Season 3 of Yellowjackets has intensified the plot, making the already disturbing thriller increasingly dark and unsettling. Most of the survivors still alive are concerning, giving the viewers few characters to root for but continuously leaving them on the edge of their seats. Arguably no other character is as terrifying as Shauna, played by Sophie Nelisse as a teenager and Melanie Lynskey as an adult. Though there are other dangerous characters in the flashback and modern timelines, such as Misty Quigley and Taissa Turner, this murderous and violent woman keeps getting worse.
At the start of this series, Shauna was the most tragic Yellowjackets character. She suffered unimaginable loss, making her actions reasonably defensive and volatile. However, as the plot has revealed more of their time in the wilderness, it has been made clear that she is one of the most problematic survivors. This once sympathetic and lovable character has taken a seriously dark turn in Season 3. As her violent nature consumes her personality and storyline, Shauna is proving to be far more terrifying than terrific.
Shauna Shipman Has Suffered Immense Tragedy
Shauna Shipman has one of the most tragic storylines in Yellowjackets. Though all the characters have experienced extreme trauma, both during their time in the wilderness and following their rescue, there are a few key details that make Shauna sympathetic. In the first season, Shauna lost her best friend, Jackie, who left the cabin after the two had a fight and froze to death exposed to the elements. Shauna struggled to cope with this loss, especially due to her guilt over the fight and therefore blaming herself for Jackie’s demise. To make her story even more tragic, Shauna found out she was pregnant while they were trapped in the wilderness, but she lost the infant during childbirth in Season 2.
However, despite her great losses, Shauna wasn’t an innocent character even before she experienced these tragedies. Before they left home and crashed into the wilderness, Shauna was sleeping with Jackie’s boyfriend, Jeff, who she later married and had a child with. The animosity the two former friends had before Jackie’s death was over this betrayal, which further compounded Shauna’s guilt. As the group struggled to survive in the wilderness, Shauna dismissed her previously docile and submissive attitude, changing as their situation grew more dire and uncertain. After the death of her infant, Shauna embraces her dark nature more, claiming that the teenagers no longer feel like a team, and they’re all vying for control.
While many viewers had sympathy for Shauna’s circumstances in previous seasons, the dark turn Yellowjackets has made in Season 3 makes most of the characters seem villainous and unlikable. Compared to many of the other survivors, Shauna has a particularly foreboding and unpredictable personality. As the storyline has continued, her selfishness and power-hungry inclinations have grown more extreme. At this po int in the narrative, she seems more like a villain trying to thwart the happiness of the group rather than another survivor trying to do what she must to make it out alive.
Her Teenage Character Has An Unnerving Reaction To Trauma
At the beginning of this current season, the flashback sequence opens with spring in bloom, featuring teenagers who have survived the harsh winter and have built a flourishing community with shelter and food. However, Season 3 of Yellowjackets is quickly proving to be particularly dark, especially for characters like Shauna. Their current situation should have made everyone grateful to be alive and well taken care of, but the dynamic of the group was obviously upsetting Shauna. She didn’t believe certain survivors should get to be in charge or take their turn ordering the other teenagers around. In her mind, she has experienced more hardship, bringing her to the conclusion that she’s entitled to control the group.
Shauna’s current characterization further highlights her selfishness and desire to have authority over others. On top of that, she has proven to be one of the most violent and unpredictable characters. For example, when they found out Coach Ben Scott had survived the winter, she was overly eager to hunt them down and have him pay for a crime based on assumptions. Though others did not want to find Ben guilty, she pressured them into voting to execute him. When they later chose to keep the coach alive, believing he was on their way back home, Shauna convinced her friend Melissa to cut his ankle so he couldn’t run away. This act exemplified how domineering she is, wanting to show how powerful she is by having a friend do the dirty work.
As they’ve spent more time in the wilderness, the teenagers have grown more violent, desperate, and unpredictable as their time away from civilization grows longer. Many of them are capable of unspeakable things, but Shauna is proving to be one of the most dangerous Yellowjackets characters currently. After Natalie betrayed the group by mercifully ending Ben’s suffering, she was dethroned as their leader. To prevent conflict, the group named Shauna the leader. She was clearly overjoyed by this decision and didn’t seem to realize her friends chose her as their leader because she’s proven to be terrifying and unpredictable when she’s not in control. In recent events, three people making a documentary stumbled upon their camp and Shauna’s inclination was to kill them, despite the group knowing these people could be their key back home. This not only highlights Shauna’s murderous tendencies but also hints that her hunger for control overpowers her desire to return to civilization.
Adult Shauna Is Becoming Diabolical
At the beginning of Yellowjackets, Shauna Sadecki is arguably the most interesting adult version of the survivors. She doesn’t have an exciting or extravagant life, initially seeming to be a bored homemaker with an unsatisfied husband and a distant teenage daughter. However, small signs such as her butchering a rabbit that is eating her garden and beginning an affair simply because she suspects her husband is cheating on her quickly make viewers fascinated with her complex characterization. Shauna is clearly a fearless, confident adult who isn’t afraid to threaten others or seek out happiness even at the expense of others. Her complicated personality quickly made her a very interesting character.
However, Season 3 is teasing a dark storyline for Shauna that will prove just how connected she is to her former teenage self. Previously, she murdered her lover when she thought he was blackmailing the Yellowjackets, and covered it up when she realized it was her husband blackmailing them due to their financial issues. This proves that Shauna isn’t any less opposed to murder in her adult years, even though she’s long since returned to civilization and could face repercussions she didn’t have to fear while they were stranded in the wilderness. Her actions aren’t just about protecting herself or keeping the secrets of the Yellowjackets. She is willing to take anyone down who threatens her family or the seemingly quaint life she’s built.
In the latest development of Season 3, Shauna is convinced that the daughter of Hannah, the woman they captured while she was making a frog documentary in the wilderness, is the stalker who has targeted her throughout this season. Once again, Shauna is making assumptions and, instead of finding more evidence to support her theory, has become convinced she needs to kill this woman. She has now turned into the stalker, sitting outside this woman’s home with a knife, suggesting she’s intending to go through with her murderous plan. At this point, there’s clearly nothing she won’t do when she feels threatened.
There are multiple things in Season 3 of Yellowjackets that concern viewers, especially those relating to Shauna Shipman/Sadecki. This once-tragic character is now one of the most terrifying survivors in the dark thriller series. As the flashback sequence and modern timeline intensify, the audience waits for both versions of Shauna to commit another horrific murder and prove just how capable she is of doing unspeakable things.
