The ‘Yellowjackets’ Creators Just Teased a “Third Timeline” — So What Does That Mean for Season 4?
As it turns out, we may get to see their rescue soon — just not in the way you think. The show has been teasing a third timeline, one that focuses on the team after they are rescued. We’ve seen glimpses of this timeline through brief flashbacks over the seasons: the team being put on a plane while reporters swarm them, or when Lottie (Courtney Eaton) undergoes shock therapy.
But these were all fleeting looks into that in-between time, and we have only otherwise heard that time alluded to when the survivors, often Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), mention “the things we did when we got back.” But now that Season 3 has established rescue is likely on the way soon, thanks to Natalie (Sophie Thatcher), it’s also likely the time to bring in that third timeline. So, just what would that look like for the show ahead?
Rescue Is Ahead in ‘Yellowjackets’
The Season 3 finale ended on a high note when it was revealed that Natalie had abandoned camp and headed for the mountains with the now-repaired SAT phone. She manages to get a signal on top of the mountain, and to her surprise, a voice answers at the other end of the line, hinting that the team may just get rescued after all. The episode ends before we get much more of this moment, but it’s triumphant in and of itself, and even if she’s unable to give an exact location, there’s surely got to be a way of tracking the signal that will lead rescue to them.
Now that it’s winter again, things are about to get a lot more grim for the team, so getting in contact with the rescue team couldn’t come soon enough. It’s also the perfect opportunity to bring in a third timeline, because there won’t be as many surprises this winter. The initial shock of the team resorting to cannibalism and drawing for sacrifices is gone; now it’s just a matter of their shelters being able to withstand the weather and keep them warm. It could certainly make for an interesting season, but it also lowers the stakes just enough that a third timeline could take up some of the airtime.
The Creators Have Teased a Third Timeline in ‘Yellowjackets’
In an interview with Perri Nemiroff for Collider, showrunners Ashley Lyle and Drew Comins gave some hints regarding that third timeline.
“Listen, without revealing anything, I’m going to say that I think that the show has, up until now, existed in primarily two timelines, right? The timeline of the wilderness and the timeline of the present. What has always excited us, and I certainly think it comes out of Ashley, Bart, and Jonathan’s minds, is there’s also a third timeline, which is the in-between. There’s something very exciting about seeing, like, how did these relationships evolve in the time between their rescue and where we pick up with them in the present day? How does one really readjust to polite society when you’ve gone to, as Bart once said, the factory default settings of what human beings are capable of?”
This timeline would answer a lot of the questions fans have. For instance, why the survivors are always ominously mentioning “the things we did when we got back,” and how Melissa (Hilary Swank) said she didn’t feel like she was one of them anymore once they got back. Or how about why all the survivors seemingly hate Misty (Christina Ricci) but are fine with Shauna, despite her being an absolute menace in the wilderness timeline. Or Lottie’s time in a psychiatric hospital in Switzerland. Not to mention, just seeing who made it out of the wilderness alive in general.
‘Yellowjackets’ Is Planned for 5 Seasons
The showrunners of Yellowjackets have been open about their plans for the show to only be 5 seasons, telling Nemiroff:
“I think that there are shows that can go forever, but I think that when you’re telling such a deeply serialized story and it’s about these characters’ lives, you want to reach a satisfying conclusion and not just drag things out forever. This isn’t really one of those setup shows where it can go anywhere.
So if that is still the plan, Season 4 would be the perfect season to start filling in the blanks of the in-between years. The wilderness timeline isn’t the only one that sets up cliffhangers that would lend well to another timeline. The adult timeline sees Shauna writing out her confession and claiming she’s ready to “take it all back,” hinting that she’ll be reverting to old ways.
Granted, we’ve seen the dark side of teenage Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) this season, but the finale proved her reign of terror has only just begun, as we saw adult Shauna’s attack on Melissa. The show doesn’t have to reveal everything right away in another timeline, but it would be nice to start getting some answers as the show heads into its final stretch.
