Yellowjackets Season 3: Hilary Swank’s Character Revealed (And Fans Guessed It)

The third season of Showtime’s survival horror drama Yellowjackets received a significant boost of star power with the addition of Hilary Swank to its impressive ensemble cast. The two-time Academy Award winner, celebrated for her transformative performances in films like Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby, brings a level of dramatic intensity that perfectly matches the show’s psychological complexity. When Showtime first announced Swank’s casting, they positioned her as a guest star for Season 3 with the potential to become a regular in Season 4, suggesting her character would have substantial narrative importance beyond a mere cameo. Despite this announcement, fans had to be patient, as Swank remained absent from the first seven episodes of the season. The wait was definitely worth it, as Swank’s appearance in the latest episode of Yellowjackets changes everything we know about this season’s present-time plotline.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Yellowjackets Season 3, Episodes 7 and 8

Throughout Season 3, Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) has been consumed by paranoia that someone is methodically targeting the surviving Yellowjackets. Her suspicions began with the mysterious delivery of an unmarked cassette tape to her home, which her daughter Callie (Sarah Desjardins) intercepted before Shauna could discover it. What initially seemed like isolated incidents soon formed a disturbing pattern: she found an abandoned phone playing “Queen of Hearts” in a bathroom stall, her car’s brakes failed while driving with Misty (Christina Ricci), she found herself locked inside a walk-in freezer at a nursing home, and perhaps most alarmingly, Lottie (Simone Kessell) was discovered dead at the bottom of a staircase under suspicious circumstances. After finally listening to the mysterious tape alongside Van (Lauren Ambrose) and Taissa (Tawny Cypress), Shauna discovered it contained haunting audio from a pivotal night in the wilderness when two biologists stumbled upon their camp during a ritual feast where they were consuming Coach Ben Scott’s (Steven Krueger) remains.

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This recording proves someone else knows the truth about what happened in the wilderness, pushing Shauna to investigate who might have the tape. Her research leads her to discover that Hannah (Ashley Sutton) – one of the biologists who encountered their camp – had a daughter named Alex. Convinced this must be the person seeking revenge for whatever fate befell Hannah, Shauna becomes determined to confront her directly.

Episode 7 shows Shauna embarking on a road trip to Richmond, Virginia, where Alex’s address is registered. Though initially accompanied by her fellow survivors, Shauna abandons her teammates to continue alone after Van experiences a medical episode related to her cancer. The episode concludes with an ominous scene of Shauna arriving at Alex’s home in the evening, armed with a newly purchased hunting knife, suggesting her intentions may be far from peaceful. This visit unveils Hilary Swank’s mysterious Yellowjackets role.

Hilary Swank Plays Yet Another Yellowjackets Survivor in the Present Timeline

Rather than playing Hannah’s vengeful daughter, Swank portrays the adult version of Melissa, a former Yellowjacket who became Shauna’s Season 3 paramour in the past timeline. When Shauna breaks into Alex’s home, she discovers that Swank’s character is Alex’s wife, living under the name “Kelly.” Their confrontation reveals that Melissa was indeed rescued alongside the other survivors but later chose to fake her suicide to escape her former teammates and establish an entirely new identity. This decision stemmed from her profound fear of Shauna and the others, hinting at traumatic post-rescue dynamics that the series has yet to explore.

As Episode 8 reveals, during their time in the wilderness, Melissa and Hannah formed a significant bond, with Hannah entrusting Melissa with critical information about where she had hidden the tape. Hannah asked Melissa to deliver the cassette to Alex should anything happen to her because it had the last message Hannah recorded for her daughter — in addition to the incriminating evidence. After her rescue and subsequent disappearance, Melissa tried to honor her promise but was held back by the awful revelations it would bring to Alex’s life. Mellissa first observed Alex from a distance to ensure her well-being, then eventually introduced herself under her assumed identity. Their subsequent relationship blossomed into romance and marriage, creating an impossible situation where Melissa was perpetually trapped between her devotion to her new family and the weight of her unspoken past.

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Far from the threatening gesture Shauna interpreted it as, the tape’s delivery was actually Melissa’s attempt at achieving psychological closure. Following her therapist’s recommendation to dispose of anything shackling her to the past, Melissa sent the recording to Shauna with an explanatory note — which likely ended up in the garbage can when Callie intercepted the package. In Episode 8, Melissa explains that her intention was to offer both herself and her former teammate an opportunity to move forward, not to initiate conflict. Melissa also underlines that she had nothing to do with the other events Shauna insists are proof of murder attempts. Shauna doesn’t believe Melissa, which spells doom for her entire family.

Until Episode 8, the show has primarily focused on survivors who remained entangled in each other’s lives despite their shared trauma: Shauna, Taissa, Misty, and the now-deceased Natalie (Juliette Lewis). Melissa represents a different survival strategy altogether: complete separation and reinvention. Her successful creation of a “normal” existence — with a stable career, loving relationship, and role as a mother — challenges the implicit assumption that those who experienced the wilderness are forever defined by it. Shauna is not happy to learn that, as she wants to blame the wilderness for all her bad decisions, which puts the two survivors on a bloody collision path.

New Yellowjackets Season 3 episodes premiere Fridays on Paramount+.

Do you think Melissa is telling the truth about not being after Shauna? How do you think Season 4 of Yellowjackets could turn Hilary Swank into a regular cast member? Share your theories in the comments!