REVIEW: ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Accelerates A Fierce Tension

Teenage girls remain the fiercest, most formidable agents of chaos in Yellowjackets Season 3. Season 2 of the Showtime series ended in a whirlwind as significant changes and dramatic deaths left us on the edge of our seats. In Season 3, we watch as both past and present groups begin to pick up the pieces and try to find a way forward while continuing to make a self-destructive mess. Leaning further into the mystical and hedonistic exploits, the series hasn’t solved all of its’ problems, but it’s off to an invigorated start.

Yellowjackets Season 3 sees the survivors in the past and present dealing with the aftershocks of the Season 2 finale. A finale that, in the moment, failed to stick the landing despite the hurricane of events taking place. Adult Natalie (Juliette Lewis) dies in an accident by Misty’s (Christina Ricci) hand after Lottie (Simone Kessell) chases Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) through the woods with a knife; Shauna’s daughter, Callie, present for the ordeal. They rule Natalie’s death as an overdose to clear their names, but now they must move forward. Lottie is hospitalized once more while Misty, Shauna, Van, and Taissa grapple with what they’ve once again endured.

Unfortunately, however, the adult versions of these characters remain the least interesting part of the series. Ricci and Lynskey continue to do the best work. Ricci beautifully captures her younger counterpart’s mannerisms while refining them into something more mature but no less naive. She’s brutal but also emotionally stunted, and her arc throughout the early part of Season 3 is shockingly sad despite how poorly she’s behaved in the past.

Similarly, Shauna has an excellent plot, mainly as she deals with her family life and the image she’s crafted for herself. The contrast between Shauna in the past and present is the best executed because we can see the threads of who she was sneak up in Lynseky’s performance. Shauna, in the past, as a teenager, was often ruthless and harsh, petty and mean. At one point, a character tells Callie, “We’re all a little afraid of your mother,” and we understand why. Lynskey utilizes the inherent sweetness of her voice to hide the character’s darkness so that when it pours out, it catches us off guard, even if it isn’t unexpected.

Not all the adult characters get strong narratives.

Unfortunately, Van and Taissa suffer even as their characters grow together. Lauren Ambrose is fantastic as adult Van, and she and Tawny Cypress have electric chemistry together. But their early storylines don’t hit the same highs as Shauna’s. Some of this is due to the inconsistencies of Taissa’s character. While she began as one of the more level-headed characters, she seems more easily swayed by outside opinions and potential supernatural forces as the show progresses.

The series would be better not to split the adult ensemble up so much. They’re much more enjoyable when they’re in scenes together. It makes sense that this can’t always be the case, especially as the characters have their own lives and driving forces, but it’s more fun when their dynamic, which is shifted yet reminiscent of their past selves, is on display.

What Yellowjackets Season 3 lacks in the present-day narrative, it makes up for in the past. We find the characters months later, having survived their cabin being burned to the ground. Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) remains the appointed leader, while Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) and Mari (Alexa Barajas) are constantly at one another’s throats. Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) is nowhere to be seen at the start of Season 3, and the entire team, including Travis (Kevin Alves), believes he’s responsible for destroying their home.

It’s a fair assumption, though Ben’s plot doesn’t go in the direction you assume. He’s a fantastic character, and he only grows more so in Yellowjackets Season 3, as he provides a necessary perspective. These girls continually succumb to a hive-mind mentality and brutalist means of survival. He saw how they hunted, killed, and ate Javi. And he had a fair reason to believe he’d be next if he stuck around. His adult point of view and refusal to let himself be caught up in the same brutality makes him easy to root for.

Yellowjackets Season 3 thrives when focused on the past. 

The surviving team members of the Yellowjackets are beautifully messy and unlikeable. Yellowjackets Season 3 deliberately toes the line by making us question how much of their dynamics and attitudes are due to their mental states and how much of the will of the woods they survive in. Teenage Lottie (Courtney Eaton) remains fixated by this mysterious force of the wilderness, forcing Travis to drink a concoction of mushrooms that push him to his breaking point, believing he has a connection with the wilderness. It’s an act of cruelty that half the team buys into while the others see as terrible further punishment to someone who has already lost so much.

Yellowjackets Season 3 thrives in these flashbacks. Characters like Mari and Melissa are given more screen time, mainly Mari being a highlight. Mari feels the most realistic in a show split and half dedicated to how a group of teenage girls would survive a plane crash and the relentless force of nature. She’s a pain. There’s a reason Shauna finds her so annoying. But oddly, that’s part of her charm because it makes her feel authentic.

Wielding the sensation of impending doom, Yellowjackets Season 3 is off to a mixed yet invigorated start. The story centered on the adults might lack the same momentum and intrigue, but the scenes of survival in the past make it worthwhile. It seems like, finally, we’re beginning to see the real threat of power struggles as these characters try their best to make sense of unlivable conditions and the detached cruelty of nature as they either survive or succumb to its influences.

Yellowjackets Season 3 premieres February 14, streaming and on-demand on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME.