‘Yellowjackets’ Creators Spill on Dark Season 3, Why Nat Had to Die

Yellowjackets creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson were largely quiet as the second season of their Showtime sensation played out in the spring of 2023.

The married writers who co-showrun their coming-of-age horror series with Jonathan Lisco were one day into their writers room for season three when the Writer’s Guild called for a work stoppage, which also halted all interviews for the writers. The historic Hollywood labor battle would eventually come to an end in September of that year, but that would be months after Yellowjackets served up its second jaw-dropping finale. Season two ended with the death of another main character, this time the one played by Juliette Lewis.

Everyone watching (including this writer) had a lot of questions that Lyle and Nickerson couldn’t answer at the time. “It was a strange experience to have to quietly watch on the sidelines,” Lyle admits when speaking to The Hollywood Reporter now in a joint Zoom chat with Nickerson ahead of season three’s release.

Following a first season that catapulted Yellowjackets and its cast into the zeitgeist — spawning endless Reddit threads where viewers pore over the mystery survival saga — all eyes were on season two, which received some mixed reviews. Still, the season dropped only slightly in its freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, to 94 percent, down from the rare feat of 100 percent for season one. As promised, the cannibalism in the survivor series was officially out of the bag, and viewers were along for the ride.

“The first season, you’re just trying to get a show made and that’s incredibly difficult,” explains Lyle. “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 with season three we and the entire writers room were like, ‘Fuck it, we’re just going to do what we think is fun.’”

The creators are carefully guarded when asked anything resembling a spoiler (“We are very deliberate”), but they do confirm that Natalie’s death and Lewis’ absence will drive season three and that this season will bridge the gap between the teen and adult versions of the characters, as viewers find out more about what they did while stranded in the wilderness after their 1996 plane crash that caused their trauma in the present-day timeline.

In the chat below with THR, they caution ahead about a dark, very dark season that made even Nickerson gasp in the edit and reiterate that they have future plans — including that lingering bonus episode — pending a season four renewal: “We have a lot more story to tell in a lot of different ways.”

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What were some of the things you were happy to see were resonating with viewers last season, and what were some of the decisions you wish you could have explained?

BART NICKERSON: That is a great question. I personally don’t know that I have the best answer because I do my best to not read too much about it. Not because I’m not dying to know, but I personally struggle with impulse control and so if I dive in, that’s it for me. So Ashley, bail me out!

ASHLEY LYLE: I’m gonna try. One thing I’m really glad that resonated was how amazing our younger cast was in season two. It was not an easy shoot. Because it was the winter and it was, by design, very claustrophobic and meant to be very internal, I think it was not easy for them emotionally to go through that, because they are so committed and I think their work really speaks for itself. Sophie Nélisse and the work she did particularly in [the birth episode], we always know that Sophie was really good but we were like, “Holy shit.” All of them — Courtney [Eaton] and Jasmin [Savoy Brown] and Samantha [Hanratty] and Sophie Thatcher and everyone was just firing at all cylinders. Seeing that resonate with the audience was really satisfying.

In terms of explaining things, Bart and I have been talking a lot about David Lynch lately [who died earlier this year]. We’re such big fans. He gave an interview once where he said something like, “Eraserhead is my most spiritual movie.” They were like, “Amazing, care to explain?” He was just like, “No,” and just moved on. We love talking about the show, but we never feel compelled to explain it or explain our decisions because I feel like that’s taking something away from the audience in terms of their agency and how they’re experiencing the show. So I don’t know that there’s anything we would have explained.

Killing off Juliette Lewis’ character, Adult Nat, was a shock. But I got to speak with your director Karyn Kusama [director of both the pilot and season two finale] who pointed out that her fate was foreshadowed since the pilot — when Young Nat (Sophie Thatcher) saw a vision of Misty (Samantha Hanratty) at the keg party as this sort of angel of death. So you always knew that Nat would die. When did you decide it would be in season two?

NICKERSON: I don’t remember a specific moment. We have a broad plan, but where things happen and some of the details around them are smoothed out with the room and in the breaking process. It was probably during the broader strokes planning of season two. It was something we had been planning on doing, just how it fell was specific to the season.

LYLE: We had planted that very specifically in the pilot; we always knew that was going to be the outcome. The question, as you pointed out, was exactly when. I do remember when we were pitching [the show] … because we have our whole plan. There’s actually a bunch of stuff in season three that we had planned from the very beginning that were in our very early pitches. It’s so much fun to get to the point where we’re actually doing these things now. When you’re first pitching the series and saying, “This is going to happen season three,” in your head you’re like, “Sure.” But [planning her death] was pretty early in season two, and I think it will become pretty clear the way in which it was designed to not only be a big moment and a big death, but a catalyst for story moving forward in season three. I think that will become more apparent to the audience as they’re watching season three.

Well, Adult Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) was the one who drew the dreaded Queen of Hearts card before Nat was killed (accidentally by Misty, played by Christina Ricci) during their hunting ritual. That has me wondering, how many reverse Easter eggs do you guys plant in the series?

LYLE: We are very deliberate and there are a lot of things that are very fun for the viewers to catch that were early moments. A lot of times, you put these things in hoping you’ll have the opportunity, whether it’s the way the story goes or the show continuing to go on. You just have to put them in and hope for the best.

NICKERSON: I don’t think we’re a show that’s going to strive to answer every single question. There are some questions that are obvious we’re driving towards answering, but the texture of the mystery and the way the unknown swirls around the people and characters is one of the big things we’re trying to play with and tease out. There are just so many things in my reasonably boring life that will never be explained that I’ll never know; I can’t even imagine in the heightened circumstance that these characters are in, being able to plant their feet on exactly what was happening with everything.

Yellowjackets brings people back in ghost form or in flashbacks, as we’ve seen with Ella Purnell’s Jackie (who was eaten early in season two after her shocking death to end season one). Is Adult Nat a character you feel you could explore more, or have we seen the last of Juliette Lewis on the show?

LYLE: We don’t currently have a plan for it in season three, but it’s not something that we’re completely closed off to. We think Juliette is incredible and her character is really meaningful for the entire world of this show. In season three, it didn’t necessarily make sense to us. With Jackie, it’s her lingering presence that we use and from a narrative point of view, whereas with Adult Nat, it’s her absence that was very important this season. So we didn’t do it here, but I would say it’s not something we’re closed off to for the future.

When season three begins — and even with the trailer — this season feels a bit campier. Bart, as the episode one (and first-time) director, you can speak to this. I’ve read you both tease how this season is going to bridge the gap between the young and adult versions of the core characters, and we will understand why they are the way they are in present day. It feels like we’re almost having fun again, but it’s not going to be fun once we get those answers! What vibe were you hoping to set in season three?

NICKERSON: Yeah … To a certain extent, this show is a symphony of processes and, even including Ashley and me, we might have slightly different experiences. I don’t know that we ever wrote on the board or put on a Post-It that this season should be campier. I do think there was some sense of wanting to do things differently. There were some low valleys in season two in terms of it being a really grueling and emotional season in the execution, and so it’s about wanting to switch your rhythm. But how we established a lot of it was more the feel of our own excitement and desire to do things that were just a little bit more fun as a respite. But also this season is dark, too. I think it is. there’s stuff that even at this point in the process that I’ve seen — and in some case was on set for, breaking scripts — where I am just doing a color mix and like, “Ooof, man, that is rough!” (Laughs.)

LYLE: Bart saying it’s rough, it’s rough!

NICKERSON: Yeah, so this is not like a lighter season.

LYLE: It’s not a lighter season. I do think it’s a more fun season. Part of that was by design. It’s spring [when season three opens in the wilderness.] There’s a celebratory nature to it. But there’s a very strong underlying darkness to what they’re doing. In the room, I think this season we did have more fun. We’re always pitching each other, pitching the episodes, and one of our writers, Julia [Bicknell], got into the habit of being like, “That’s a banger.” At one point we were pitching something and Jonathan Lisco said, so seriously, “But, is it a banger?” And so we actually got a bunch of coasters made saying, “Is it a banger?” with a symbol on it, and they were all over the writers office. “Is it a banger” was sort of our ethos for every episode and all the things that happened, so that’s really how we approached it. (Laughs.)

They are stranded for 19 months total, so there will be another winter before they’re rescued — and the infamous “Pit Girl” scene that opened the series takes place in winter. We’ve also been waiting to see if you will explore more of the timeline of when they get rescued [from the season two flashback]. What can you say about how much time this season will span and how much you have mapped out beyond this season?

LYLE: To answer the first part of the question, I don’t think we can say anything about that!

NICKERSON: Hmm, yeah.

LYLE: (Laughs.) In terms of what we have mapped out after this season, we’re all waiting with bated breath and a lot of optimism for a pick up for season four. Bart and I certainly have a plan that dates back to pitching this in the year 2018, I think, is when we first started pitching it. Of course then we’ll just have to get all of our writers and get the gang back together, and bring everyone else’s brain to it and see where it takes us.

Is there anything you can say or tease about the rescue timeline?

NICKERSON: I don’t think so.

LYLE: If we say anything, that is the tease.

NICKERSON: It’s by far the hardest part of doing these interviews. We get excited about things and just want to tell you!

There’s also this mysterious bonus episode floating around. How is there an episode that will make sense at any point you decide to release it?

LYLE: I think at this point what we can say is that we’re really excited for everyone to watch season three and we’re really focused on that as our main priority right now. We’re hopeful that we have a lot more story to tell in a lot of different ways.

How did the strikes and your life experiences between seasons two and three make their way into the stories you are telling this season?

LYLE: I think the main impact was that it gave us some time and space. As much as the strike was really unpleasant in general for everybody, for us, making seasons one and two back to back was so intense. Bart and I are in Vancouver [filming] for six months; we’re away from everyone we know except our Yellowjackets family, and it’s insane hours. You hear about it when you’re still on staff, and we worked crazy hours on all our shows, and you’re still unprepared. So it was really just about having a little bit of time to regroup and refill our creative wells. Some of our writers felt that way as well, instead of jumping right back in for 100-hour weeks for months on end. I think it benefited us being able to just have fun while we were doing it.

NICKERSON: If I were to add anything, I would say that you’re going through a season and throwing all these balls in the air and catching some of them by the end of the season, but some of them are meant to be floating around for the next season or the season after. Subconsciously allowing some of them to percolate was invaluable.

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Yellowjackets season three releases with two episodes on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14 (and on demand for Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ with Showtime plan) before its linear premiere on Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. Follow along with THR‘s Yellowjackets coverage.