Showtime’s hit series about a cannibalistic women’s soccer team, Yellowjackets, has two main audiences. There’s the audience that tuned in for a show about high school girls with lesbian tendencies and was gripped by their interpersonal lives while stranded in the wilderness, and there’s the audience that became loyal after season one promised a prestige TV show that was part gruesome horror and partly about the aftermaths of trauma. Well, for both audiences, one thing was clear: season three was deeply unsatisfying. 

There is a lot of middling television in the world, especially in the horror genre. But Yellowjackets stood out, making a name for itself due to its unique new take on teen horror and its all-star cast. The first season masterfully introduced the lives of its characters in the past and present, interweaving the storylines in a compelling and thematically resonant way. The second season largely built on the excellent foundation of its predecessor. Season three, on the other hand…

The fundamental problem with Yellowjackets’s third season is not that it’s boring (though it sometimes is) but that it’s a deeply frustrating and embarrassing mockery of a once-brilliant show. This isn’t just me being harsh; the writers have said in no uncertain terms that they stopped caring. As writer Ashley Lyle puts it, “The first season, you’re just trying to get a show made and that’s incredibly difficult. Season two, we did try, as much as we could, to put in the back of our heads that season one had maybe made more of an impact than anyone anticipated.” But for Season three? Lyle states that the “entire writers’ room were like ‘fuck it, we’re just going to do what we think is fun.’”

But it’s not fun. There is nothing fun about watching a show that you once loved so deeply, found pivotal for its lesbian representation, fall into the world of nonsense. Season three of Yellowjackets consists of nothingburger plotlines that lead to beloved characters dying unsatisfying, undeserved deaths while significantly less interesting characters live and suck the air out of every storyline they are a part of.

Natalie was the heart and soul of Yellowjackets, but when Juliette Lewis got fed up with the writers and left in season two, they killed her off. When so many other characters have been recast, it’s a truly baffling choice. The heart of season three sits with both Van and Lottie. Since this is Yellowjackets, they naturally die. And since this is Yellowjackets season 3, the deaths are so poorly written that even the cast members disagreed with them. Lauren Ambrose, who plays Adult Van, only asked for Van’s death to feel earned. On her on-screen lover’s death, Tawny Cypress only had this to say: “it did not feel earned.”

But who gets to replace both Lottie and Van? Hilary Swank as everyone’s least favorite character from the teen plotline, Melissa! In Season four, we won’t have Lottie or Van anymore, but don’t worry! We get Melissa. It feels like the writers tossed aside nearly everything in this season in favor of the Hilary Swank guest role. The most interesting storylines with Taissa and her visions are… ignored for more Melissa. The Shauna bisexuality confirmation… is centered around Melissa (though we at least got that one fantastic scene with Jackie). And the hikers in the teen plotline… lead back to Melissa! 

Oh yes, the teen plotline! The main reason many are still watching this show. There is a new yellow filter on the teen plotline that wasn’t there before that’s out of place, unexplained, and unintentionally funny. But aside from that, the teen plotline is the main somewhat bright point of the season. The cannibalism is still thrilling, the dynamics between characters remain strong, and the stakes both for their survival and for their sanity are still quite high. But even that takes a hit in quality. I liked parts of the hiker plotline, but it felt overlong and again, just another way to make Melissa important. Some of the character choices are baffling. It remains apparent that the writers don’t quite know what to do with Lottie’s mental illness. Meanwhile, Shauna has gone from a traumatized and somewhat mean high school girl to someone that has been nicknamed by fans as “Oshauna Bin Laden.” These issues and more are why the teen plotline is no longer great. However, it’s still passable thanks to a few entertaining writing choices and some stellar acting.

In fact, what keeps Yellowjackets from failing entirely is the fact that regardless of timeline, the actors (Hilary Swank firmly aside) have phenomenal chemistry. Even if they clearly don’t like their characters’ writing at points, they understand their characters. Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse parallel one another excellently. There is no joy quite like the kind I get watching Christina Ricci bug the rest of the cast and play a psychopath. The chemistry between Cypress and Ambrose was to die for. Sophie Thatcher in general just consistently knocks it out of the park! It’s a bit clearer now who the weaker links are, but the stronger actors are so captivating that they can make any scene worth it, even if the writing makes me want to die internally.

This was the most watched season yet, so a fourth season is inevitable. I can’t say I’m particularly excited, but I will watch it nonetheless. All I can hope is that the writing team will listen to Lauren Ambrose when she said, “Hopefully they get back to that original thesis of ‘Okay, how do these traumas play out’”.  Because there is gold in Yellowjackets. There is something special about the first two seasons, something that still glimmers in the third season even as it angers you. The writers just need to dig deeper to bring it back.

4/10