Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Marvel's Spider-Man Secret Lair promotional image

    Get a Look At the Secret Lair x Marvel’s Spider-Man Superdrop

    09/08/2025
    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions gameplay still

    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions Is All About Adventure (with Friends)

    09/08/2025
    Chord in Persona 5 The Phantom X

    Now Is The Perfect Time To Jump Back In ‘Persona 5: The Phantom X’

    09/05/2025
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » TV » REVIEW: ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Episode 9 — “How The Story Ends”

REVIEW: ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Episode 9 — “How The Story Ends”

Allyson JohnsonBy Allyson Johnson04/04/20256 Mins ReadUpdated:04/04/2025
Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

There’s a major divide happening in Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9, both within the story’s context and in how it’s being delivered. In many regards, “How the Story Ends” highlights a consistently uneven season due to its tonal immediacy and the danger these characters, past and present, face. A standard, happy ending for the survivors has never truly been in the books, and yet, in the Season 3 penultimate episode, that fact gets driven home with brutal urgency.

Humanity and cruelty are on display in Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9. That humanity is necessary. We’ve seen the wilderness, and the team’s experiences have eroded their empathy. Which is why it’s so refreshing that some of them retain a core kindness that pushes them forward. Most notably with Van (Liv Hewson) and Natalie (Sophie Thatcher). With the potential of home on the horizon, both are fighting to regain control from Shauna (Sophie Nélisse).

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Teenage Van gets one of the best, most vital scenes as she argues with Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown), who, inexplicably, doesn’t want to return home just yet. There’s sense to her explanation at first. She tells Van that returning home could sentence them, as the scientists saw what they did to Coach Ben. But any understanding vanishes when Van reminds her of the horrors of winter. Smug, Tai says, “We survived,” to which Van bites out, “We killed a ****ing kid.” Tai doesn’t care what happens to the others as long as she and Van survive, and it’s this distinction that makes Van a much more likable character, even if her goodness screws her in the end.

Natalie is perhaps the most heartbreaking character in the series, considering that we know in which direction her life will take after her rescue. Throughout Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9, we watch how, in desperation, she looks to escape with those who want to leave. And she very nearly succeeds after giving Hannah (Ashley Sutton) a knife to cut herself and Kodi (Joel McHale) free. But Shauna, of course, realizes what’s happening, and to save herself, Hannah kills Kodi, saying she wants to be involved in their rituals.

Sophie Thatcher breaks our hearts when all seems lost. 

Shauna in Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9

The entire sequence is depressing, even though Sutton is a weak link as she tries to convey a sturdy resolve that is flimsy. Yes, they all agreed not to talk about what happened to them, but it’s another one of those moments where you wonder how Natalie could even be in the same room with Shauna as an adult. Thatcher is absolutely incredible. Natalie’s broken sobs as snow begins to fall, bringing with it the memory of the brutality of their first year there and the methods by which they had to survive, are wrenching and hopeless. It’s a wonderfully shot sequence as the sound around her gives out, leaving only this seeming unending pain and isolation.

We’re given a slight reprieve, however, right at the end. Natalie spots Misty (Sammi Hanratty) and learns, to her horror, that Misty has had the transponder the entire time. This key realization could help the girls get home after all, even without Kodi’s help. It helps establish the shift between the past and present, too. Misty’s actions in the past are reprehensible and doomed the team to endure the violence born from those 19 months in the woods. And yet, somehow, she’s the most likable character in the present.

It’s a low bar. Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) has completely lost it in her interrogation of Melissa (Hilary Swank). Melissa escapes, but it doesn’t last long as she runs into Misty (Christina Ricci), Tai (Tawny Cypress), and Van (Lauren Ambrose.) They bring her back to the house, arguing about what to do with her. The scene highlights two interesting moments. The first, Melissa, calls attention to the fact that Tai always seems to take Shauna’s side, which speaks to what we’ve seen since Season 1. Despite Shauna being a prickly character, we’ve seen her in the past and present as vulnerable in front of Tai.

The second is when Misty decides that Shauna can clean up her mess, something she’s threatened all season. Shauna has treated her terribly, and Misty’s walking away is a monumental step forward in character growth, especially as the rest of the women continue to circle past mistakes and habits once she leaves.

A major death sours Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9. 

Teenage and adult Van

But once again, the series uses death for the sake of cheap plot contrivances. As was the case with Natalie’s death and then Lottie’s, Van’s holds little weight beyond our affection for the character. To escape, Melissa closes the chimney to fill the house with carbon monoxide. Van is able to drag Tai and Shauna out, and in one of the more unsettling moments of the episode, we realize that whichever Tai has woken up might not be the version of her that Van wants. Cypress is wonderful at this moment when she wakes up, going, “It’s me.” In the chaos unfolding, the series doesn’t dwell on it, leaving it up to our interpretations of who embodies Tai’s body.

But for every strong performance, there’s a weaker one. While Hewson shines, Nélisse stumbles, uncomfortable with her character’s hostility. And, in the present day, Swanks fails to deliver a performances that lives up to the other formidable actresses. It’s a lifeless performance, and it is not helped that Melissa remains a frustratingly vacant character. In the past, we watch as she stands up to Shauna and is publicly humiliated for it, but that doesn’t give her agency or a personality. And, with how intent she seems to go home in the past, it makes her current descent and embracing of the mysterious “It” come out of left field.

Van can’t bring herself to kill Melissa even though the latter tried to poison all of them. And her comeuppance is for Melissa to turn the knife on her. Melissa says she does it because she wants to subscribe to the wilderness’s higher power, believing she’ll be important if she makes the sacrifice. But she’s such a hollow, thinly drawn character that it lacks impact.

Van’s death is sad, and her conversation on the dream plane with her younger self is a reminder that surviving wasn’t ever a reward because of what they did to stay alive. But it feels lazy. Based on how many players come back after being rescued and how many are still alive in the past, there’s no doubt going to be plenty of violence and murder. Killing Van when she was already dying is cheap.

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9 delivers an engaging penultimate that focuses on the festering divide widening between the characters. With a fantastic cliffhanger, “How the Story Ends” might not fix the rest of the season’s problems, but it promises the potential for a strong finish.

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9 is out now on Paramount+.

Previous Episode | Next Episode

 

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9
  • 7/10
    Rating - 7/10
7/10

TL;DR

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9 delivers an engaging penultimate that focuses on the festering divide widening between the characters. “How the Story Ends” might not fix the rest of the season’s problems, but it promises the potential for a strong finish.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Pulse’ Is A Grey’s Anatomy Speed Run
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Wind Breaker’ Season 2 Episode 1 — “Rage”
Allyson Johnson

Allyson Johnson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.

Related Posts

Helluva Boss Season 2 But Why Tho
9.5

REVIEW: ‘Helluva Boss’ Season 2 Is A Deeper Dive Into Love And Power

09/11/2025
Helluva Boss Season 1 Episode 7 But Why Tho
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Helluva Boss’ Season 1 Is Full Of Violence, Chaos, And Heart

09/11/2025
Sandra Yi Sencindiver stars as Yutani in Alien Earth Episode 6
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Alien: Earth’ Episode 6 — “The Fly”

09/10/2025
Task promotional key art featuring Mark Ruffalo from HBO
7.0

REVIEW: ‘Task’ Episode 1 — “Crossings”

09/08/2025
Aneesha Malik in Invasion Season 3 Episode 3
9.0

RECAP: ‘Invasion’ Season 3 Episode 3 — “Infinitas”

09/07/2025
Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 3
9.0

RECAP: ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Episode 3 — “Another Rick Up My Sleeve”

09/06/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

By Kate Sánchez09/11/2025Updated:09/11/2025

The Long Walk is a brutal watch. Equally heartfelt and heartbreaking, it’s one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

EA Sports FC Icons Match promotional image from Nexon News

2025 Icons Match Returns With Football Legends Bridging The Pitch And Video Games

By Kate Sánchez09/03/2025Updated:09/03/2025

NEXON has announced the return of the ‘2025 Icons Match,’ a live event that brings a full roster of legendary players to the pitch.

Gojo Jujutsu Kaisen - But Why Tho (2) Features

Everything To Know About Satoru Gojo

By Kate Sánchez09/07/2023Updated:02/16/2025

Satoru Gojo is the heart of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 — now, heading into Cour 2, here is everything you need to know about the character.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here