Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Yellowjackets season 3, episode 8!While it seemed like they had all already been introduced,Yellowjacketsseason 3, episode 8 confirmsthere’s yet another present-day wilderness survivor, though the others weren’t aware that she was still alive. When the series started, the onlyconfirmed present-dayYellowjacketssurvivorswere Shauna, Natalie, Misty, Tai, and Travis, with the latter dying early on in the current timeline.Yellowjackets’ season 1 finale then confirmed Lottie was also still alive as an adult, with season 2 revealing the shocking survival of Van. Now, with two of those seven survivors dead,Yellowjacketsseason 3 adds one more into the mix.
The notion that yet another survivor made it out of the wilderness was introduced back inYellowjacketsseason 3, episode 2’s ending, as Shauna became frightened after a phone left in the bathroom started playing the “Queen of Hearts” song.Shauna was then convinced that she was being blackmailed by someone who knew the truth about the wildernessafter learning a mysterious person had sent her Hannah’s recording ofLottie killing Edwin. While that person initially seemed to be Hannah’s daughter,Yellowjacketsseason 3, episode 8 confirms it was actually a survivor that the group believed had long been dead.
Yellowjackets Season 3 Confirms Melissa Survived The Wilderness
Melissa Faked Her Death After The Rescue
As it turns out,Shauna’s “stalker” in the present timeline was actually Melissa. This was hinted at back inYellowjacketsseason 3, episode 2, when adult Shauna’s worries about the phone in the bathroom overlapped with the reveal that she and Melissa began a romantic relationship in the wilderness. However, after listening to the recording sent to Shauna in season 3, episode 7, Tai noted that both Melissa and Gen were dead, which seemed to debunk the theories about her survival. Of course, the following episode would reveal that the surviving Yellowjackets had been misled about Melissa’s fate.
Hilary Swank
Jenna Burgess
InYellowjacketsseason 3, episode 8, Shauna goes to the home of her “stalker” and finds thatMelissa, played by Hilary Swank, is not only still alive, but is now married to Alex, the daughter of researcher Hannah. Shauna and Melissa also both confirm that they killed Hannah back in the wilderness when they were teenagers, making Melissa’s marriage to her daughter all the more complex. However, it’s further revealed that Melissa has been lying to Alex about her true identity, insteadgoing by the name “Kelly.”
It’s been theorized that Hannah is “pit girl,” and will die shortly before the teens are rescued.
The reason Melissa’s survival went unaddressed for so long is because the other present-dayYellowjacketscharacterswereunder the impression that she died by suicide shortly after the group was rescued. Shauna herself notes that they all attended Melissa’s funeral, but Hilary Swank’s character clears up the mystery by explaining that, even though there was no dead body, the police took Melissa’s fake suicide note as a “win” and closed the case. Since then, Melissa has been living in anonymity, until she finally decided to send Shauna the recording that Hannah left her.
Why Hilary Swank’s Melissa Faked Her Death After Returning Home
She Needed To Keep The Others From Coming After Her
While the others began new lives while maintaining their identities, Melissa genuinely tried to start fresh after returning home from the wilderness. Not just because she wouldn’t have to deal with the baggage that came with being one of the Yellowjackets and constant speculation over what happened in the wilderness, but becauseshe was afraid of the other survivors. Melissa explains that after returning home, she realized that she wasn’t “one” of them anymore, which meant that she would never feel safe with her fellow survivors.
Shauna, Misty, Tai, Van, Travis, Lottie, and Natalie all had that darkness lingering inside them after being rescued, but Melissa felt excluded from them. She would certainly have been the one that they would worry about exposing the truth, andit wouldn’t be ridiculous for Melissa to believe that the other Yellowjackets would kill her in order to keep her quiet. So, instead of constantly fearing that the others would kill her, she took care of it herself by faking a suicide and beginning a new life under a different name.
Every Death In Yellowjackets Season 3 Explained
From longtime characters to newly introduced individuals, there has been no shortage of shocking bloodshed in Yellowjackets season 3 episodes.
Still, if Melissa really did want to keep herself hidden from the others inYellowjackets’ present timeline, then marrying Hannah’s daughter was a terrible idea. It seemed inevitable that one day they might feel the need to track down Hannah’s daughter just to keep tabs on the families of those from the wilderness, and that would lead them directly to Melissa – who, of course, is still wearing her signature backwards hat 25 years later. However, instead of the others randomly discovering that Melissa was alive,she led them right to her door with the recording.
Why Melissa Sent Shauna The Tape In Yellowjackets Season 3
Melissa Wasn’t Trying To Stalk Or Blackmail Shauna
Though Melissa wanted to stay hidden from theYellowjackets, she ended up pulling herself right back into their twisted world bysending Shauna the recordingabout 25 years after her “death.” The reason she took that risk is thatshe thought that sending the recording to Shauna would help herself to heal and let go of that trauma and guiltfrom the wilderness, and she hoped it would help Shauna do the same. Melissa’s therapist advised her to let go of what she was still holding onto, and that meant finally reconnecting with the Yellowjackets.
The tape itself was a bigger symbol of that trauma, as she had held onto it in secret since the wilderness. Melissa became particularly close with Hannah out there and, before her death, Hannah asked her to give the tape to her daughter if she ever made it out alive. While Melissa survived and eventually started a relationship with Hannah’s daughter (without Alex knowing her true identity), she didn’t think that Alex needed to hear what was on that tape. So, in order to let that part of herself go completely, she handed it off to Shauna.
Is Melissa Really The Final Survivor In Yellowjackets?
Melissa Isn’t The First Surprise Survivor, But Will She Be The Last?
With the confirmation that Melissa has secretly still been alive for the past 25 years,Yellowjacketsseason 3 opens up the door to speculation about whether there are any other unknown survivors still out there.Yellowjacketsseason 1 never mentioned that Van was still alive, and then she showed up in season 2 despite the others knowing she survived.Melissa’s survival didn’t even seem like a possibility until season 3, and it turned out that she faked her death after rescue to keep the others in the dark about her.
It’ll now be difficult to get the idea of another possible survivor out of the back of viewers’ minds until seeing that character’s death on-screen.
As such, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary forYellowjacketsseason 4 to suddenly show up with yet another survivor. Whether it’s Akilah,Joel McHale’s Kodiak, Mari, or another supportingYellowjacketscharacter, it’ll now be difficult to get the idea of another possible survivor out of the back of viewers’ minds until seeing that character’s death on-screen. Still, after three big surprise survivals (Lottie, Van, and Melissa),it seems like there’s no more room for the story to introduce more just for shock factor. At this point, Melissa should be the last ofYellowjackets’ survivors in the present timeline.
