Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 3, Episode 9, “How the Story Ends.”
Yellowjacketsdirector Ben Semanoff offered answers following the major death that finished off season 3, episode 9 of the hit series. The episode saw a massive twist of fate for Van (Lauren Ambrose), who had just survived a bloody trip to the emergency room inthe previous episode. Despite successfully cheating death for the past three seasons,Van ultimately died at the hands of Melissa(Hilary Swank), who was only recently discovered to still be alive in theYellowjacketsadult timeline.
In an interview withScreenRant, Semanoff discusses Melissa’s role inYellowjackets, and what led her to make that dramatic decision at the end of episode 9. He elaborates on theparallels between Melissa and Shauna(Melanie Lynskey), highlighting the impact of their wild past on their chaotic present. He believes thatMelissa is tired of hiding in secret and wants the excitement back from her previous life,knowing that the other survivors are going to come after her.
I don’t know what’s going to happen with Melissa, and I think the next season might answer a bunch of these questions. But I think ultimately, the most important thing was that she didn’t need to be discovered. She was living a completely secretive life. My answer is that she was sick of it. I think a lot of what’s going on with the YJs is that they are nostalgic for a period of time in their lives that was wild and crazy and intense and exciting, and you never knew if death was around the corner. You could pull the wrong card and be chased by a gang of teenage girls through the woods to your death. It was a pretty exciting time, and now they’ve all sort of gone on their way.
Shauna is completely miserable in her life, and I think Melissa feels similarly. I think one of the things I wanted to do was really parallel Shauna and Melissa. It wasn’t necessarily there a hundred percent in the writing, but I made some choices, like the minivan that Melissa has. I really wanted the two women to be living similar lives and be similarly sick of it. Melissa had gotten away with faking her death and flying under the radar, and I think she was just like, “How am I going to regain that excitement? I’m going to let the YJs know I’m alive. They’re going to come after me, and then all hell’s going to break loose.” I think this is what she wanted.
I think she wanted to be back in the game, and now she’s essentially being chased through the woods again, had she pulled the card. That’s the reason for me. I love how that all happened, and that’s why I think she stabs her at the end. This is the game. This is what you do.
What This Means For Yellowjackets Season 3
Melissa Has Become A Key Character
Melissa has had more screen time throughoutYellowjacketsseason 3 in both timelines. Shauna even poked fun at teen Melissa’s sudden relevance earlier, noting that the latter does “have a personality.” Melissa only recently emerged in the adult timeline, having beenhunted down by Shauna in season 3, episode 8, who discovered thatshe had faked her death, renamed herself as “Kelly,” and married Hannah’s daughter, one of the frog scientists who stumbled upon the group.
Yellowjackets Season 3: Everything You Need To Know
After two brilliant seasons, Yellowjackets season 3 arrived to offer yet another blood-soaked installment in the Showtime shocker.
Semanoff explained that this is the adult Melissa seeking a thrill, similar to how modern-day Shauna has chased highs from deviant activities like infidelity and murder. Melissa’s decision tosend Shauna the DAT tape earlier in season 3set off a bloody chain of events, whichultimately ended in Melissa stabbing Van through the heart and fleeing. Being bored with her normal domestic life was enough to send Melissa down this dangerous path of harming her fellow survivors, which should prove to have major consequences.
The Girls Were Taken Back To The Wilderness
Image via Paramount+
By killing Van, Melissa reverts to acting just how the girls did as teenagers in the wild. She listened to the mysterious “it” that follows the Yellowjackets, giving in to its desires by “sacrificing” Van. TheYellowjackets1990s timeline consistently shows us that the girls aren’t afraid to get bloody in the name of “the wilderness,” buttheir adult behavior indicates that these animalistic urges haven’t left them.Their trauma haunts them, leading the women to continue to pursue dangerous—at times, delusional—behavior to appease the mysterious essence of theYellowjacketswilderness.
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.
