ShowtimeAnd just like that, Yellowjackets Season 3 has drawn to a close with an epic (and bloody) finale. While more than a few long-running mysteries were solved, there are still plenty of unanswered questions for a potential Season 4.
Ever since the horror TV show premiered back in 2021, we’ve been following two timelines. In the ‘90s, the Yellowjackets football team is left fending for itself in the Canadian wilderness after surviving a plane crash.
In the present, the survivors grapple with the trauma they experienced, with many believing the spiritual presence that drove them to cannibalism followed them back into the real world. However, Yellowjackets Season 3 all but confirms that maybe this was all in their heads.
Although the latest chapter starts bridging the gap between the two timelines, we’re yet to see the rescue mission play out. It’s one of many reasons Yellowjackets Season 4 should get the green light. Warning: Season 3 spoilers ahead!
Is Yellowjackets Season 4 happening?
ShowtimeShowtime is yet to officially confirm Yellowjackets Season 4. However, it’s looking likely, given the story still needs to be wrapped up.
We’re undoubtedly approaching the beginning of the end. The girls have entered their second winter, meaning it’s just a few months until they are rescued. In the present day, the adult Yellowjackets are dropping like flies.
However, there’s still many unanswered questions, meaning we can expect at least one more installment.
Creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson have long said the plan was for Yellowjackets to have a five-season arc. In an interview with the LA Times after the Season 3 finale, Nickerson said, “We are kind of banking on another season.
“So, sorry, if we do get canceled; if we pulled a total My So-Called Life where we’re just ending. But there are worse things than to go down in history as another My So-Called Life.”
There’s another reason Showtime is likely to renew the show: stats. The Yellowjackets Season 3 premiere drew in more than two million across Showtime and Paramount+ in its debut weekend.
Back in March, Paramount Global revealed that Season 3 viewership was up 39% over Season 2 on Paramount+ with Showtime. In short, the figures look good.
The only issue is that we can’t look to previous seasons for timings. Yellowjackets Season 2 was announced in December 2021, midway through the first season, and Season 3 received the green light in December 2022, before Season 2 premiered.
The absence of a Season 4 announcement by April 2025 is a departure from this pattern, which could be concerning. However, the delay could easily be attributed to the production disruptions caused by the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes, which affected the show’s production schedule.
Given the comments from the creators and the viewership figures, it certainly seems more of a case of when rather than if. We’ll be sure to keep you posted when new details emerge.
Who would be in the cast?
ShowtimeIf Yellowjackets Season 4 gets the go-ahead, we can expect all of the surviving core cast (more on this shortly) to return, including:
- Sophie Thatcher as teen Nat
- Jasmin Savoy Brown as teen Taissa
- Tawny Cypress as adult Taissa
- Sophie Nélisse as teen Shauna
- Melanie Lynskey as adult Shauna
- Sammi Hanratty as teen Misty
- Christina Ricci as adult Misty
- Courtney Eaton as teen Lottie
- Liv Hewson as teen Van
- Kevin Alves as teen Travis
- Nia Sondaya as teen Akilah
- Jenna Burgess as teen Melissa
- Hilary Swank as adult Melissa
- Warren Kole as Jeff Sadecki
- Sarah Desjardins as Callie Sadecki
- Elijah Wood as Walter Tattersall
Now, as many of you know, there have been a lot of character deaths in Yellowjackets so far, and the body count only continued to rise in Season 3.
ShowtimeHowever, the TV show often makes use of flashback scenes, meaning we may see the following actors and characters reappear in Season 4:
- Ella Purnell as teen Jackie
- Simone Kessell as adult Lottie
- Lauren Ambrose as adult Van
- Steven Krueger as Coach Ben Scott
One person we likely won’t see returning is Juliette Lewis as adult Nat. Following her Season 2 death, the Natural Born Killers star left the show permanently and didn’t join the Season 3 production at all.
What might happen if Yellowjackets Season 4 gets renewed
ShowtimeIf Yellowjackets Season 4 is greenlit, we will see the girls’ rescue play out, and most likely what happened to them when they got home.
At the end of Season 3, Nat finds out that Misty broke the black box transponder. Rather than telling the rest of the group, they work together behind Shauna’s back to use its components to fix the broken phone left by the frog researchers.
In the very last scene of the finale, Nat gets it to work and makes contact with the outside world.
Shauna and Lottie both have their reasons for wanting to stay in the Wilderness, but the rest of them are done. Plus, we know they’re due to be rescued shortly after the events of the Season 3 finale, as their second winter has now kicked in.
What will be interesting is to see how they assimilate back into society, and how they cover up their murderous crimes from the rescue team.
As for the present-day timeline, all hell is undoubtedly set to break loose. Tai is vowing vengeance after Van’s death, but not on Melissa. As she tells Misty in Season 3 Episode 10, everything that’s happened up until now is Shauna’s fault.
She left her diary entries for Jeff to find, she murdered her lover, and she hunted down Melissa. “If we keep letting this slide, she’s going to end up being the last one standing,” says Tai.
“I don’t want that. Do you?” she asks, to which Misty replies, “No. I definitely do not.”
ShowtimeAs for Shauna, she finds the letter Melissa left with the DAT tape, suggesting that she wanted her to forgive herself and move on from what happened. Rather than trying to blackmail her, Melissa wanted to bring Shauna peace.
Shauna has an epiphany – all of the death and destruction up until this point has been of her own making, but she pushes these thoughts down and writes in her diary, admitting that she enjoyed her time in the wilderness.
“I think we can’t or won’t remember it clearly because we recognize deep down that we were having so much fun,” she says.
“That’s the terrible truth we left out there buried, along with the people we called our friends. Except it’s all coming back to me now. The danger, the thrill, the person I was back then. Not a wife or a mother. I was a warrior. I was a f**king queen.”
In short, it doesn’t look like she’s set to make any changes to her personality. Little does she realize Tai and Misty’s intentions, which could very well lead to a two-against-one situation. We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out if and when Yellowjackets Season 4 gets the go-ahead.
Until then, read about The Man With No Eyes, who tried to kill the Yellowjackets, and find more TV shows to stream this month.
