Yellowjackets Co-Showrunner Stands By Major Season 2 Character Death (For Good Reason)

Sometimes the most devastating survival stories are about those who don’t make it. As Yellowjackets prepares for its highly anticipated third season, co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco is addressing one of Season 2’s most controversial moments: the death of Natalie, portrayed by Juliette Lewis. The shocking finale decision removed a beloved character from the survival horror series’ complex narrative, but according to Lisco, the death was necessary because there needs to be real consequences in order for things to work.

“If the show is about trauma and the consequences of what they went through, then there needs to be consequences,” Lisco explained to SFX. “There can’t be consequences if you’re not going to have what they went through affect some of our seminal characters.”

He added, “For better or worse, we hope that that’s understandable to our very dear audience, because if the impact doesn’t have an effect on them emotionally or psychologically, then what are we doing? Because that’s the conceit of the show.”

Lewis, known for co-starring with Johnny Depp and Leonardo Di Caprio in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, marks the first adult team member to perish from the psychological wounds and buried secrets that continue to torment the survivors. This pivotal moment occurs during a ritual at a compund that Lottie operates under the guise of therapeutic healing, setting up major repercussions for the upcoming season.

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While Lewis’s departure creates a significant void in the cast, the series is introducing new talent for its third season. Both Hilary Swank and Joel McHale have joined the ensemble, though their roles remain undisclosed. Speculation suggests that Swank may portray another wilderness survivor, potentially introducing fresh complications for the existing characters.

The series, which mixes multiple genres, continues to explore its dual timeline structure when it returns on February 14th. Yellowjackets follows a high school soccer team’s wilderness ordeal and its haunting aftermath 25 years later. The critically acclaimed show examines what happens when a team of determined teenage soccer players faces unimaginable circumstances after their plane crashes during a routine trip to a game. heading into Season 3, the 1996 storyline finds the survivors facing the merciless winter cold after their cabin burns down, with Coach Ben emerging as the likely arsonist after being driven to desperation and terrified to his core after witnessing the team’s descent into cannibalism in Season 2. The show draws parallels to Lord of the Flies and Lost in its examination of survival and societal breakdown.

With this narrative choice, Yellowjackets joins the ranks of series like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, which garnered attention for their willingness to eliminate key characters. However, as Lisco suggests, Natalie’s death heightens the stakes of both past and present storylines, reinforcing the impact of trauma. When the series has its double-episode premiere on Paramount+ and Showtime, viewers will see how this loss continues to shape the survivors’ ever-evolving story.

Yellowjackets returns for Season 13 on Friday, February 14th.