“He’s The Bridge”: What Akilah’s Vision About Coach Ben Means In Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 5
Akilah (Nia Sondaya) has a strange vision in Yellowjackets season 3, episode 5 that changes the fate of Coach Ben Scott (Steven Krueger). For a few episodes now, Lottie Matthews (Courtney Eaton) has been focused on Akilah and her apparent connection to the wilderness. Travis Martinez (Kevin Alves) tells Lottie that the animals trust Akilah because of this connection, which makes Lottie believe that the wilderness now speaks through Akilah. Lottie’s belief is reinforced by the visions Akilah experiences in the cave during Yellowjackets season 3, episode 3.
In episode 5, Akilah returns to the cave with Lottie and Travis. Lottie is determined to have Akilah experience another vision that will foretell the future. Even though the “Other” Taissa Turner (Jasmin Savoy Brown) is about to kill Coach Ben, Lottie, Travis, and Akilah intervene and save his life. Yellowjackets season 3, episode 5’s ending sees them explaining that Coach Ben cannot die because Akilah’s vision showed that “he is the bridge.”
Akilah’s Vision In Yellowjackets Season 3, Episode 5 Explained
Akilah’s vision begins on a cliff. When looking down, she sees a giant-sized Coach Ben whose hands and legs are bound in rope, and who is suspended in the air. Akilah walks across his back and is able to safely cross to the cliff on the opposite side, with Coach Ben acting as a literal bridge for her. After crossing, Akilah does not get a clear picture of what is on the other side due to it being shrouded in mist, but she feels hope, and the sounds of traffic can be heard.
The vision makes Akilah believe that Taissa cannot kill Coach Ben and the group needs him alive to get home. While his body is splayed out in the vision, he is still breathing, which is a clear indicator that he must be kept alive. The first cliff in the vision represents the wilderness, while the other side represents home and a return to civilization. If Coach Ben dies, any hope of escaping the wilderness and returning home may feel as though it has been vanquished.
How Will Coach Ben Help Get The Yellowjackets Back Home?
Due to Yellowjackets’ past and present timelines, it is confirmed that several of the teenage survivors do get rescued and ultimately make it back home. How exactly they get rescued remains a mystery, but Coach Ben could be a key piece of that. From the opening scene with the “Pit Girl” in season 1, it is confirmed that the Yellowjackets will be in the wilderness for another winter. They know from their last winter in the wilderness that food can be difficult to come by, but Coach Ben’s body could provide the food they need to survive until rescue comes.
Coach Ben’s knowledge of where the supplies were left could lead the teens to find the individual or group behind KUH, who may be the answer to the group’s rescue.
Another possibility is that the mystery of Yellowjackets’ KUH will be how the group is rescued. Before the teens found and captured Coach Ben, he was surviving on his own, and found boxes of food and survival supplies marked with the acronym KUH. Coach Ben’s knowledge of where the supplies were left could lead the teens to find the individual or group behind KUH, who may be the answer to the group’s rescue. KUH came to the wilderness prepared and left behind an extensive stash of supplies, meaning there is a chance of them returning.
Does This Mean The Yellowjackets Will Keep Coach Ben Alive Until They’re Rescued?
For now, the plan is to keep Coach Ben alive until the group is rescued, but it is highly unlikely that he will survive until then. Eventually, Coach Ben will stop feeling like a source of hope and will become more of a burden. It is easy to imagine Shauna Shipman (Sophie Nélisse) or another member of the group growing tired of keeping him alive and impulsively deciding to kill him. If he makes it to the winter when food becomes scarce, it probably will not take long before the group eats him in order to stay alive.
While Lottie wants to treat Akilah’s vision as though it is a genuine prophecy, the reality is that the visions are hallucinations caused by a gas in the cave. By the time the group is rescued, both Coach Ben and Akilah will likely be dead, unless their survival has been cleverly concealed from the present-day timeline. Things rarely go according to plan in Yellowjackets, and keeping Coach Ben alive until rescue is poised to be another plan that will fail.
