Don’t Worry About Yellowjackets Season 3 Losing Juliette Lewis (There’s A Clever Way To Bring Her Back)

Natalie’s fate in Yellowjackets season 2’s ending provided a heartbreaking sendoff for Juliette Lewis, but her character still has ways to return.

Though adult Natalie’s fate suggets Juliette Lewis won’t be in Yellowjackets season 3, the show has several clever ways to potentially bring her back if she wants to return. Among the most shocking deaths in Yellowjackets season 2 was that of present-day Natalie Scatorccio, played marvelously by Juliette Lewis, who received one of the saddest character goodbyes yet. As the present timeline paralleled her teenage self, played by up-and-coming Scream Queen Sophie Thatcher, being crowned the Antler Queen in the wilderness, adult Natalie sacrificed herself to save Lisa as a tragic form of penance for decades-old crimes and sins.

Juliette Lewis was among the biggest names attached to Yellowjackets’ cast when it premiered on Showtime in 2021, so it was particularly surprising for Natalie to be the first of the main adult survivors to meet their demise. While the character of Natalie will still be present in Yellowjackets’ past timeline, the modern storyline is losing one of its most compelling figures as only Misty, Shauna, Tai, Van, and Lottie remain (as far as Yellowjackets has revealed). However, though Natalie’s gut-wrenching death scene with visions opposite her younger self provided a perfect send-off, Lewis could still return in Yellowjackets season 3.

Yellowjackets’ History With Dead Characters Means Juliette Lewis’ Natalie Will Likely Return

Adult Natalie could still make some posthumous returns in Yellowjackets season 3’s story, as supported by how the show has already integrated deceased characters in the past. The first big death in Yellowjackets season 1 was Travis in the present-day, who wasn’t properly introduced as an adult before his body was found by Natalie and Misty. However, Travis briefly returned for a flashback with Natalie in Yellowjackets season 2, proving that even after an entire season of being absent, the show will still bring back deceased characters when relevant to the story.

The more prominent examples of Yellowjackets’ dead characters returning are Jackie and Laura Lee, who died out in the wilderness in season 1. Laura Lee died in a plane explosion, while Jackie froze to death in the snow in Yellowjackets’ season 1 finale. However, Laura Lee has returned sporadically through Lottie’s visions, with Jackie having a bigger presence than expected in season 2 as her frozen corpse was kept in a shed. Ella Purnell reprised her role as Jackie for several scenes after the character’s death, as Shauna frequently hallucinated conversations with her in Yellowjackets season 2’s past timeline.

Adult Misty’s Yellowjackets Season 3 Story Needs To Still Include Natalie

Similar to how teen Shauna kept Jackie alive through hallucinations due to her guilt over her death, the same is apt to be true for Misty regarding Natalie’s death. Though Shauna didn’t intend for Jackie to die when their argument ended in Jackie sleeping outside, a blizzard occurred that night and she felt responsible for her best friend’s fate. Adult Misty’s responsibility for Natalie’s death is quite different, however. While Misty was aiming to stab Lisa with a fatal drug dose, Natalie purposefully stepped in front of Lisa at the last moment.

Shauna and Misty both accidentally played roles in their best friends’ deaths, though Natalie’s was more self-sacrifice. Still, Misty lacks genuine friends in her life, and Natalie – though somewhat reluctantly – was the closest person she had to a best friend. Considering Misty already hallucinates her bird, Caligula, and speaks to him like a human, it would be in character for her to hallucinate Juliette Lewis’ Natalie. As well as a way to keep her best friend alive, hallucinating Natalie in Yellowjackets season 3 could be a coping mechanism for Misty’s guilt in the same vein as Shauna and Jackie.

Natalie was also a compelling foil to Misty in their friendship, as the two extremely different characters provided one of the show’s greatest duos. Yellowjackets will likely want a way to keep this dynamic, which could be accomplished through Christina Ricci’s Misty hallucinating Natalie while dealing with certain dilemmas and conflicts. The survivors in the present-day timeline have plenty of troubles ahead of them after Yellowjackets season 2’s climactic ending, and Misty will need to speak to Natalie in some form or another as she deals with the aftermath.

Yellowjackets Season 3 Could Bring Back Juliette Lewis For Flashbacks

In addition to hallucinations from Misty, Juliette Lewis’ Natalie could return through flashbacks to different points in Yellowjackets’ decades-spanning timeline. The series has hardly shown any glimpses of the years between the teens’ rescue from the wilderness and the events that begin the present-day conflicts in 2021. Similar to how Travis was brought back for a brief flashback with Natalie to highlight their relationship before his death, Lewis could also potentially appear in flashbacks to this era.

Even without flashbacks to the missing 23 years between the rescue and the season 1 premiere, Yellowjackets has barely touched on what happened at that time. It’s clear that Natalie maintained a connection with Tai, went to rehab, and had an off-and-on relationship with Travis, but the TV show has yet to explore any other occasions on which the Yellowjackets regrouped during those years. Such moments could prove crucial to future storylines in Yellowjackets season 3 and beyond, thus presenting perfect opportunities for Lewis to reprise her role as Natalie.