Yellowjackets Showrunners Speak Out on How Long the Series Will Run

At long last, the Yellowjackets are returning to TV. Showtime’s surprise hit series, which follows survivors of a plane crash decades after they were stranded in the wilderness, is coming back for its second season on March 24th, about a year after Season 1 concluded. Fans have been excited to see what new twist and turns await in Yellowjackets‘ sophomore outing, but some have also wondered just how long the series will continue. Given it’s serialized nature, there has to be an end in sight, one just hopes that end isn’t coming too soon.

If all goes according to the plan of co-creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, there’s lots of Yellowjackets left on the horizon. EW recently talked to the creative team ahead of the show’s Season 2 return, and Lyle revealed that the goal is to wrap up the entire show after its fifth season.

“The original plan was about five seasons, and we feel like we’re still on track for that,” Lyle told EW. “We don’t really see this as being more than a five-season show. I think that there are shows that can go forever, but I think that when you’re telling such a deeply serialized story and it’s about these characters’ lives, you want to reach a satisfying conclusion and not just drag things out forever. This isn’t really one of those setup shows where it can go anywhere. So far, we’ve been really on track. Season 2 is largely what we always planned, but you do make a lot of discoveries along the way and so it’s always a little bit surprising.”

There is a definitive plan in place for the overall journey of Yellowjackets, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be slight changes made along the way. For example, the characters of Jeff and Calie are getting more time in Season 2 than initially planned, simply because actors Warren Cole and Sarah Desjardins were so great last season.

“In terms of some of the major places that we wanted to land or move the story to, that is happening, but a lot of the dynamics and what it means to the characters are different than I necessarily thought they would be,” Nickerson said. “Some of the major sign posts are still happening, they’re just happening in different ways, which I kind of feel like is perfect for keeping the experience alive and vital on our side. We take a lot of excitement from the discovery portion. It’s a big part of our process and the thing that we enjoy the most about doing this. We feel like the architecture that we started with is still holding up, but all the rooms are turning out pretty different in this exciting way.”

Are you looking forward to the return of Yellowjackets on March 24th? Let us know in the comments!