‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3 Will Answer Big Questions, Say Creators

[This story contains spoilers from the first two episodes of Yellowjackets season three, “It Girl” and “Dislocation.”]

Every Yellowjackets viewer is haunted by the infamous Pit Girl scene.

The Showtime sensation began with an unidentified girl running for her life in the wilderness, before falling to her death, pierced by spikes sticking out of a man-made hole.

With the launch of season three (the first two episodes released on Friday), we still don’t know the identity of Pit Girl, as she’s come to be known. We also don’t know who remains alive in that 1996 timeline, when the Yellowjackets soccer team crash-landed in the remote wilderness and resorted to cannibalism to survive, and if more of the teens (or their coach) have been eaten. But we do have more of an understanding about the biggest looming question over the coming-of-age horror-survival series — and the show’s creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson say season three will enlighten us even more.

“What did they do out there? That’s something raised in the very first episode of the show,” co-creator Lyle tells The Hollywood Reporter. “We learn a lot more about what they did out there this season.”

Be careful what you wish for, Yellowjackets viewers, because “what they did” is sure to involve more feasts, hunts and rituals, all explaining the trauma that rears its head in the show’s present-day timeline. The adults of Yellowjackets are still not OK when season three begins. They are mourning the loss of their friend Natalie (played by departed star Juliette Lewis), navigating their fractured trauma-bonded friendships and some of them are dealing with another stalker from their past.

When talking about season three, Nickerson is averse to spoiling anything. As he previously told THR, “I don’t think we’re a show that’s going to strive to answer every single question.” But the married co-creators have a longterm plan, one they hope will continue with a season four renewal, and Lyle jumps in to say that some very big answers are coming.

Below, in the second part of our season three conversation, Lyle and Nickerson, who co-showrun the series with Jonathan Lisco, talk about the new teen relationship that prompted a lot of discussion in the writers room, long-awaited needle drops they couldn’t afford in season one and the burden of having to play out a tragic storylines.

***

Let’s dive into these first two episodes — the first of which is titled, “It Girl.” Season three will circle back to some big, lingering Yellowjackets questions, and I feel like I just watched the Pit Girl origin story with Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) setting the trap for Mari (Alexa Barajas).

BART NICKERSON: Ash… poker face!

You did say in a another interview that we will get two very big answers this season. So, what will you answer?

NICKERSON: I’m afraid to discuss too much. I’m the person who is like, “Don’t tell me anything.” Sometimes, Ashley will pitch me a joke from a comedy and I’m like, “Don’t tell me the joke!” I don’t even want to be looking for it; the set up starts and then I’m pulled out for a second. So I’m going to not ruin the experience for people who are also on that side.

ASHLEY LYLE: We answer at least two, I think I can say. Bart, my apologies…

NICKERSON: You love spoilers!

LYLE: Bart got annoyed at me because I was telling him we had to watch The Lonely Island movie Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. He had never seen it and I really enjoyed it. I was going to pitch him just one line of the song at the end — “Dog food is just food,” which I thought was fucking hilarious in their “Incredible Thoughts” song — and he was like, “Don’t say it!” That’s how intense Bart is about spoilers.

NICKERSON: Then we watched it and I was so right. I couldn’t even breathe, I was laughing so hard. And I wouldn’t have laughed that hard, had I known that line was coming.

LYLE: Yellowjackets is such a difficult show when it comes to spoilers. We went over the trailer and Tayah Geist, who is our post supervisor, is a magician and so protective. She was pulling shots constantly saying, “I don’t think we can show this.” Half of them are subliminal, they’re like a split-second. We have to be so careful that we are watching every single shot going in.

One thing I will say — and I’m not going to elaborate at all — is that there were a few things that people really latched onto in the trailer that I find interesting and a few things we thought they were going to latch onto that they haven’t. I find that entire process very interesting. Fans can go look at the trailer after they watch the season and be like, “Oh, shit.”

Another thing I think I can elaborate on slightly without being too spoilery is that one of the big, primary, macro, over-arching questions that people have is: What did they do out there? That’s something raised in the very first episode of the show, and I think I can say with a lot of confidence that we learn a lot more about what they did out there this season.

I’ve been scared for Coach for a while now…

[Both laugh.]

The trailer moment I’m wondering about is: What is terrifying Hilary Swank? You announced Swank, Joel McHale and Ashley Sutton as guest stars this season, with no details on who they are playing. In these first two episodes, we see that teen Melissa (Jenna Burgess) is getting a bigger role. Why did you decide to get her together with teen Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) in the wilderness?

LYLE: It’s a very Yellowjackets romance. We talked about it a lot in the room. I wouldn’t say “romantic” is the greatest descriptor, but there’s a lot of energy and it’s a relationship. It was something that always felt to us like a natural out-growth of her relationship, friendship and it’s tragic conclusion with Jackie [Ella Purnell]. Shauna is someone who, for a large part of her life, was almost by choice the moon to someone’s sun. We liked the idea of her becoming the sun to someone else’s moon, especially with how she’s emerging from all her grief and anger and rage [from losing her baby]. We felt this would be a natural way for her to evolve as a person. That was a lot of the thinking behind it, and it was something we have been thinking about for a while.

It’s hinted that Adult Melissa is the person anonymously stalking Adult Shauna (Melanie Lynskey). Last season, you introduced Adult Lottie with Simone Kessell and Adult Van with Lauren Ambrose. How does your process work with deciding who else to introduce in present day?  

NICKERSON: I don’t think we always knew that at this point in season whatever we’d meet this one. But the idea of turning over more cards down the road had always been built into the show. They [the seasons] take a long time to make, but it feels like it happens fast, too. I guess we knew pretty early in conceiving season three. The driving narrative question of who is on the periphery was built pretty early.

There’s a tape addressed to Adult Shauna that her daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins) secretly finds. How much will that play into the season?

LYLE: It pays a significant role. [In our first story], I referred to things that were in the original pitch when we first were working with Mark Gordon Company, and in the early days with Gary [Levine] and David Nevins at Showtime. The tape and all the things that go with it were all in the original pitch. And so it’s very fun to get here.

You need to release a number that we can call to hear what’s on that tape.

LYLE: (Laughs) I can say this without it being a spoiler — because we didn’t do it — but we had a lot of argument in the room: We were actually going to use the episode titles to rickroll a big thing in this season, but then we didn’t do it. This audience is so on top of things we were like, “They might actually get that.”

Jonathan Lisco recently shared a line you didn’t cross in season two: You wouldn’t show the young survivors eating eyeballs during Jackie’s gory feast. What were your conversations this season, did you pull back on anything as you pushed the story darker?

See Also

RHONJ’s Melissa Gorga Would Be OK Exiting Show If Giudice Returns

NICKERSON: I don’t think we had a lot of those discussions. It’s not that we’re necessarily trying to push and go as far [as we can]. It’s really story-wise going to the place where it feels like you’re getting the most earned impact. I don’t think the discussion around, “Is this too far?” tends to come up, because nobody is doing something just to see how far they can go. It’s more about the pitch: Does this feel right for the character and for the vibe of the show?

LYLE: I’d say this writers room is a delightfully twisted group of psychos and so I don’t know that there was anything that came up that we decided not to do because it felt too far. It ultimately had to feel right. But I do think we did some things that went pretty far (laughs) — I guess we’ll find out what everyone thinks!

NICKERSON: What’s more common is the burden of, “I guess we have to do that now.” It’s not like people are gleefully [handing down fates]. On a certain level, you are along for the ride, too. So you are like, “Oh man, this is going to be tough.”

Don’t kill our favorites! You’ve done it already!

[Both laugh]

The show’s soundtrack continues to be amazing. I’ve seen you say you’ve auditioned 20-30 songs for a tricky sequence. How big is your music budget and do you ever not get a song?

LYLE: We have certainly not gotten songs before. One of the most fun parts about season three compared to season one is that we do have a little bit more money. There are actually two songs this season we couldn’t get in season one because it was too expensive. And actually, we have found that artists are a little more willing to play ball now that they know what this show is, which is really cool. So this season has a lot of cues that we’re very excited about.

NICKERSON: There’s actually a few here [in season three] that we had pitched the show on. Just setting a scene that would be in the pilot. We pitched this song and basically said, “We know that we’re not gonna get this song, we’re just giving you the vibe of the moment.”

Bart, you go behind the camera for the first time in season three to direct the season three opener, as well as the finale. How was that a different experience?

NICKERSON: What was the most different, and probably the part that was the most exciting and rewarding, was getting to work in such a granular way with the cast. We obviously are there a lot, and there’s a lot of communication with the cast. But often, out of respect to the directors, you’re not directly discussing with the cast a specific line read. Of course, if they have questions about the meaning, they can deliver those things through the director. But getting to have a close, precise discussion with cast about how the performance is unfolding and the genuine collaboration of that moment of getting to talk to an actor and ask them a question about why they’re going down the road they are going — because that is often a better road — that was an incredible experience.

LYLE: I really enjoyed watching Bart and Jonathan [Lisco] direct. They are both so good at it. Bart did a great job with one, but he killed the finale. It turned out great. I get to be the person who sits over here and say he did an amazing job.

***

Yellowjackets season three is now streaming its first two episodes (and on demand for Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ with Showtime plan). Sunday is the linear premiere at 8 p.m. Follow along with THR‘s Yellowjackets coverage all season long.