With the arrival of the official season 4 trailer for Yellowjackets, the stakes have never been higher, as the group will finally be returning home to New Jersey. But the desire for rescue may not match the actual events of being home, especially as the trailer teases that returning to Wiskayok is not an end to all their problems but the beginning of a brand new set of issues, including emotional instability as a result of trauma, and the determination to avoid revealing the truth of what really happened to everyone.
The world sees them as heroes, but the Yellowjackets know the hard costs of what it truly meant to survive. So, which parts of the trailer tease themselves as being potential season stand-outs?
1. The group is back at school
There are only a few brief seconds that show Shauna, Van, Melissa, and Akilah at what appears to be a cafeteria table in their high school. So, if that scene is to be taken directly, does that mean the survivors now need to return to school to finish out their senior year? It seems like a lot to put on the shoulders of these girls who survived 19 months in the Wilderness, just to have to return to pre-calculus.
Still, there could be a lot of excitement there, including showing them being forced back to societal civilization rules and their reactions to who will likely be the new version of the school's soccer team. A return to school would mean being constantly watched by other students and teachers and being directly confronted by the ghosts of those they lost at every turn.
Jackie Taylor statue
Jackie's relationship with the rest of the Yellowjackets was certainly not as positive as it could be by the time she died. However, having to return home just to look into the eyes of a statue representing the girl they cannibalized is likely to bring up some feelings. Jackie Taylor is more than a memory to the remaining Yellowjackets. Jackie’s influence over Shauna never goes away, even into adulthood. Jackie was their captain, and a void they never truly filled, no matter who took the role of leader after her death. Jackie’s time in the Wilderness would not see her grow as desperate as the rest of the team. She died before things truly got worse during the first winter and never had to see what the rest of her teammates became. But her legacy has lived on, even in some ways, through Shauna's daughter, Callie.
While Callie never got the chance to meet Jackie, Callie always seemingly knew about the significance that Jackie had to both of her parents. Shauna and Jeff's entire relationship is bathed in the ghost and shadow of Jackie Taylor, and if that statue is still standing in the present day, that means Callie must have had her own feelings about having to walk past it on a potentially daily basis. Callie has been begging Shauna for the truth since the beginning of the show, and in season 3, due to the remains of the recordings from the frog scientists, Callie is closer than ever to having an understanding of what really went on in the Wilderness.
Lottie tries to drown someone
In season 2, Yellowjackets presents Lottie’s time after rescue as being fairly subdued. She returns home, remains silent, and wanders around the house at strange hours. At least, that was what Lottie’s parents told the doctor. But the season 4 trailer suggests a very different version of Lottie upon her return home.
A quick set of flashes in the trailer show Lottie drowning a boy in a pool. It is not clear exactly who the guy is that Lottie is pushing under the water or why she is doing it. But it does paint a very different picture of how Lottie adjusted to returning home and how that influenced why she was eventually sent to Switzerland. In season 3, the ghost of Jackie reminds Shauna of all of the bad things the survivors did upon returning home from the Wilderness. Could Lottie's actions here have been part of what Shauna was thinking about?
Shauna's violent outburst
At first glance, as an adult in season 1, Shauna does not appear to be particularly violent. As the season continues, Shauna’s more violent instincts rise, eventually leading to her killing Adam. But it was not entirely dormant from the Wilderness to being an adult.
In the trailer, Shauna is seen attacking a woman who could be her mother in a house. It is unclear if the moment is real or a potential dream or hallucination, as the context has not been made clear. Still, it does show a strong sense that Shauna’s PTSD and connection to violence, as shown in season 3, will continue to play a role in season 4.
The girls attack Shauna
Shauna was not exactly winning awards for her time as leader in the Wilderness. Where Natalie led with a more laid-back approach, Shauna ran the group like a dictatorship. Shauna was particularly cruel and horribly paranoid. So, the rest of the team found themselves plotting, and in one scheme, that led to Natalie escaping the hunt to call out for help.
What does that mean for Shauna? Well, that likely brings Shauna’s time as a leader to an end. With rescue on the horizon, Shauna’s reign of terror can come to a close, and the rest of the team is making it clear they are moving on. Still, this does raise questions about what Shauna's relationship with the Yellowjackets becomes in the direct aftermath of being attacked, but before rescue comes.
Taissa takes the lead speaking role
In seasons one through three, various Yellowjackets have held the leadership role, most notably Lottie, Natalie, and Shauna. But as the group prepares for rescue, it looks like Taissa may rise as the final leader of the team. The trailer shows Taissa speaking on behalf of the Yellowjackets, discussing that love was responsible for helping them make it through the Wilderness.
Taissa also likely taught the group their signature line regarding survival: that they starved, scavenged, and prayed for rescue until it finally came. As an adult, Taissa becomes a politician, and the beginnings of that future are clearly shown in the trailer. Taissa’s ability to speak in front of the crowd and not break, still giving a performance that offers the Yellowjackets sympathy without revealing too much, will help be responsible for eventually allowing them to settle down from being the main story.
The uncertainty of the adult timeline
Season 4's official trailer heavily emphasizes the storylines that will occur in the Wilderness and direct aftermath of rescue. It is clear that the survivors are in for a world of emotional torment as they struggle to reconcile their actions in the Wilderness with what it means to return to civilization. But season 4 does succeed in keeping most of the adult present-day timeline storylines a secret.
There are clips that offer a sense of danger between Shauna, Misty, Taissa, and Melissa. Yet, it is clear that the trailer could lean a lot more heavily on the past timeline, rather than risk revealing plot lines where audiences do not know what is to come. Season 3 concludes with Taissa and Misty teaming up against Shauna. But, without knowing what exactly Melissa might do, that may put a stop to Misty and Taissa's plotting against Shauna. The trailer makes it clear that season 4 will be an adrenaline-filled season for the present timeline, especially when also taking Callie into consideration, who remains determined to finally know the truth about what really happened in the Wilderness. Still, the choice to avoid showing much of the present timeline in the trailer makes the possibility of those storylines even more intriguing.
Between the season 4 teaser trailer and the official trailer, Yellowjackets is suggesting a brutal and emotionally devastating conclusion to the show. Season 4's younger counterparts will play the roles of seeing their transformations into their older selves. Yellowjackets is clearly aiming to go out with a bang, and the trailers have suggested that this final season is not pulling its punches. Every main character in the show, no matter which timeline they are in, is going to face some sort of emotional or mental struggle as the show reaches its final conclusion.
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