Warning: SPOILERS for Yellowjackets season 3, episodes 1 and 2, “It Girl” and “Dislocation”!Jeff and Callie Sadecki are at very different places emotionally at the start ofYellowjacketsseason 3 when it comes to either processing or completely ignoring the fallout ofNatalie’s death inYellowjacketsseason 2, a chasm that actors Warren Kole and Sarah Desjardins were happy to break down in an interview withScreenRant. While Callie is acting out more than ever and seeking answers from less-than-stable people, Jeff is trying to put the past behind them and turn over a new leaf with his wife Shauna (Melanie Lynskey). But the past doesn’t want to stay buried, and there are signs that yet another survivor will be coming by to upend their daily lives.
First, though, the Sadecki household must contend with anunwanted visitor inYellowjacketsseason 3, episode 2. Lottie (Simone Kessell) stays the night, much to Shauna and Jeff’s chagrin — but surprisingly not to Callie’s. The youngest member of the family is inexplicably drawn to Lottie, and it seems that the “it” the latter holds so dear wishes to claim the former as a new follower. Tensions rise elsewhere due to Jeff’s attempts at new business dealings despite Shauna’s resistance, as well as thanks to a potential stalker leaving envelopes with cassette tapes for their daughter to find and phones in bathroom stalls next to Shauna herself.
Yellowjackets
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Yellowjackets is a television series exploring the survival ordeal of a high school girls' soccer team stranded in the remote wilderness after a plane crash. It interweaves psychological horror and coming-of-age themes, simultaneously depicting their harrowing transformation and its lasting impact on their lives 25 years later.
ScreenRantinterviewed Desjardins and Kole to discuss the familydynamics at play inYellowjacketsseason 3. The duo specifically focused on the first two episodes, with Desjardins explaining how Lottie’s arrival sparks her interest despite disturbing Shauna’s peace and Kole hinting at possible marital troubles in Jeff’s future.
The Yellowjackets Premiere Contained One Of Sarah Desjardins’ Favorite Sadecki Family Moments
“Melanie And I Both Found It So Funny That We Broke”
The family that covers up murders together stays together, or soYellowjacketswould have us believe. Season 3 finds the Sadeckis dealing with their latest traumas by dumping animal entrails on their classmates, smoking “chronic” (as Jeff would call it), and figuring out how close or far to keep themselves from Lottie when she lands on their doorstep begging for a place to stay. In fact, it is that scene in episode 2 that Desjardins highlighted as one of the most “entertaining” of the season:
There was a certain way that Warren said a certain line. He killed it every single time, but there was one take where Melanie and I both found it so funny that we broke, and I felt like, “No, that was the best one!” And they saved it. It is in there.
Kole added that he loved that scene because, unlike so many of the more ambiguous moments in the show, “Everyone’s intentions are so clear in that scene. It’s ripe for entertainment.” But it’s far from the only exciting adventure that the Sadecki family embark on together and separately, especially now that Callie has borne witness to Natalie’s death at the hands of Misty – an accident that occurred only because Lottie was trying to attack Shauna.
“There are so many things Callie is involved in this season that I cannot share,” Desjardins teased, revealing that Callie’s plotting for in Yellowjackets season 3 is something that she finds, “So good, so juicy, so satisfying." Nevertheless, home is where the heart is, and despite all the murder mysteries and powerful forces potentially making their way out of the wilderness, “The hijinks between the family is one of my favorite things to do. It’s just so much fun.”
The Callie & Lottie Dynamic In Yellowjackets Season 3 Further Highlights Callie’s Connection To “It”
“The Main Feeling That Wins In The End Is Curiosity”
While Callie has shown herself to be extremely protective of her mother when it comes to police officers asking about Adam or high schoolers whispering about her days stranded in the wilderness, she reacts much differently when it comes to Lottie. The two women seem to have a strange fascination with one another – leading Callie to knock Misty out with allergy medicine during their so-called sleepover inYellowjacketsseason 3, episode 2. Desjardin explained that, “There are so many different layers there, but the main one [is] that there’s an energy about Lottie.”
Callie wants to better understand that energy, especially because the end of season 2 made it clear that Lottie sees it in her. “Callie does hear what she says, ‘She’s so powerful,’” Desjardins added, “but she doesn’t know what that means or what to do with it.” Naturally, Callie needed Lottie to stick around to get answers about the wilderness and the energy the Yellowjackets carried home with them – but the audience, like Misty, is not privy to the conversation that ensued when the two women were left alone.
Yellowjackets Timeline Explained: How Much Time Passes In The Show
Yellowjackets doesn’t state how long the girls have been stranded, but a few hints, such as Shauna’s pregnancy, help to form a more concrete timeline.
Though Callie may think she is the master manipulator in this situation, getting answers out of someone who appears to be an open book, Kole warned that may not be the case. ”Who’s manipulating who?” Her methods may not be foolproof, but Desjardins teased that, “Callie just does what she can, and we’ll see how that progresses throughout the season.”
Does Jeff Love Shauna Enough To Make It Through Yellowjackets Season 3?
“How Much Can He Take? Where Is His Breaking Point?”
As the most levelheaded member of his family, and possibly of the wholeYellowjacketscast, Jeff has stayed steady through multiple murders by the start of season 3 – one of which he is even helped actively cover up. He hasn’t even lashed out since the blackmail from season 1, which Kole claimed could be “[taken] off the table for awhile.” But Shauna ignoring his potential business partners in “Dislocations” before lashing out at them may point to a breakdown in their marital communication down the line.
“How much can he take? Where is his breaking point?”
“That’s rich soil to till,” Kole agreed with excitement duringScreenRant’s interview. Jeff wants nothing more than to build a happy home with Shauna and watch Callie flourish, but as his daughter gets pulled further into the darkness that defined his wife’s adolescence, how much can he keep enabling them both? The actor himself put it very poetically:
When will the hope of, if it ever existed, restoring the ideal version of his household and his wife and their love together finally be shattered by the reality and the insidious nature of the actual events that are going on around them? That’s good stuff.
It doesn’t hurt to mention that theYellowjacketsseason 3 premiere introduced Melissa as a romance for Shauna in the past, all while the present timeline suggests a mysterious someone is reaching out to Shauna via cassette tapes and leaving their phones in bathrooms. If Melissa should show up at the Sadecki home – after all,Hilary Swank’s casting was big newseven though her unnamed character has yet to appear – Jeff may be faced with more than he can handle.
Check out otherYellowjacketsseason 3 interviews here:
New episodes ofYellowjacketsdrop Fridays on Paramount+ before airing Sundays at 8pm ET/PT on Showtime.
