One major Yellowjackets fan theory would have been correct if the creators hadn't changed the answer in the writer's room. Showtime's word-of-mouth hit series Yellowjackets premiered in late 2021 to critical acclaim. Although it took a few weeks until general audiences caught on, by the time the Yellowjackets finale aired in January, the internet was rife with fan theories that speculated on numerous plot points ranging from the minuscule (like movie entries in Jackie's diary) to the major (who was the girl that the survivors ate in the series premiere?).
Yellowjackets is split across two timelines, with one following a girl's soccer team after they crash in the Canadian wilderness in the late 90s. When rescue no longer looks like an option, the girls resort to survival mode and it's heavily hinted that chaos ensues and cannibalism and tribalism occur. The other timeline follows the survivors in the present day, namely Shauna, Taissa, Natalie, and Misty. Once estranged, the four are forced back together when someone begins blackmailing them, claiming they know the truth of what went down all those years ago. One suspected blackmailer was Adam, a younger man with whom Shauna was having an affair. The mysterious nature of Adam led many to believe that he was an older version of one of the only male survivors, Javi.
In an interview with Variety, creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson (along with co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco) answered some of the audience's burning questions about Yellowjackets season 1. In the interview, they revealed that the plan was originally to have Adam be an older version of Javi, who would have been deadset on tormenting the other survivors for what happened in the wilderness. This was done away with early on, though, as they felt there was more tragedy in the way the story ultimately played out. Check out the full interaction below:
Lisco: I can tell you something that they guessed that we chose not to do, which is about Adam. Can I tell them? Or shall we tell them?
Lyle: I think that you just did. [laughs]
Lisco: Well, we did entertain the notion that Adam was basically Javi coming back to torment Shauna in a way, or torment the Yellowjackets. We fairly early on dispensed with that idea. It did not feel organically right to us. It didn’t feel to deliver on the promise of what we actually wanted to dramatize with her affair and their marriage. We chose not to, but some people called it and were, I think, eager to see it happen. Then it creates the scenario where, ‘Well, did we disappoint those people or did we delight them?’
Lyle: It felt infinitely more tragic to us. It being Javi come back is fun in a way, but it feels a little mustache-twirly, which is not necessarily the place we want to go.
As Lyle says, Adam's story in Yellowjackets is ultimately much more tragic. Shauna herself is paranoid that Adam is blackmailing her, leading the once infatuated woman to accidentally kill him. It is then revealed that Adam really was just some guy that was falling for Shauna. Much of the Yellowjackets season 1 finale is centered around the core group disposing of Adam's body and dealing with the guilt of what they've done. Adam being Javi would've certainly been a twist for the ages, but as Lyle, Nickerson, and Lisco point out, it would have undermined some of the wilder revelations that close out the season 1 capper.
From Taissa's success in her senate race (and her wife's discovery of a bloody and ritualistic altar in their basement) to the kidnapping of Natalie by what is heavily hinted to be fellow survivor Lottie Matthews' cult, Yellowjackets season 2 will have a lot to contend with when it returns later this year. Shauna will likely still be reeling from the guilt of Adam's death and the fact that he wasn't Javi certainly leaves the fate of the real Javi in the 90s timeline open-ended. One thing is sure, though: Yellowjackets has inspired fan-fervor unlike any other show in quite some time and if one fan theory was nearly correct, it's almost certain that there are a few out there that are right on the money.
Source: Variety