Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 8 Review

The superb Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 8 sees characters go off the deep end in both timelines and sink further into the darkness.

This review contains spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 8.

The teen and adult timelines are tethered by a recorded tape by Ashley Sutton’s Hannah, which we have been led to believe was sent by her daughter, but this week reveals that there is more to this story. Elsewhere in the adult timeline, Taissa (Tawny Cypress) and Misty (Christina Ricci) receive unwelcome news about Van (Lauren Ambrose), which leads Tai to resort to drastic measures. The teen timeline, on the other hand, is faced with the prospect that hiker guide Kodi (Joel McHale) might be able to get them home and also consider what happens once they return to civilization. 

Last we saw Melanie Lynskey’s Shauna, she was outside the home of Hannah’s daughter with a knife. After sneaking in the following morning, she is hit with the shock of her life. Not only do we see Hannah’s daughter, Alex (Jaylee Hamidi) with a child of her own, but Hilary Swank makes her debut as, wait for it, Shauna’s ex-girlfriend Melissa (portrayed by Jenna Burgess as a teenager). While I will not reveal everything about adult Melissa, she is a key part of Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 8, so I had to rip the band-aid off. 

Swank is obviously a huge addition for the series, considering the accolades that she has racked up throughout her career. At the same time, I have been nervous about how well she would fit in this world. It may take her a minute to find her footing as adult Melissa, but there are shades of Burgess’ portrayal there already. Bringing in Hilary Swank as another survivor is a gamble, but considering the writer’s room has devoted a lot of time to building up Melissa mostly through her relationship with Shauna, this was kind of inevitable. 

It also works in terms of the larger storyline: Melissa sent Shauna the tape, which makes more sense than Alex, a character we have no attachment to, doing so. Melissa and Shauna going head to head as adults is quite compelling, with Lynskey and Swank conveying their character’s unease, anger, and fascination with each other well. When you combine what we see here with how their younger selves, portrayed by Sophie Nélisse and Jenna Burgess, treat each other this week in the teen timeline, you can see why their bond is eventually going to break and yet still lingers deep down. 

Both versions of Shauna and Melissa also act as parallels. As teens, Melissa flips the switch from displaying the bad parts of herself that Shauna helped her bring out. She is excited by the prospect of returning home, while Shauna is conflicted, having fully embraced her darker true self in the wilderness (with Melissa encouraging her the whole time), and perhaps she is not ready to give that up. That darkness is who Shauna is, and her adult life is in shambles because she cannot leave it behind.

At every turn, Shauna gives in to her sinister impulse, which brings her right back to the position of power she felt while stranded. This is why she ends up face to face with Melissa in Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 8: Shauna is so desperate to feel that power that she creates issues and pins them on anyone but herself. Then there is Melissa, who sent the tape because she wanted to leave that behind and keep living her normal life. Seeing that might be what pushes Shauna fully over the edge into a true rage comparable to what we saw after she gave birth in Season 2.

However, while it seems like Melissa might be trying to escape the past, I cannot shake the feeling that seeing Shauna again might stir up disturbing feelings for her, so that will be something to keep an eye on. 

Speaking of disturbing, Tai’s other half is ready to do anything to save Van’s life as her cancer worsens. Tawny Cypress does a phenomenal job of portraying both sides of her character. She will likely send chills up your spine one minute in Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 8 and then make you cry. In all honesty, I am not opposed to other Tai’s decision making here because much like her, I do not want to lose Van, but I do not want Taissa to lose her humanity. This is part of what makes this character so very captivating to watch because you are torn.

Misty might also be inadvertently ruining Shauna’s life alongside her, because she involves Jeff (Warren Kole) and Callie (Sarah Desjardins) as she tries to figure out where Shauna ran off to after leaving the hospital in last week’s episode. Shauna’s husband and daughter are already fed up enough with her not telling them the truth, and now here comes Misty tiptoeing around it as well which will not help. As an added note, I am beginning to wonder if there is more to Callie’s demeanor than she has let on, mostly because a couple things the teen said to her dad made me raise an eyebrow. 

The teen timeline is faced with its own major issue in Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 8, as, for the first time, they have a legitimate shot of going home. Some, including Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) and Van (Liv Hewson), are more enthusiastic about it. Then you have others, particularly Lottie (Courtney Eaton), who are not fans. Eaton delivers one of the most tear-jerking monologues of the entire series that will be hard for viewers to forget, especially in light of the character’s death in the adult timeline.

Lottie has come into her own out in the wilderness, and much like Shauna, found her authentic self, who is dark and brutal. What if this is where she and the others are meant to be rather than confined to a miserable, civilized life? That is the question Lottie poses and, based on their actions in both timelines, maybe they were better off out there, as crazy as that may sound. 

Lottie and Shauna declare their intent to stay and, surprisingly, so does Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown). All three seem to have lost any real sense of who they were before leaving. Natalie speaks for those that are desperate to get home. It seems the final two episodes of this season will play into the power struggle that we have seen between Shauna and Natalie. The stakes are so high because our survivors could either be on the way home or starting down the barrel of another winter after barely surviving their first in the wilderness. 

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 8 is such a compelling episode that moves multiple arcs forward. This week’s performances are so excellent and it is hard to single out just one but Courtney Eaton has a moment that will stick with people for a while. There are so many ways that the show can go from here, especially with the introduction of Hilary Swank as adult Melissa, and all I can hope is that the rest of the season is as satisfying as these past few episodes have been. 

Season 3 Episode 8 of Yellowjackets is now available to stream with the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan.