them that she’ll kill them if they proceed. In a desperate bid to join their tribe, Hannah uses the knife given by Natalie to fatally strike Kodiak in his right eye, effectively ending his life instantly.

It appears Hannah likely acted as she did due to fearing for her life if she didn’t follow the girl’s rules, however, the ongoing storyline between Hannah and Kodiak seems a bit contrived now. For two full seasons, there was no hint of the encounters with strangers they had in the wilderness or that they eventually ended up killing two of them. There were no suggestions that they encountered other people in the wilderness or initially declined rescue offers.

The narrative flow seems less like an intentionally crafted storyline from the outset and more like something developed as the writers progressed through this season. It appears to be another means of generating turmoil for the teen characters that may manifest in their future, rather than a critical element shaping the overall plot.

The arrival of Hannah and Kodiak has undeniably altered the course of the series dramatically. There’s speculation that Hannah could potentially be the “Pit Girl” glimpsed in the initial episode. However, this twist doesn’t inherently make it a positive change.

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1
Adult Melissa Marrying Hannah’s Daughter

Following Hannah’s abduction, it comes to light that she has a 10-year-old daughter named Alex at home whom she deeply misses. In the current timeline, we discover that Alex is residing somewhere in Virginia and might have sent the video to Shauna with the intention of extorting her. This revelation prompts Shauna to abandon Misty, Van, and Tai at a hospital after Van starts coughing up blood. Upon reaching the location, it’s revealed that Alex has a spouse and child. The surprising aspect of this discovery is that Alex’s partner is Melissa (played by Hilary Swank), whom Shauna and the other Yellowjackets believed had taken her own life shortly after their return to Jersey.

It transpired that Melissa had staged her own death by writing a suicide note, disguising herself, and adopting a new identity as Kelly. The police, finding only the suicide note, concluded it was a suicide case, even though there was no corpse to recover. Later, she married Alex, whom she kept in contact with due to the remorse she felt about Hannah’s fate in the wilderness.

Introducing Melissa into the main timeline alongside the survivors seems contrived, particularly the manner in which it unfolded. Her presence in the adult timeline diminishes the tension for her teenage character counterpart and overcrowds the grown-up storyline. Furthermore, this development raises questions about Pit Girl’s identity, making it more challenging to speculate. The fact that Melissa fabricated her own death, married the daughter of a person they had killed, all while using an assumed name, suggests this was done primarily for dramatic effect rather than organic storytelling. This feels sensationalized and lacks substance.

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2025-04-11 01:03