Yellowjackets Star Breaks Down Episode 3's Heartbreaking Flashback

By Nicole Drum

Season 2 of Yellowjackets has had some intense moments and the sophomore outing of the Showtime hit is only three episodes deep. The first episode saw the surprising "return" of Jackie (Ella Purnell) while the second episode saw the long-anticipated cannibalism element come full force into play when the survivors consumed Jackie's body. But this week's third episode had intense moments of a different sort, including a heartbreaking flashback into Coach Ben Scott's (Steven Krueger) pre-crash life, one that gives viewers their closest look yet at the only adult in the wilderness — and it's something that Krueger says makes the journey even more heartbreaking.

Warning: spoilers for the third episode of Season 2 of Yellowjackets, "Digestif", beyond this point.

In the episode, viewers get a flashback of Ben's life but not just of the past as it actually happened. We also get to see sort of an alternative reality, one in which Ben embraces his sexuality, commits to his boyfriend Paul, and never gotten on the plane in the first place. It's a heartbreaking thing, particularly when one considers that Ben didn't actually come out until the crash.

Ben is a unique character because he is there with them, but he's such an outsider at this point," Kreuger told The Hollywood Reporter. "I did wonder going into Season 2, where are they going to go with this? What's an interesting way to tell his story? And I thought the creators and the writers just nailed it. Getting to see the one person who is outside the group go internal and really start living in his own mind, it just makes it all the more tragic. It makes his journey all the more heartbreaking."

"You haven't seen the ultimate consequences of what happens as a result of him kind of going into his own psyche, but it's intense," he continued. "And it's sad and it's scary. And I think that people are really going to enjoy it. It gives a nice little inflection and an inside peek at exactly what he's going through."

What is Yellowjackets Season 2 about?

Yellowjackets begins in 1996, as a team of New Jersey high school soccer players travels to Seattle for a national tournament. While flying over Canada, their plane crashes deep in the wilderness and the remaining team members are left to survive for nineteen months. The series chronicles their attempts to survive while also tracking their current lives in 2021. The series stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell, Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Sammi Hanratty, Steven Krueger, Warren Kole, Christina Ricci, and Juliette Lewis.

Season 2 sees the addition of Lauren Ambrose to the cast as the adult version of Van as well as Simone Kessell as adult Lottie along with Elijah Wood as a new character named Walter, Nicole Maines as Lisa, Francois Arnaud as Paul, and Nia Sondaya as teen Akilah.

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"Honestly, in season 1, every scene that I got I would be like, "Oh fun." Like, I get to work with Juliette Lewis, I get to work with Tawny Cypress, I get to work with Christina Ricci, I get to work with Warren Kole and Sarah Desjardins, I get to work with Peter Gadiot," Lynskey said of what excites her the most about Season 2. "Like, everyone was fun. I just loved that everyone was so different. People's approaches are so different, and it just was a very, very creatively fulfilling time. So, I just hope that I get to have scenes with all of them again. Well, not Peter because he died. RIP. But everybody else, I just love working with all these people. So, I'm just excited for all of it."

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

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