Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Yellowjackets season 3, episode 1.Yellowjacketsseason 3 picks up during the summer after season 2’s finale, and episode 1 acknowledges another harsh awakening for the surviving teens.Yellowjacketsseason 2’s endingserves as a turning point for the survivors, with the girls beginning to hunt their own teammates and ultimately eating Javi. And their cabin burning down during the final moments of season 2 pushes them to get more resourceful in order to stay alive. Surprisingly,Yellowjacketsseason 3’s first two episodesopen with them thriving.
WithYellowjacketsseason 3 picking up during the summer, the girls are far more upbeat than the last time viewers saw them. With the exception of Shauna, who is still grappling with the trauma of losing her baby, the Yellowjackets are embracing new routines and rituals. While this seems like a positive turn for them, it also paints a more devastating picture. In particular,Van’s speech inYellowjacketsseason 3’s premiere acknowledges a harsh truth about their situation.
Van Starting The First “Annual” Summer Solstice Celebration Emphasizes The Teens Abandoning Hope For Rescue
They Believe They’ll Be In The Wilderness For Years To Come
Yellowjacketsseason 3, episode 1 sees Van starting the “first annual Summer Solstice Festival,” during which the girls play games and perform rituals to honor the Wilderness. Van gives a rousing speech to praise them all for surviving, but there’s a sad reality in her words — and in what she chooses to name the event.Van claiming that the celebration will be an annual one acknowledges a devastating truth about the remaining Yellowjackets: they no longer have hope of being rescued.
Their acceptance might be a means of coping, but it’s also pretty bleak.
In prior seasons, the girls discuss what will happen when they’re saved, then slowly accept that no one’s coming. However, even then, there’s an undercurrent of hope that their hardships will eventually come to a close. Their efforts to survive indicate that they’re hoping to get back to something.Yellowjacketsseason 3 changes that.It sees them building a life in the Wilderness, one they assume will continue for years to come. Their acceptance might be a means of coping, but it’s also pretty bleak.
The Teens Have Already Given Up On Actively Trying To Leave The Wilderness Or Find Rescue
The Yellowjackets Are No Learner Seeking A Way Out Either
The Yellowjackets' acceptance that they’ll be in the woods forever is eerie, and it goes beyond abandoning their hope of rescue. On top of that, the group is no longer actively trying to escape the Wilderness, likely because their previous attempts failed so miserably.Laura Lee’s deathand Van’s wolf attack prevent them from seeking a way out initially. But with the warmer weather and improved conditions ofYellowjacketsseason 3, it’s somewhat suprising they aren’t trying to find a way out of the Wilderness. Perhaps it’s because they fear it will retaliate.
