Jeff Was My Favorite Yellowjackets Character After Season 1, But The Show Has Forgotten What Originally Made Him So Great

Though he was easy to dislike at the beginning, Jeff (Warren Kole) evolved to become my favorite Yellowjackets character by the end of season 1. Going from the cheating boyfriend of Jackie in Yellowjackets’ past timeline to the potentially cheating husband of Shauna in the present day, Jeff was quite an enigma despite his seemingly innocuous disposition in Yellowjackets season 1. He had plenty of secrets he was hiding beneath his kind surface, and the most compelling part of that journey was that those secrets were far from the darkness that was expected.

However, after some compelling developments with his character in season 2, Jeff’s role has taken a more stagnant direction in Yellowjackets season 3’s story. Despite Callie and Shauna’s changing dynamics being a major focus in the present-day timeline, Jeff remains in a more tertiary role in their conflicts. Jeff is still focused on growing his business, being intentionally naive or forgiving of Callie’s rebellious nature, and supporting Shauna while ignoring the extent of the dark path she’s taking. It seems like almost every Yellowjackets character is getting difficult to invest in, and that’s starting to apply to Jeff, as well.

Yellowjackets Season 3 Has Made Jeff Too One-Dimensional

After thinking that Jeff was going to become a villain in season 1, the idea that he had a ridiculous plan to blackmail his wife and the other present-day Yellowjackets survivors, was hilariously oblivious to her affair (“there’s no book club?”), and really did love Shauna and his family made him a fan-favorite character. He became even more entertaining to watch amid his internal conflicts with the guilt of hiding Adam’s murder, being sad about his wife’s affair, and trying to deal with the darkness inside of Callie. However, Yellowjackets hasn’t gone any deeper with his development in season 3.

Jeff has always been somewhat of a moral mediator between Callie and Shauna, seeing both sides of their anger and faults, but there’s little depth to Jeff’s role within that dynamic anymore.

Rather, Yellowjackets season 3 has made Jeff a pretty one-note character. He still provides comic relief due to his obliviousness and corniness, with his story barely going beyond the surface of trying to reverse his karma from Adam’s murder. Jeff has always been somewhat of a moral mediator between Callie and Shauna, seeing both sides of their anger and faults, but there’s little depth to the complexity of Jeff’s role within that dynamic anymore. One of the biggest original complexities of his character was that he was originally Jackie’s boyfriend, and even that history seems to be forgotten in season 3.

Jeff Needs To Be More Involved In Yellowjackets’ Mysteries

Part of t he problem with Jeff in Yellowjackets season 3 is that he doesn’t have a substantial role in this season’s story and major conflicts. In season 1, Jeff was the secret blackmailer in the present timeline while also playing a major role in Jackie and Shauna’s conflicts in the past timeline. In season 2, Jeff helped cover up Adam’s murder and tried to sacrifice himself to protect Callie and Shauna in the present timeline while still being involved as the father of Shauna’s baby in the past timeline.

Meanwhile, in Yellowjackets season 3, Jeff is irrelevant to the past story and is hardly involved in Shauna’s present-day story with her stalker. Jeff’s role has primarily been resigned to the peacekeeper between Callie and Shauna, with the show seeming to be slowly building up to the possibility that he will have to officially choose between his wife and daughter. However, after playing such a significant part in Yellowjackets’ past conflicts, he deserves more weight in the present-day story, even if that means taking a risky stand against Shauna and actively helping to push away her darkness from the wilderness.