Yellowjackets Season 3 Story Update Means The Most Heartbreaking Shauna Moment Will Get Even Worse

An update about Yellowjackets season 3 suggests Shauna’s most gut-wrenching scene from season 2 will become more crushing in a different timeline. With Yellowjackets operating on multiple timelines, primarily in 1996 after the plane crash and in the present day, there are often narrative parallels between the teen and adult storylines, with the past events setting up harsh reckonings for later timelines. Director Karyn Kusama has teased that Yellowjackets season 3’s plot will focus more on the post-rescue timeline, meaning the teens will inevitably have to disclose the devastating losses in the wilderness to their loved ones.

Kusama explained to Variety her excitement about expecting to cover more of the immediate post-rescue timeline. The director stated, “The concept of that immediate aftermath of re-entry into the world, to me, there’s a whole season worth of material there…There’s a lot that needs to be figured out between season 2 and season 3 as they integrate back into ‘normal’ life.” While season 2 already included a scene of the survivors exiting the plane and Lottie in the mental health facility post-rescue, this timeline means plenty of heartbreaking moments are coming in season 3 as Yellowjackets’ death toll is revealed.

Yellowjackets Season 3’s Post-Rescue Timeline Tease Suggests A Young Shauna & Jeff Scene About The Baby Is Coming

Not just one of Shauna’s saddest scenes, but also one of the most gut-wrenching scenes in all of Yellowjackets was Shauna’s agonizing reaction to discovering that her baby was stillborn in season 2. The devastating sequence, which closed out season 2, episode 6, was widely regarded as an award-deserving performance by Teen Shauna actress Sophie Nélisse. This moment marked a significant turning point in Shauna’s character, which is still felt in Melanie Lynskey’s performance as Adult Shauna in the present-day timeline, revealing why she keeps her teenage daughter Callie at arm’s length.

While Shauna waking up to discover her infant son’s fate already served as one of the most emotionally brutal scenes in the show, it’s only going to be exacerbated in the post-rescue timeline. When Teen Shauna returns home from the wilderness, she will eventually tell Jeff, the baby’s father, not only that she was pregnant with his child, but that he was stillborn. Adult Jeff finally tells Callie about what happened to the baby in Yellowjackets season 2, meaning Shauna told him what happened as teens and the two grieved the loss of their son.

If this moment is shown post-rescue, then Yellowjackets season 3 will have a devastating scene where Jeff discovers his son’s death while Shauna has to relive the trauma. Even if Shauna isn’t the first one to tell Jeff about the baby, he’ll eventually learn from another one of the survivors, Shauna’s notebooks, or possibly even the medical records from when she returns home. It’s unclear how many people ultimately learned about the baby that Shauna had in the wilderness, but if there’s one scene about this tragedy that needs to happen in Yellowjackets season 3, it’s Young Jeff’s response.

Jeff Learning About Jackie’s Death Sets Up Another Brutal Yellowjackets Scene

Jeff will be experiencing similar grief to Shauna in Yellowjackets’ post-rescue timeline, as he not only lost his son, but also his girlfriend. It’s clear that Shauna’s grief is different given Jackie was her best friend, she feels responsible for her fate, and Jeff was cheating on her with Shauna, but Jeff still loved Jackie. Consequently, the survivors’ return home will come with plenty of complicated feelings for Jeff: The girl he eventually marries is alive, she had their baby who died, and his girlfriend died.

While he’ll be relieved that Shauna is alive, Young Jeff will now be grieving his girlfriend and baby a year later than Shauna. Given how much Jackie’s death changed Shauna and how much guilt she still carries over her death in the present day, it wouldn’t be surprising if Shauna was unable to tell Jeff about Jackie’s fate and what really happened to her. Regardless of how much he knows about her actual fate, both will be grieving Jackie long after Shauna comes home, and Jeff’s first reaction to her death will inevitably be devastating.

Yellowjackets’ Returning Home Timeline Can Finally Answer Huge Questions About Shauna & Jeff’s Marriage

Given how little Jeff and Shauna seemed to be emotionally invested in one another pre-crash, as well as how deeply their marriage was struggling in the present day during Yellowjackets’ pilot episode, their relationship post-homecoming is a huge mystery. The photos on their wall reveal that Jeff and Shauna marry while still very young, seemingly only a short time after she returns home. Their quick wedding was previously theorized to be because of the baby, but his stillbirth suggests that Shauna and Jeff’s marriage may have initially grown out of their deep shared grief and guilt.

By including more of the post-rescue timeline for the characters’ younger versions, Yellowjackets season 3 can give more insight into how Shauna and Jeff’s relationship grew and changed in the years after her return. There seemed to be no pressure for them to marry so young, so it’s clear that they wed out of love for one another while also being eternally bonded over their losses. Shauna and Jeff don’t have their daughter Callie until about four or five years after the survivors are rescued, so there’s plenty of character development to explore during this time for Yellowjackets’ couple.