It’s time to get out your wilderness best and prepare to howl at the trees because Yellowjackets is back for another season of arcane mystery, tangled interpersonal webs, and perfectly creepy vocalizations. In the Yellowjackets season three premiere, which includes episodes one and two, we catch up with our favorite slightly unhinged girls in both the past and present timelines. In the past, the long winter is finally over, and the spring of 1997 has arrived. There’s an air of community upon the wilderness, but we know that can’t really last. Meanwhile, in the present day, it’s 2021, and the girls are “safely” living their adult lives, but we know the wilderness is always right around the corner. Or worse, inside of them. Here’s our Yellowjackets season three premiere recap, which includes new revelations and questions from episode one, “It Girl,” and two, “Dislocation.”
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Revelations From the Yellowjackets Season 3 Premiere Episodes
In the Past: The Girls Survived Their Cabin Burning Down in Yellowjackets Season 2 In By Building a Society of Huts
When we last saw the Yellowjackets team, their shelter, a cabin they found in the wilderness, was burning down around them in the dead of winter. But in Yellowjackets season three premiere, spring has arrived, and we find the girls remain safe. We learned the team survived the cabin burning down by building huts (thanks to Tai’s handy lesbian powers), and they now garden, raise rabbits, and hunt deer to survive. All told, they seem better off than in the Yellowjackets season two finale.
In the Past: Shauna is Murderously Angry in the Premiere Episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3
Although many of the girls seem happier in the Yellowjackets season three premiere episodes, it’s clear that Shauna is VERY angry. Of course, Shauna lost her baby in season two of Yellowjackets, and that grief and possible post-partum could be playing a massive role in it. Shauna seems to have no desire to get along with the other Yellowjackets as season three kicks off, resenting everyone, refusing to participate in any wilderness rituals and group activities, and generally being very snarly. Shauna seems like she is the only one of the girls who does not believe in any of the wilderness rituals. And of all the team, she seems like she really could kill someone.
In the Past: Mari and Shauna are At Intense Odds
Mari and Shauna may not have been best friends, but they are true enemies in Yellowjackets season three’s premiere. Shauna bites Mari during a supposedly friendly game of “Capture the Bone” and Mari prods and mocks Shauna. Things come to a head at the team’s solstice dinner when Shauna spits in Mari’s food and tries to make her eat it. The two come to blows, and Antler Queen Natalie fails to diffuse the situation. Mari stalks off on her own. This divide between Shauna and Mari could foreshadow a bigger division among the girls.
In the Past: Coach Ben Discovers the Infamous Pit in the Yellowjackets Season 3 Premiere (And Mari Landed in It)
We learn how the team discovers the infamous pit in Yellowjackets season three’s first episodes. Coach Ben discovers it in the woods while trying to survive away from the rest of the team. He steps on planks of wood in the forest, breaks through them and there is the pit that’s featured in Yellowjackets first scene ever. Coach covers it up to use as a trap for deer, but traps Mari instead. Is this Pit Girl foreshadowing or a red herring?
Either way, the Yellowjackets pit is in play as of season three’s premiere episodes, which means time is ticking down until someone dies in it.
In the Past: Shauna and Melissa Share a Passionate Kiss (One Might Say, Make Out)
Yellowjackets could always use more queerness. We always suspected there was something between Shauna and Jackie, and now Shauna is making out with another blonde. Shauna kisses her teammate Melissa after a tense moment at Shauna’s baby’s grave where Shauna holds a knife to Melissa’s throat and threatens to kill her. But that’s just another day in the life for queer people. We feel interested to see where this romance goes after Yellowjackets‘ premiere.
In the Past: The Team Is Getting More Invested with Culty Wilderness Rituals Every Passing Day in Yellowjackets Season 3’s Premiere Episodes
It’s getting very culty and religious in the wilderness. The team is clearly codifying their religion and rituals with every passing day. Van is telling the myth of The Yellowjackets, complete with sacrifices, miracles, and a villain. It’s a slippery slope, but personally, we are into the vibes.
In the Past: Coach Ben May Not Have Set Fire to Team’s Cabin in Yellowjackets Season 2
The way Yellowjackets‘ season two finale was cut, it felt like Coach Ben set fire to the team’s cabin because he thought they were turning into monsters. But in Yellowjackets‘ season three premiere episodes, he seems to find this idea ridiculous and reject the idea that he had anything to do with the cabin burning. He could be lying but it doesn’t seem that way.
In the Past: Tai Thinks She’d Be a Better Antler Queen Than Natalie
More divisions among the team are rising. After Mari stalks off, Tai tells Van she thinks Natalie really botched it and that she thinks she’d make a better Antler Queen. Van tells her the wilderness doesn’t want to be controlled, so she doesn’t know if Tai is right for the role. But it’s interesting that Tai is nominating herself in Yellowjackets premiere episodes. We always did think she’d be a good queen, but maybe not one of antlers.
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In the Present: Adult Lottie Is Back in Town After Being Placed in a Psychiatric Hold
In the present, Adult Lottie is back in the picture after being taken away and placed under psychiatric hold at the end of last season. That didn’t take long. Lottie has nowhere to go so she’s crashing with Shauna for now.
In the Present: Tai and Van Are Very Much Back Together in Yellowjackets Season 3’s Premiere Episodes
Adult Tai and Van are an official item in Yellowjackets season three premiere. There was a lot of will they or won’t they in season two, so it’s nice to see them come together.
In the Present: Shauna’s Daughter Callie Is Spiraling
Shauna’s family is a big mess, but as usual, Shauna is kind of too self-involved to see it. Shauna’s daughter Callie throws blood and guts on bullies in Yellowjackets season 3’s first episodes, she’s smoking weed, gets suspended, and also seems a little too interested in the wilderness. We smell trouble.
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New Questions From the Yellowjackets Season 3 Premiere Episodes
In the Past: Who Set Fire to the Cabin in Yellowjackets Season 2’s Finale?
If Yellowjackets season three’s premiere episodes reveal to us that Coach Ben didn’t set the team’s cabin on fire, then who did? Nat seemed pretty upset with the team late last season, especially since they tried to kill her. Could it have been Natalie who set the Yellowjackets’ cabin aflame?
In the Past: Who Knows that Coach Ben is Alive? What is Coach Ben’s Relationship with Natalie and Shauna?
Coach Ben is still alive, but who knows that he isn’t dead? It seems like Natalie does, although she certainly seems mad at him in the early episodes of Yellowjackets season three. Misty seems to uncover the truth as well while she and Nat are looking for Mari. Misty tells Shauna, but Shauna doesn’t seem all that shocked and tells Misty to keep it a secret. Could Shauna be communicating with Coach Ben? Whoever knows Coach Ben is alive must also know who set the cabin on fire.
In the Past: Why Is the Wilderness Screaming and the Trees Crying in Yellowjackets Season 3’s Premiere Episodes? Were the Nosies of the Wilderness Real?
Lottie makes Travis take a lot of mushroom tea and get really high to learn more about the wilderness or “It.” During his bad trip, Travis says he hears the trees screaming and cryptically says everyone else will too. This prophecy comes true during the solstice dinner when everyone seems to hear the wilderness crying and screaming. But are these noises real or just a shared hallucination?
In the Past: Travis Says “They’re Coming” During a Bad Trip in Yellowjackets‘ Season 3 Premiere. Who is Coming?
During another bad mushroom trip in Yellowjackets‘ season three premiere, Travis says to Lottie, Van, and Tai, “They’re coming.” He also screams that he doesn’t want them inside of him. But who is coming? And how are they getting inside of Travis?
In the Past: Who Truly Believes in “It”?
Lottie talks to Travis a lot about “It,” and understanding what “It” wants from the team in the Yellowjackets season three premiere. Clearly, Lottie really believes in “It,” but does everyone else?
In the Past: Are the Girls Really Done with Cannibalism?
Mari tells Coach Ben in Yellowjackets season three, episode two, “We’re not doing that anymore.” And she’s talking about cannibalism. But are the girls really done with cannibalism on Yellowjackets, despite this premiere pronouncement, we don’t think so.
In the Past: Who Is Coach Ben Talking to in the Cave During the Yellowjackets Season 3 Premiere?
Mari hears Coach Ben talking to someone in the cave he takes her to in Yellowjackets season three’s premiere. He says, “I’m just trying to keep her quiet so I can think. I just need to think. I can’t think like this.” We know Coach Ben has struggled with holding onto his reality before on the show. Is his control slipping away here, or is there someone else in the cave with Mari and Coach?
In the Present: Why Is Callie so Interested in Lottie?
Shauna’s daughter Callie certainly seems to have a keen interest in Lottie. She argues for Lottie to stay in Shauna’s home with her and then goes out of her way to arrange for them to talk alone. They seem to bond. Is it an innocent friendship or is there something more nefarious at work? How will the wilderness and “It” play into the bond. Could we possibly see Callie succumb to the religion of the wilderness?
In the Present: Did Misty Find Anything in Natalie’s Storage Unit?
Yellowjackets season three makes kind of a big deal out of adult Misty going to clean out dead Natalie’s storage unit. Did she find anything interesting in there we haven’t seen yet?
In the Present: Why Did Tai and Van’s Waiter Die While Chasing Them and What Does This Have to do with the Man with No Eyes?
The creepiest part of Yellowjackets‘s season three premiere episodes were when an innocent dine and dash turned deadly. Tai and Van’s waiter followed them out of a fancy restaurant to try to get them to pay their bill, but unbeknownst to them he had a heart attack and died on the way. While Tai and Van are kissing in a misbehaving high, Tai sees the Man with No Eyes appear. Did the Man with No Eyes cause the death in this Yellowjackets episode? Or was he merely present because it happened? How do Tai and Van connect into it?
In the Present: Is Van Healed of Her Cancer in Yellowjackets Season 3 Premiere Episodes?
Van steps on a piece of glass in a very pointed moment and Tai makes her go to urgent care. When Tai asks her about it later, Van is cagey but says it was normal. Could Van have found out her cancer has been healed after sacrificing adult Natalie to the wilderness in Yellowjackets season two’s finale? There’s much speculation that this could be the case, and this pointed medical moment could become important.
In the Present: Who Sent Shauna the Envelope and Tape? And What’s on the Tape?
One of the most obvious mysteries in Yellowjackets season three’s premiere is the anonymous envelope left on Shauna’s doorstep. Callie finds the envelope addressed to Shauna Shipman and bearing the mark of the wilderness, and she opens it. Inside, there is a tape. What is on this mysterious tape addressed to Shauna? Yellowjackets‘ premiere certainly has us asking that question but it doesn’t yet offer any kind of answers.
In the Present: Who Is Stalking/Following Shauna? Who Turned Off the Lights in the Bathroom?
The other obvious question from Yellowjackets season three’s premiere episodes is: who is following/stalking Shauna? In the first episode of the season, Shauna feels she’s being watched at a restaurant. In episode two, she’s cornered in a bathroom by a mysterious person who turns off the lights and runs away, leaving her phone. Who is Shauna’s mysterious stalker? And is it the same person who left her the envelope? We will have to wait and see.
And there you have it, our recap of Yellowjackets season three premiere and all the revelations and questions we received from episodes one and two. Join us next week as we continue to unfold the mysteries of Yellowjackets.
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