Yellowjackets Introduces Adult Van in Episode 4 “Old Wounds”

Last summer, Showtime revealed that Van, played as a teenager by Liv Hewson, definitely survived the 19 months in the wilderness when they announced that Lauren Ambrose had been cast in the role of adult Van for Season 2 of the hit series. However, there was no sign of adult Van in the first three episodes of Yellowjackets‘ new season leaving many fans to wonder when the character would pop up. Now, we have the answer. As was suggested in previously released episode photos, adult Van officially arrives in this week’s fourth episode, “Old Wounds”.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for the latest episode of Yellowjackets Season 2. Read on only at your own risk.

Admittedly, adult Van’s presences in this week’s episode is very brief and comes in at the very end of the episode. As we’ve seen throughout the season to date, adult Taissa is starting to spiral as her dark self seems to be taking over more and more, carrying out actions that she’s unaware of. At one point in the episode, Taissa finds herself in her car in the middle of nowhere with no way to get anywhere, but she’s mapped a route headed somewhere. She hitches a ride with a friendly trucker and it’s at the end of the episode that we see where her destination is: Van.

We meet Van ever briefly working in what appears to be a video store — and she’s clearly surprised when Taissa walks in the door. With the episode ending there, we don’t yet know much about the dynamic between the two women in the present storyline, but we do know a little about what was going on in their past. The episode’s wilderness timeline lays out that Van is growing increasingly more inclined to believe that something is going on in the wilderness and that Taissa is connected to it, especially after she figures out that Tai’s sleepwalking is taking them to various trees marked with the mysterious symbol — and the pattern of trees themselves make up that symbol. It’s something that complicates the pair’s romantic relationship.

“They loved each other so deeply,” Ambrose said previously. “We haven’t seen what comes next for them in the woods, but with what we’ve seen so far, it’s so intense. We’re carved in each other’s hearts.”

“I would describe adult Van as somebody who has maybe processed her experience in a more healthy way than any of the other women, but I would not describe her as a remotely squared away human being,” co-showrunner Barn Nickerson said. “She’s just taken a different path in terms of dealing with it.”

New episodes of Yellowjackets hit the Showtime app on Fridays and new episodes air on Showtime on Sundays.