Warning: Contains spoilers for Yellowjackets episode 4.
In Yellowjackets, the survivors in 2021 are dealing with several mysteries and the only logical solution is that another survivor is pulling the strings and has yet to be revealed. Yellowjackets is told in a period spanning almost three decades with much of the narrative taking place in either 1996 or 2021. While there are a lot of mysteries and a hint of the supernatural across the whole affair, the events in 2021 can largely be tied to a single person.
After having survived a plane crash and 19 months stranded in the wilderness, the central four characters of Yellowjackets, Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Taissa (Tawny Cypress), Natalie (Juliette Lewis), and Misty (Christina Ricci) have spent 25 years distancing themselves from the tragedy. However, people want to know the secrets of what really happened in the wilderness and are endlessly prying. Now, the survivors have received postcards marked with the strange symbols from the trees in the wilderness, new people have come into their lives, and another survivor has been found dead.
Some of the struggles that the survivors go through in 2021 are related to the problems with assimilating back into traditional life after such a traumatic and stressful period. However, there is a heavy indication that there is a secret hand at work that might be controlling everything. For several reasons, it only makes sense for it to be another survivor that Yellowjackets has not revealed in 2021 yet. Here is all the evidence that supports the theory of another member of the Yellowjackets being behind it all.
Adam, Jessica, Travis, And The Postcards Aren't A Coincidence
The present-day section of Yellowjackets is set in 2021 and the fact that that makes it the 25th anniversary of the 1996 plane crash is highlighted in the very first episode. Around that same time, a startlingly large number of strange happenings affect the four central survivors. The first thing to arrive are the postcards which Misty mentions she received a few weeks ago. This is followed by Taissa and "Jessica Roberts'" (if that is her real name) push to see if anyone could potentially crack if someone tried them. Additionally, Shauna rear-ends and meets Adam and starts a relationship with him, while Taissa’s son Sammy starts acting strangely and her house appears haunted. To top it off, Nat comes across Kevyn Tan and Travis Martinez again within a day of each other with Travis ending up dead.
All of these things happening at once in Yellowjackets suggest that there is a single larger impetus behind them beyond simply the anniversary. This would make sense within the world of Yellowjackets and the events that are taking place. However, it would also make the most sense narratively. Adam’s storyline in particular only makes narrative sense to include in Yellowjackets if there is something more sinister behind it. Shauna’s only 2021 storylines have related to Jessica Roberts asking her questions, her relationship with Jeff, and her relationship with Adam, suggesting that there is more going on there and someone must be pulling Adam’s strings, but it is unclear why.
The Central Four Cannot Be Behind The Yellowjackets Mystery
In Yellowjackets episode 3, “The Dollhouse,” it is revealed that Taissa is behind Jessica Roberts phony reporter scam. This might suggest that Taissa is behind the other elements. However, she was shown in New Jersey when Travis was murdered and there is no suggestion that she would employ additional people or methods on top of Jessica. Crucially, she cannot reasonably be thought to be behind the troubles afflicting her own son. Shauna seems fairly unaware of everything else that is going on in 2021 until Misty calls her to tell her that Travis is dead. Shauna was occupied in a New Jersey hotel room when Travis was killed in New Hampshire, and there is no indication that she would have a reason to send the postcards. She is also particularly unsettled when Jessica comes to question her and asks her about what happened to the Yellowjackets.
Misty is shown to be manipulative and willing to go to extremes to get her way, both in 1996 and 2021, so she might be a good candidate for being behind the strange happenings in 2021. However, she is so eager to earnestly investigate and be with people that this seems unlikely. She also was approached by Nat to be interrogated rather than seeking her out herself, and she was in jail when Travis was murdered, effectively marking her off the suspect list. Nat, for similar reasons, is not a viable suspect along with the whole central four as she is earnestly investigating, seems genuinely angry and upset, and was in jail at the time of Travis’ death.
Another Yellowjackets Survivor Must Be Pulling The Strings
If there is someone who is masterminding the events in the future segment of Yellowjackets and they are not one of the central four characters then there is a relatively small list of potential suspects. As the show is several episodes in at this point, it narratively should have introduced the person behind the mystery. If the puppet master were to be someone like Taissa’s political opponent, Bathurst, then his lack of characterization would leave the plot feeling unsatisfying. The only other well-characterized people are Kevyn, (who seems to be invested in helping Nat and Adam), who is an enigma but feels like he is part of a larger puzzle.
Because of all this, the only satisfying solution to the season of Yellowjackets would be for it to be one of the other survivors. The show has repeatedly hinted that there are others who survived the whole trip but have been living off the grid. The characters can be revealed to have survived later in the season after their motivation has already been established in the 1996 parts of the story. While the survivors might not seem like they would need to probe to find out what really happened, it is entirely possible that not everyone knew all the details of what was happening and who was doing what, which might have been part of the purpose for the ritualistic masks seen in Yellowjackets episode 1. The biggest question then is: which survivor is pulling the strings?
All The Survivors Who Could Be Behind It All
While some members of the group of survivors are guaranteed to die before they’re rescued, at this point in the series there are still a lot of possibilities. Jackie (Ella Purnell) almost certainly is the plane crash survivor who is killed in the opening scenes of Yellowjackets episode 1 and can be discounted. Akilah (Keeya King) and Mari (Alexa Barajas) have had very little screen time so far, which also makes them unlikely. Ben Scott (Steven Krueger) is a possibility: while his survival for 19 months seems unlikely, if he did survive, he might harbor some resentment for his own survival as he has already lashed out at Misty for cutting off his leg to save his life. Javi Martinez (Luciano Leroux) is another possibility and could be a surprising figure to have survived, and might have harbored resentment against his brother for any number of reasons that could have led to his killing him. There is also a slim possibility that Adam is in fact intended to be a grown-up version of Javi as he was young enough during the plane crash that people might not recognize him at all at this point.
There are three final soccer players who are possible suspects. Laura Lee (Jane Widdop) might be alive in 2021, but her extreme focus on her faith makes many of the necessary actions for the mastermind seem unlikely. Lottie (Courtney Eaton) has been set up as taking Loxipene which is presumably intended to be Loxapine, an antipsychotic commonly used to treat schizophrenia. It is unclear how Yellowjackets will handle this delicate issue, but there’s little indication that she would eventually become the mastermind behind the mysteries in the future of Yellowjackets.
The most likely survivor to have survived the wilderness and then enacted a larger plan 25 years later is Liv Hewson’s Van. Van has already been shown to be bitter at Shauna and Jackie for leaving them on the plane. There is an implication that Taissa and Van might enter a relationship in Yellowjackets, and if that ends badly Van might also hold a grudge. With Misty and Nat, it is unclear what else might happen between them, but Van seems capable of planning and scheming a larger plan in the future of Yellowjackets and could hold a grudge long enough to have the motivation.
Yellowjackets releases new episodes Sundays on Showtime.