Yellowjackets? How story ends? Ugh! So many feelings! So many thoughts! So much WTF! Season 3’s penultimate episode is many things: Brutal, bloody, and far from boring. The past and present continue to mirror each other, through fractured alliances, desperate choices, and one death that rewrites the emotional map of the show.

• Travis lures Lottie to a spiked pit trap in a failed attempt to kill her, but when she avoids falling in, he takes it as a sign that the wilderness protects her. Lottie apologizes—genuinely—and for a brief moment, it feels like peace might be possible.

• Shauna’s descent continues. She fires a rifle at Melissa in a paranoid rage, grazing her and terrifying the group. The moment is unhinged even by Yellowjackets standards and confirms her full shift.

• Natalie, Melissa, Gen, Akilah, and Mari plan an escape with Kodiak and Hannah, but when it goes sideways, Hannah stabs Kodiak in the eye. Her shift in loyalty—and that kill—is sudden, brutal, and cements a new passion for science...and murder.

• As hope fades, snow begins to fall again. Winter is back. The escape is off. Natalie breaks down as the cold seals their fate. It’s a direct callback to Season 1’s snowy cliffhanger and a brutal reminder: the wilderness always has the last word.

• Misty, meanwhile, quietly attempts to repair the same emergency beacon she smashed in Season 1. When Natalie catches her, the betrayal is awe inspiring. They may be stuck in the woods, but the emotional fallout hits just as hard.

• Van, hospitalized and unconscious, hallucinates a vision with her younger self (Liv Hewson), who gives her a nudge—literally and metaphorically. Van wakes up and checks herself out, determined to rejoin the group. It's a bittersweet and clever meta-scene co-pitched by the actors, blending past and present in one final quest.

• Shauna tortures Melissa in the kitchen, slicing off a piece of her arm and trying to make her eat it. It’s not subtle, and it’s not metaphorical—it’s cannibalism trauma re-emerging with a vengeance.

• Melissa escapes but doesn’t get far before being captured again by Van, Tai, and Misty. In a twist, Shauna accuses Melissa of killing Lottie and locking her in the freezer. Misty confesses she did the freezer stunt herself, just to stop Shauna from going full Jack Nicholson.

• Misty leaves, seeks out Walter, and snoops through Lottie's cloned phone—and finds something that clearly sparks her. We don’t know what it is yet, but it’s enough to send her running back to the group. One guess: it’s about Melissa.

• Meanwhile, Melissa sets a trap of her own—closing the flue and flooding the cabin with carbon monoxide. Shauna and Tai pass out. Van saves them, but Tai sees Other Tai one last time during the haze and finally rejects her. It’s a turning point, and maybe the first time Tai feels truly whole.

• In the final minutes, Van tries to kill Melissa to save herself—believing, maybe, that a sacrifice will cure her cancer. But she can’t do it. Melissa, however, can. She stabs Van in the chest. Van dies. Tai and Misty arrive seconds too late.

• Van’s final vision is of her younger self, telling her she already found the treasure. The treasure is love, closure, and a little peace before the end? At least Mikey had his marble bag!

• 
  

• Join Glenn and Isa as they break down the carnage, callbacks, and slow emotional combustion of a show that refuses to soften its edges or coddle you.

  Listen wherever you get your podcasts…or on a CD-R labeled “For Emergencies,” tucked in a shoebox next to a lantern recorder and a broken compass...and burned on the CD is "One Night in Bangkok" from Chess, Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" and a selection of tunes from Canadian Songstress Anne Murray.

  Send us your theories and questions: yellowjacketsbuzz@gmail.com
  Follow us:
  Glenn – @GlennRubenstein
  Isa – @NYCDemonD1va
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Yellowjackets 308 - A Normal, Boring Life

Hi! It’s me, Allie. Reunion organizer and the emotional glue of the Yellowjackets—despite what the literal survivors might say. I missed the flight because of a tragic, noble leg injury, but emotionally? I was absolutely there...in spirit. And let me tell you, this episode? An absolute ride. So grab a glass of something red (or a wine spritzer in a travel mug, no judgment) and let’s unpack it.

1997 Timeline: Slurpees and Splits

So the girls are maybe leaving—finally—and everyone’s like, “Let’s go home!” Except Lottie, who’s in her “this forest is my boyfriend” era. I get it. I once thought I had a thing with Joshua Jackson after we were booked on the same morning show—I was supposed to talk about how I wasn’t on the plane, and instead I just kept telling him he was my favorite Mighty Duck. It did not go how I imagined.

Fantasies run wild: Slurpees. Toilets. Pillow-top mattresses. I once tried ayahuasca and hallucinated a Cheesecake Factory hostess telling me I was radiant—same energy.

Van’s in her feelings. Tai's hanging out with her faceless nightmare man again. We all have demons. Mine is Cheryl from spin class. She always books bike 12. I see you, Cheryl.

In the final act, Shauna, Tai, and Lottie say they’re staying. Nat’s like, “Cool, the rest of us are still going.” But Shauna has other ideas. Classic “I love you, but I might shoot you” moment. We’ve all been there. (Not literally. Also: Don’t Google me.)

2021 Timeline: Bite Me, Shauna

Shauna tracks down Melissa—alive, living under a fake name, married to Alex, the daughter of Hannah, the frog scientist they definitely murdered.

Melissa says the tape wasn’t blackmail—it was a therapist-recommended act of emotional closure. Shauna says, “Cool motive, but no,” and then they fight.

Hasn’t Melissa heard of writing a letter and burying it? That’s what I did when my best friend bailed on her own birthday weekend after I booked the Airbnb and she said she wasn’t "ready for that level of celebration.”

Then Shauna bites a chunk out of Melissa’s shoulder. With her mouth. And tries to make her eat it. Melissa is reluctant. I get it, I refuse to try juice cleanses because it reminds me of that week I tried to purge my emotional baggage through cucumber water. This? Trauma-core.

Meanwhile, Jeff hits his emotional wall and tells The Joels Shauna is crazy. Jeff, there are things you say in therapy, and there are things you maybe whisper while refilling your coffee in a hotel breakfast nook.

Callie is processing all of this like someone who will absolutely become an emotionally avoidant adult. Love her. Protect her. Get her a dorm room with a lock and an RA named Janelle.

Tai, meanwhile, tries to smother a dying man to save Van. I’ve done worse for love—mainly involving expired Groupon couples’ massages and a canoe.

Allie’s Key Takeaways:

Wilderness: Winter is Coming.

Melissa is alive. For now. Bite marks don’t lie.

Shauna feels seen. Maybe not in a good way.

Jeff is in his Jeff Era.

Van is fading. Tai is unraveling.

What’s Next?

Is Pit Girl about to ascend via tragic ritual murder? Fingers crossed.

Shauna: Has she ever been hinged?

Will Melissa survive her shoulder appetizer?

Who actually killed Lottie?

Are any of us ever truly leaving the wilderness? Physically, maybe. Emotionally? No.

Listen to this week’s Yellowjackets Buzz with Glenn and Isa, who break down every forest standoff, trauma spiral, and human meat moment in this show that refuses to let us heal.

Available wherever you get your podcasts… or on a burned CD next to your bootleg VCD of The Blair Witch Project, tucked under your bed beside the notebook you swore you burned in 2001.

Email your theories: yellowjacketsbuzz@gmail.com

Follow:

Glenn – @GlennRubenstein

Isa – @NYCDemonD1va

Twitter/X – @YellowjacketsBz

Instagram – @yellowjacketsbuzz

Buzz buzz buzz,

Allie

(Wiskayok Class of ’96/’99, Yellowjacket, Survivor of Everything But the Actual Crash)

Yellowjackets: Season 3, Episode 7 “Croak” or "Brain Matter, Frog Science, and Shauna's Emotional Support Knife."

This episode takes us to a very special kind of field trip—one where frog scientists become endangered species, Misty’s curls are nothing short of spectacular, and Shauna is feeling stabby like she’s headed to a PTA meeting with an axe to grind. The vibe? Lord of the Flies meets Unsolved Mysteries, with a dash of Nature Sounds Vol. 6: Frog Mating Calls.

1997 Timeline: The Frogmen Cometh (and Goeth)

Welcome to the Hanna, Edwin, and Kodiak show. They record a frog orgy. They smoke the chronic. They form a love triangle?

Then, as the girls are finishing off Coach Ben, three unexpected guests show up. They smelled BBQ, ok?

Hanna bolts. Kodiak shoots a crossbow (it's bad ass). Melissa takes an arrow. And Lottie? She puts a hatchet in Edwin’s skull, then squishes his brain like she’s auditioning for a Food Network show no one wants to watch.

As they chase down Hanna and Kodiak, Van discovers the source of the infamous “wilderness screams”: frogs. Mating loudly into field recorders. She releases one, whispers “go on, little guy,” and calls out for her mom over the satellite phone. It’s brutal and beautiful—one of the most emotionally raw moment of the series.

2021 Timeline: Tapes, Truth Bombs, and Tai’s Shadow

The Yellowjackets revisit the DAT tape left earlier in the season. The tape was made by Hanna, who—surprise—had a baby as a teenager. That daughter’s name? Alex. And she’s now the top suspect for Shauna's stalker. Hanna's dead. But her daughter might have inherited more than memories.

Shauna, feeling threatened and cornered, gears up to confront whoever dropped the tape. She heads to meet the source face-to-face, first as a group, but then solo (like Ginger Spice).

Meanwhile, Van’s health is fading, and Taissa, desperate, will do whatever it takes (Degrassi TNG style). It works--sort of--for now Van meets her past self Dark Tai in a near death state.

Oh, and Callie? She tells Jeff that she thinks Shauna’s not just troubled—she’s dangerous and done way more in the past than she ever let on. This the worst moment of Jeff's life since the "no book club" conversation.

By Episode’s End:

Shauna: Holding a knife and looking for answers

Misty: Stunning. Scheming. In control.

Edwin: Rest in pieces

Hanna: Not long for this Earth, but her voice lingers

Kodiak: Unconfirmed but probably walking with Sasquatch.

Van: Surviving.

Lottie: Still into blood dirt.

...you know, it would be really nice if the show could clearly tell us who is alive in the present. Oh wait—they did and if you blinked you missed it? D’oh!

Loose Ends (And We Do Mean Loose):

Misty’s hair is incredible. Please acknowledge it with the respect it deserves.

Patrick Dempsey was marketed as the sexiest teenage boy alive in the late ’80s. This is true and somehow relevant.

Shauna pocketing a lock of hair from a murder scene? Not creepy at all. Just prepping her ritual lookbook.

What’s Next?

Is Alex old enough to be Hanna’s daughter, and is Hillary Swank the right casting? Short answer: Maybe. Long answer: Definitely Maybe.

Is Kodiak still out there with a story to tell—and where can we download his podcast?

Will Tai sacrifice more of herself to keep Van alive? Or will Other Tai take the wheel for good?

We break it all down in this episode of the pod, available wherever you get your podcasts… or on a bootleg VHS recorded over a Mr. Show marathon, a LimeWire MP3 labeled “Phish - Gin & Juice.mp3,” or a Maxell tape marked “DO NOT LISTEN – SCREAMS.”

New episodes of Yellowjackets drop Fridays at 12:01 AM ET on Showtime/Paramount+, and we’ll be here every week to guide you through the madness.

Email us your theories and questions: yellowjacketsbuzz@gmail.com

Follow us:

Glenn (@GlennRubenstein)

Isa (@NYCDemonD1va)

Twitter/X: @YellowjacketsBz

Instagram: @yellowjacketsbuzz

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