Yellowjackets season 3 episode 8, "A Normal, Boring Life," last week saw a big revelation - Melissa is alive and married to Hanna's daughter! Plus, Shauna goes back to her old ways as if they're still in the wilderness, telling Melissa to eat the piece of skin she bit off or she'll tell her family everything. That was quite the way to end an episode! So what comes next? We find out in season 2 episode 9, "How the Story Ends." And boy, this one gets emotional towards the end. Here's our review of the episode on Paramount+ and Showtime. SPOILERS BELOW.
Melissa reunites with the others
I'm sure Melissa is really, really regretting her decision to send that tape to Shauna now. Before this, the women thought she was dead and she was living a happy life with her wife and kid. Even though she's forced to eat her own skin - ugh - Melissa is able to get away from Shauna. But unfortunately not for long since she runs out of gas and comes across Tai, Van, and Misty who were on the way to figure out what in the world Shauna is up to.
They all go back and forth for most of the time in the present timeline, just like in the past as well. We'll get to that in a moment. What's interesting is that Melissa seems to have been telling the truth about not being involved in all of Shauna's freak accidents. Misty admits she's the one who locked her in the freezer because she was mad at Shauna. Then I'm sure the brakes were an accident and maybe yeah. The phone in the bathroom was just a coincidence? But there's still the question of who killed Lottie. We don't get to the answer to that just yet, but Misty does find something on Lottie's phone, after calling Walter, that seems to bring some sort of revelation. Hmm.
That Hanna twist we didn't see coming
Alright back to the past timeline, Shauna, Lottie, and Tai have gone off the rails and don't want to go home just yet. Like Lottie, I understand. Tai sort of has a good point about not being prepared. But like, whatever girl. You'll think of something on the plane back home! As for Shauna, I really can't understand her reasoning for wanting to stay behind. Is it a control thing and she feels like she's nobody back home? That could be why she said those hurtful things to Melissa and called her nothing. It's probably how she views herself.
Whatever it is, honestly Shauna has just been too much this season, especially in the past, and all I can do is roll my eyes at her. I still can't believe she spoke to Melissa the way she did, she shot her, and then poor Melissa peed her pants. And after all this, Adult Shauna wants Adult Melissa to just give in to her? No wonder she pretended to be dead.
Many of the girls, with Natalie spearheading the plan, decide they are not sticking around in the wilderness any longer. Natalie gives Hanna a knife and tells her when everyone is asleep to cut herself and Kodi loose, then meet them in a spot so they can go ahead and go back to their base camp. Of course the plan gets derailed by none other than Shauna - seriously girl. And in a twist I honestly did not see coming, when they're caught Hanna turns around and stabs Kodi right in the eye. Then she tells Shauna she wants to join them. Very interesting character choice. We don't believe it for a second. But you have to do whatever it takes to survive, right?
When Natalie and the others hear about this, the absolute despair and loss of hope on Natalie's face just broke my heart. Kodi was their ticket home, and now they've lost it. And at the perfect time, that's when snow starts to fall. Another winter has arrived. But, maybe not all hope is lost. Natalie comes across Misty pulling out the transponder, and she does not look happy with her. And who can blame her!?
The heartbreaking loss we don't want to accept
Melissa is smart from her time surviving with her fellow yellowjackets. And I'm sure she brushed up on some survival and fighting skills just in case as an adult as well. She closes the flue of the fireplace, causing herself, Shauna and Tai to knock out. Van comes to the rescue and gets the latter two out. Then she goes back to Melissa, almost making the choice she didn't think she would. Trading Melissa's life for her own to heal her from cancer. But Van is too good and isn't able to go through with it. Unfortunately in a heartbreaking moment, Melissa does not feel the same.
She stabs Van herself, and then we get an emotional death scene on the plane just like Natalie's at the end of season 2. I mean, I'll be honest I can't really blame Melissa. Look at everything they did to her in the few hours they discovered she's alive. But if anyone should have died, it should have been Shauna. This is all her fault! Melissa makes a run for it and Shauna and Tai come in and find Van, and it's devastating to see the loss on Tai's face. With so much talk of her cancer and dying, I feel like we all saw this coming. But not in the way we expected it to. I can't believe I'm saying this. RIP Van.
Wow, Yellowjackets season 3 episode 9 really felt like a season finale, not the penultimate episode. But we actually have one more to go next week! This one brought with it some big plot twists, and all the emotion. Even though there's still some questions like Lottie's killer left and we didn't move forward too much there, everything that happened in this episode was plenty. Gah, I'm still in denial that we won't get anymore Adult Van! Episode grade level: A.
Yellowjackets season 3 releases new episodes Fridays on Paramount+ and Sundays on Showtime.