Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 9.
As Yellowjackets approaches its Season 3 finale, the stakes are higher than ever. In Episode 8, Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) took the liberty of denying rescue to the rest of the team because she, Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown), and Lottie (Courtney Eaton) had bad feelings about going. Episode 9 follows up on this decision and how it divides the team. Meanwhile, the present-day timeline picks up with Melissa (Hilary Swank) and Shauna’s (Melanie Lynskey) altercation and how it bleeds onto the rest of the survivors — literally. The episode doesn’t pull any punches, giving us plenty of drama in both timelines and two shocking deaths, honoring the promise that Season 3 would be Yellowjackets‘ most fatal season yet.
A New Plan Is Hatched in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Episode 9
After Shauna squashes the team’s plan of being rescued, tensions at camp are amped up to eleven, and new alliances are formed. Kodi (Joel McHale) wants to leave with or without her permission, and only stays when Shauna holds him at gunpoint. This results in both he and Hannah (Ashley Sutton) being put in the animal pen for the time being until everyone decides what they’re going to do. Tai explains to Van (Liv Hewson) that the frog scientists lost their minds when they saw what happened to Coach (Steven Krueger), so it’s not a stretch to imagine how the rest of the world will react. Van serves her a hefty dose of reality by reminding her they barely made it through the winter, and only did so because they ate a kid, but Tai is unbothered and assures her that they’ll get through another one; they just have to be smart.
Elsewhere, Travis (Kevin Alves) is covering the forest floor with twigs and branches, and when he throws a log on the pile to test it, the weight triggers a pit of spikes meant to trap and kill whatever falls inside. He later asks Lottie to join him in the woods because he feels as though “It” is trying to talk to him. Suddenly, it clicks: Travis is planning to kill Lottie so they can all go home. Sure enough, when they get to the woods, Travis tells her that she’s ruining their chance at rescue, and he can’t let her do it — but Lottie tells him that she just wanted him to feel that Javi (Luciano Leroux) is with them. The wind picks up around them as if on cue, and she starts walking forward. It isn’t until she hears the crack of a twig under her foot that she clues into Travis’ plan. She looks back at him and smiles, and he just shakes his head in disbelief as she walks away without triggering his trap.
Back at camp, Shauna hears everyone whispering about her, so she pulls aside those she knows are on her side: Melissa (Jenna Burgess), Misty (Samantha Hanratty), Tai, Van, and Lottie. Shauna thinks everyone else is planning something, so Misty offers to spy on them since everyone knows she’s been kicked out of all other meetings and won’t suspect her. Despite her efforts, the others catch on to her pretty quickly and refuse to give anything away, naturally. The second group, consisting of Natalie (Sophie Thatcher), Mari (Alexa Barajas), Gen (Vanessa Prasad), and Akilah (Nya Sondaya), knows they can’t handle another winter, with Akilah even admitting that she hopes the wilderness will choose her first, but according to Nat, there’s another way they can go ahead with their plan. Later that night, Mari brings Hannah into the woods, where Natalie passes her a knife and tells her that they’re going to make a run for it. All Hannah has to do is wait until everyone else is asleep, cut herself and Kodi free, and meet them in the woods. With that, rescue plan 2.0 is in action.
There’s Trouble in the Wilderness in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Episode 9
Shauna and Melissa were one of the most shocking yet intriguing couples to come out of Yellowjackets Season 3, but as time has gone on, they’ve proven to be extremely toxic for one another — and their dynamic reaches a breaking point in the penultimate episode. Melissa, who’s in charge of watching Kodi and Hannah in the animal pen and making sure they don’t do anything rash, ends up chatting with Hannah, who reveals that she has a 10-year-old daughter back home. Melissa immediately sympathizes with her and continues talking to her, eventually joking around and giggling with her. That’s when Shauna comes by and catches them, ripping into Melissa for being kind to Hannah and pointing out that Hannah is probably lying about even having a kid as a way to gain Melissa’s sympathy.
Melissa ends up storming out, tired of Shauna’s negativity and cruelty, and Shauna follows angrily after her. In front of everyone, she yells, “No one gave a shit about you until me.” This causes Melissa to stop dead in her tracks, while the entire team stares at them in shock. Melissa sadly asks Shauna why she can’t just be a nice person, to which she doubles down and simply says: “You’re nothing.” Melissa turns to address the team, admitting they’re right: Shauna is nuts. This crosses a line for Shauna, and she pulls her gun on Melissa. Melissa dares her to pull the trigger, and to everyone’s surprise, Shauna actually does it. The bullet grazes Melissa’s arm, nicking her jacket, but it’s enough to scare her so badly that she wets her pants. Shauna’s so delighted that she smirks as she walks off, leaving Van to tend to a very shaken-up Melissa.
The First Snow of the Season Comes in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Episode 9
As night falls, the energy is intense. Shauna is angry because of everything that happened with Melissa; meanwhile, Melissa enters Gen’s tent and announces that she’s through with Shauna and wants in on whatever plan they’re hatching. Kodi tells Hannah that everyone is probably asleep by now, so she can untie them, but before she does, she confronts him about the other name written on his pack – a concern Edwin (Nelson Franklin) raised with her in Episode 7. Kodi immediately claims he got the bag at a thrift store, and urges her to hurry up and untie them. Back in Shauna’s tent, she’s playing with the strand of Hannah’s hair she previously pocketed when realization dawns. She rushes out to the animal pen, and sure enough, Hannah and Kodi are setting themselves free. Holding them at gunpoint, Shauna demands to know where they got the knife. Hannah lies and says it was Kodi, both in an effort to protect Natalie and because she clearly has her doubts about trusting him. Kodi calls her some cruel words, as well as a liar, and in retaliation, Hannah turns and stabs him in the eye, killing him, before holding out the bloody knife to Shauna and simply saying, “Please. I want to be part of this.”
Having witnessed all of this go down, Gen and Melissa run into the woods where Mari, Akilah, and Nat are waiting, and fill them in on what’s just happened. They’re not going home. The realization hits Nat like a ton of bricks, and she collapses onto a stump, sobbing. To make matters worse, snow begins to fall, signaling that they’re about to enter another grueling winter with no hope of rescue. In the distance, Natalie sees someone running through the woods and follows, finding Misty in the middle of pulling out the black box that she destroyed all the way back in Season 1. Earlier in the episode, Van attempted to fix the SAT phone used by the scientists, to no avail, but the black box holds the exact piece they need to make repairs. When confronted, Misty excitedly tells Natalie that she might have a way to get them rescued, but all Natalie can focus on is the fact that she’s known where the transponder is this whole time. Misty’s big secret is finally out.
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They also discuss Jenna Burgess going from Hat Girl to Hilary Swank and who’s REALLY in control out there.
Van Becomes a Goonie in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Episode 9
Episode 8 was notably Van-less (Lauren Ambrose), so Episode 9 quickly remedies that by opening with her in the hospital, having a vision of her younger self. Teen Van brings up The Goonies and the plot of the movie, but older Van is confused about why her younger self is recapping all of this — of course, she’s seen The Goonies. Teen Van goes on to explain that it’s a classic hero’s journey and tells Van that “X marks the spot” just before Van wakes to Taissa (Tawny Cypress) at her bedside. Van can immediately tell from the tears streaming down Tai’s face that her prognosis isn’t good, but they can’t stay here either, so Tai, Van, and Misty (Christina Ricci) all hop in the car to track down Shauna.
Shauna, on the other hand, is still at Melissa’s, where she’s dangling that chunk of arm flesh over Melissa’s face and daring her to eat it. Shauna once again threatens to tell Melissa’s family the truth about her, and so Melissa finally relents, chowing down on the flesh — but just when Shauna’s convinced she’s swallowed, Melissa spits it back in her face, catching her off-guard long enough to get the upper hand. Snagging her keys on her way out, Melissa gets in her car, speeding off down the road and away from Shauna. Unfortunately for Melissa, she doesn’t have a lot of gas left.
As Tai continues to drive, Misty spots Melissa on the side of the road and calls out to her in surprise. Melissa immediately tries to flee, but Tai catches up to her and blocks her with her car before chasing her on foot and tackling her to the ground. Misty approaches them with a tire iron — while none of them know how Melissa is still alive, she won’t be for much longer if she doesn’t cooperate. That threat is enough to shut Melissa up and make her go willingly with the others. Meanwhile, Van, still weak from her stay in the hospital, is watching from the car and notices a road sign with a prominent “X” on it. Clearly, they were meant to find Melissa, right?
It’s Melissa vs. the Yellowjackets in Season 3 Episode 9
After successfully getting Melissa into the car, Tai drives them to her house. Melissa tells them that Shauna has gone off the deep end, given that she tried to make Melissa eat her own arm. The others are understandably disturbed by this, but when they learn that Melissa sent Shauna the tape, they ask the same question we have: “How did you think Shauna would react?” Melissa wants nothing to do with Shauna and asks to be let out of the car, but a single threat from Van quiets her again, and they continue on. Back at the house, Shauna is cleaning up the bloody aftermath of her and Melissa’s fight when she hears a noise outside. She grabs a knife in self-defense, but breathes a sigh of relief when Van announces herself and starts to try and explain the situation, saying she may have made things worse — but her demeanor completely changes once Melissa walks into the room, too.
It doesn’t take long for the scene to erupt into chaos as Misty once again accuses Shauna of Lottie’s (Simone Kessell) murder, bringing up the DNA evidence and showing off the receipt that proves Shauna was in the city that day. The explanation we get connects to Jeff’s (Warren Kole) previous fear about bad karma and Shauna’s decision to return a “missing” cat to its family after driving into the city to find an identical one at a shelter. Misty thinks the story is farfetched, but to Shauna, it makes all the sense in the world that Melissa killed Lottie. After all, she’s the one who sent the tape; surely she’s also the one responsible for not only the murder, but the brakes and the freezer incident too. Annoyed, Misty admits that the freezer was her fault, finally telling Shauna that the lock had been broken for months and, because she was annoyed with her, she figured some freezer time wouldn’t be the worst thing.
Taissa isn’t convinced that Shauna killed Lottie — but it doesn’t matter right now, anyway. They have a bigger mess to clean up right now in regards to Shauna and Melissa. Misty storms out, telling them it’s Shauna’s mess to clean up, and rightfully so. Taissa ties Melissa up for safety reasons, musing that this whole situation reminds her of Adam (Peter Gadiot). Shauna scolds Taissa for bringing him up, but it’s too late. Melissa correctly assumes this isn’t the first time Shauna has gone off the deep end and wrongly accused someone of something they didn’t do. In retaliation, Shauna reveals that Melissa married Hannah’s kid, which catches Tai and Van off guard. They sit her down by the fireplace as they figure out what to do, with Van deciding to step outside for a bit, and Melissa gets a wicked idea of her own as she closes the fireplace flue.
Another Yellowjacket Falls in Season 3 Episode 9
When Van comes back from outside, oxygen mask in hand, she finds the house quiet. The reason? Both Tai and Shauna are unconscious on the floor, and Melissa is barely conscious herself. Van reopens the flue after Melissa reveals what she’s done, then drags Tai outside and gives her the oxygen mask, encouraging her to breathe. While unconscious, Tai has a hallucination of a glowing phone, and when she answers, she hears Van in the real world. Other Tai and real Tai battle, with real Tai emerging victorious, saying, “You’re not what she needs.” She finally wakes up, and Van realizes that this is her Tai. She leaves momentarily to go in and retrieve Shauna, and then goes back in for Melissa — only this time, she arms herself with a knife.
Untying Melissa, Van holds the knife over her. Melissa insists that this isn’t her only option — if Van leaves her alone, this could all end now — but Van clues Melissa in about her cancer, as well as the chance that if she kills Melissa now, she might be allowed to live. Melissa’s not convinced that any of the sacrifices they made in the wilderness were real, but Van doesn’t know if she believes that. Melissa finally stops fighting; if the wilderness is telling Van to put a knife through her heart, she’ll be her sacrifice, and for a moment, it seems like Van might follow through with it before she howls in frustration. Like we saw in a previous episode, she’s not able to take a life to save her own. Melissa appears to comfort Van, sympathizing with her battle for life — but then she suddenly grabs the knife from Van’s hand and plunges it into her chest, informing her that she has no similar inhibitions.
Suddenly, we’re back on the plane, only it’s empty, much like it was in the Season 2 finale when Natalie (Juliette Lewis) had her final moments there. Van’s joined by her teen self, just like she was at the beginning of the episode, and the pair watch their death play out on a movie screen. Shauna and Tai come into the house, finally conscious enough to do so, and find Van dead on the floor. Taissa immediately takes her into her arms, screaming and crying out for her. Van is furious with her younger self for giving her a sign and sending her into the house, knowing she was going to die, but her younger self tearfully says it wasn’t her call; it’s just how their story goes. Van circles back to their earlier conversation about The Goonies and ponders how she was supposed to be the hero, and her younger self assures her she was. She saved Shauna and Tai, and she got the real love of their life back. “You show me a better treasure.” Teen Van then tells her older self that surviving this was never the reward, and though Van begs to learn the ending, her younger self simply smiles and says, “Where would be the fun in that?”
The Yellowjackets Season 3 finale premieres Friday on Showtime.
Yellowjackets Season 3’s penultimate episode brings the stakes to new heights back at camp, and in the present day, another survivor falls.
- Release Date
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November 14, 2021
- Network
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Showtime, Paramount+ with Showtime
- The episode boasts an incredible acting performance from Sophie Thatcher.
- Episode 9 reveals Kodi’s shocking death and Hannah’s loyalty turn.
- The team splits into different alliances.
- Taissa finally separates herself from “Other Tai.”
- Van meets a tragic ending.
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