Yellowjackets season 3 review – Back to its unpredictable and brutal best

The present-day timeline felt stagnant too, with the investigation into Adam’s murder, Lottie’s deterioration, Nat hanging around Lottie’s wellness centre and Taissa’s sleepwalking arc all feeling drawn out and aimless.

Most fans had lost hope completely by season 2's end, as every storyline was resolved in various irritatingly convenient plot twists.

In the ‘90s timeline, a fire saw the cabin go up in flames, while in the present day, Walter poisoned Detective Kevyn and managed to convince Detective Saracusa of a false narrative about the murder of Adam, and Lottie’s (Simone Kessell) hunt ceremony to make a sacrifice to the wilderness resulted in Misty (Christina Ricci) accidentally killing Nat (Juliette Lewis).

It was a bad end to a bad latter half of the season, but what it did do was wipe the slate clean completely. And fortunately, Yellowjackets season 3 makes the most of this new start, taking the show in a fresh direction that is once again exciting and gripping.

The new season picks up several weeks after the end of season 2 and, with spring upon them, things are looking very different for our young survivors than when we last saw them.

Under the new leadership of Natalie, the group have constructed a new idyllic-looking camp complete with teepees. And with the new setting appears to come a more positive mindset as the group organise a wellbeing festival, play games and tell stories about the "sacrifices and miracles" they’ve witnessed in the wilderness.

But we soon see tension bubbling under the surface as Shauna starts to rebel against the new leadership and the group’s belief system. "How about this story for you? Once upon a time a bunch of teenage girls got stranded in the wilderness and they went completely f***ing nuts," she writes in her journal.

Antagonism from Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) – who ran away at the end of season 2 after worrying he was going to be eaten next – also looms over the camp as we see him wandering in the woods.

The new set-up raises a load of new questions. Is Shauna going to blow? Is Coach Ben going to find a way to harm the Yellowjackets before they can harm him?

New questions are raised in the present-day timeline, too. Adult Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) tries to focus on supporting Jeff and Callie (Sarah Desjardins) after what they witnessed at the end of season 2, but is soon plagued by a series of strange events. What or who is haunting Shauna? And is Callie going to be drawn into the chaos?

Meanwhile, Adult Misty unravels further and struggles with a drinking problem following the death of Nat and her ostracism from the friendship group, and Walter tries to get her to see that they don’t value her. Is she going to turn against the others and seek revenge?

The adult versions of Taissa (Tawny Cypress) and Van (Lauren Ambrose) are also given an exciting new storyline (we won’t spoil too much here) that explores the former’s psychology further.

In the four episodes that were provided to review, storylines in both timelines feel shocking and gripping once again, with loads of jump scares and truly unexpected twists keeping the audience on their toes and recapturing the magic of season 1.

As well as the faster pacing, another thing fans loved about Yellowjackets in season 1 was the use of supernatural elements to keep things ambiguous – it was never entirely clear what was the result of supernatural forces and what was a result of the trauma the gang had suffered in the wilderness.

At times in season 2, the use of supernatural elements started to feel gratuitous, rather than serving to explore the characters’ psychologies further. Tai’s sleepwalking and Lottie’s deterioration in the present day in particular felt stuck in a loop.

Despite leaning even further into the supernatural, season 3 appears to restore this balance, and the writers have made more of an effort to connect the characters’ deteriorations in the present day to their past storylines.

Once again, the season 3 cast is terrific, and there are darkly funny performances from the adult versions of the characters – in particular from Lynskey as bored housewife Shauna and Ricci as twisted but vulnerable Misty.

Lynskey is given more to sink her teeth into this season, and her character is also enhanced by the more pivotal role her daughter Callie plays, as is Cypress.

Hopefully we're going to see more depth to the super chill Adult Van, too, whose psyche is yet to really be explored. What did she get up to before she reunited with Taissa? What are the aftereffects of her trauma in the wilderness?

Of course, with five episodes to go, there’s still plenty of time for the new season to unravel, and for the storytelling to fall into the same traps as it did in season 2.

But with the creators having teased that season 3 will bridge the gap between the show’s two timelines, and considering its propulsive opening, there’s certainly reason to hope for the best.

Yellowjackets season 3 will stream on Paramount Plus from Friday 14th February 2025.

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