Yellowjackets has been streaming on Paramount+ for years, but the survival/coming-of-age series recently received the famed Netflix boost. The series’ second season did lose some momentum while it aired, and that season isn’t on Netflix as of yet (and hopefully, you aren’t reading this if you haven’t watched that season finale), but boy, this audience does feel passionately. Co-creator Ashley Lyle revealed on X/Twitter that she did receive “death threats” from those who presumably were not thrilled about a certain character’s death, which is not fantastic. (Calm down, people.)
Still, the show’s newfound audience is raring for more and has begun to wonder about the upcoming third season, in which the 1996-era group remains stuck in the Canadian wilderness, and the present-day group continues struggling, except for Misty, who is having far too much fun and living her best life alongside her several severe personality disorders. Dare I say that this is Christina Ricci’s most entertaining non-Wednesday performance in years? Feel free to fight me on that, but first, let’s talk about what we can expect from more Yellowjackets as a whole.
Plot
The show’s lead creatives (including co-creators Lyle and Bart Nickerson along with showrunner Jonathan Cisco) have been planning for a five-season run. Following the second season finale, Lyle described this vision as being “on track” to adequately finish the timeline where the soccer-team survivors are stuck in the woods for 19 months.
Sadly, the audience will no longer be able to see Juliette Lewis as the burned-out version of Nat after her younger self was shown being crowned as the new Antler Queen. Nat’s death was misinterpreted by authorities as a drug overdose, and that wasn’t the only point of contention with the second season finale. Javi’s 1990s death hit hard, Lottie has now been shuttled off to a psychiatric hospital, and there are too many disparate threads going on to make sense of everything, including Nat receiving Antler Queen status.
As far as upcoming plot goes, Ashley Lyle has promised that the story of Pit Girl is still coming. Lyle added that Nat’s death will also “affect our (anti)heroes in massive ways” while asking, “Will our girls’ struggle to survive against the elements (and themselves) get even down and dirtier? … You betcha!” Lyle does, however, compare the process of making this series as “thrilling and sometimes heartbreaking.” She further declared, “And as an obsessive tv watcher myself, I know that being a fan is weirdly similar” but seriously, those death threats are yikes.
On a more positive note, Melanie Lynskey has, while speaking with People, called the third season season “so exciting” while suggesting that she will never be told anything else in advance if she reveals any of those “huge spoilers.” And Christina Ricci told Hollywood Reporter slightly more:
“This season is going to be even more shocking and surprising than the previous seasons. It’s definitely going to be brutal. But they also put a lot of comedy into it. So I think it’s just going to be… extremely Yellowjackets-y.”
And now, let speculation about the next 1990s soundtrack additions begin.
Cast
Where to begin? Beyond the addition of Hilary Swank, Sophie Thatcher will continue to deliver one of the better 1996-era performances as younger Nat. The remaining present-day core cast includes Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, and Christina Ricci. Back in the woods, Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Samantha Hanratty, Courtney Eaton, and Liv Hewson are still painfully chilling out.
Release Date
Showtime has earmarked Winter 2025 for a return window without a specific release date thus far. That adds up to a 2 1/2 year gap between seasons, but to be fair, the Netflix arrival was timed pretty perfectly for anticipation to build for the next season.
Trailer
Surprisingly, Showtime has not dropped a teaser yet for the third season, but it’s always worth remembering how well this show hits the 1990s soundtrack mark, as with “Zombie” from The Cranberries. Poor Javi.