Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Yellowjackets season 3, episode 3, “Them’s the Brakes.”

Yellowjackets season 3, episode 3 ends with Natalie Scatorccio (Sophie Thatcher) needing to make a difficult decision about Coach Ben Scott (Steven Krueger). During Yellowjackets season 2’s ending, Natalie was crowned as the Antler Queen, Coach Ben left the group, and the cabin burned down. The teenage survivors believe that Coach Ben is the one responsible for burning down the cabin and assume that he died while trying to survive on his own during the final days of the brutal winter.

As seen in Yellowjackets season 3, episode 2, Coach Ben is still alive, but his survival is no longer a secret after Mari (Alexa Barajas) falls into the pit where he found survival supplies. After temporarily keeping her captive in the cave where he has been residing, Coach Ben frees Mari. It is not long after this that Mari tells the other survivors about what happened, and Natalie has no choice but to lead the Yellowjackets characters to the cave, where they find Coach Ben.

What Are The Yellowjackets Going To Do With Coach Ben?

Natalie May Be Coach Ben’s Only Hope Now

Season 3, episode 3 concludes with Natalie pointing a gun at Coach Ben and telling him that he is coming with the Yellowjackets. The darkest Coach Ben theory may now come true, which is that the teenage survivors will eat him alive. While this is possible, it is unlikely to happen, especially not right away with Natalie in charge and since the Yellowjackets are no longer starving. Natalie and Coach Ben have a bond that goes back to season 1, and she has tried to stop the other girls from finding him.

Between the warmer weather, a return to hunting, and the animals Akilah (Nia Sondaya) has been raising, the Yellowjackets now have plenty of food and cannot justify eating Coach Ben out of necessity. At the same time, Shauna Shipman (Sophie Nélisse) and some of the other Yellowjackets will be out for blood and vengeance given that they still blame Coach Ben for the cabin’s destruction. He can never be accepted back into their community. Natalie must find a way to protect him without sacrificing her authority as the group’s leader.

What Shauna, Van & Akilah’s Visions Mean & What Caused Them

The Visions Allow Jackie To Temporarily Return

Coach Ben is only cornered by Natalie after he saves Shauna, Van Palmer (Liv Hewson), and Akilah, who experience hallucinations from a poisonous gas. When the three of them go into a particular area of the cave, they begin to experience individual and then collective hallucinations. Van’s individual vision begins with a door and a warm home with a rocking chair and a crackling fire. Adult Van (Lauren Ambrose) mentions her sad home life during this episode. Teenage Van’s vision initially gives her the kind of perfect and comforting home that she craves.

The adult version of Van was not introduced until season 2.

The vision then takes this comfort away from Van as the room bursts into flames, which is a reminder of how Van was almost burnt alive after the plane crash and after being mauled by wolves in season 1. Akilah’s vision sees her interacting with farm animals, only for one of them to start talking to her, and insisting that even the most harmless animals will bite to defend themselves. This teases a grim ending for Akilah, who may ultimately be hurt or killed by those she trusts, especially since Akilah has never been shown in Yellowjackets‘ present-day timeline.

The juxtaposition between the normalcy of the classroom and the blood gushing from Shauna’s throat emphasizes how even if the survivors do return to civilization, their lives will never be the same again due to their experiences.

Meanwhile, Shauna’s vision has her stuck in water and unable to reach her son, a sign of the ongoing grief she feels for the child she lost. The collective vision in a high school classroom features the return of Jackie Taylor (Ella Purnell), with Shauna still feeling guilty about the role she played in her best friend’s death. The juxtaposition between the normalcy of the classroom and the blood gushing from Shauna’s throat emphasizes how even if the survivors do return to civilization, their lives will never be the same again due to their experiences.

The Real Meaning Of The Coyote & Rabbit That Van & Tai See At Ozzie’s Explained

While watching an old VHS tape of The Pee-wee Herman Show, the adult Taissa Turner (Tawny Cypress) is startled to see the Man with No Eyes in a commercial for Ozzie’s Ice Cream Parlor. Now that Tai knows the Man with No Eyes is not something that is purely in her head, she and Van go to the permanently closed ice cream shop. Tai does not find any answers there, but she and Van do see a coyote snatching a rabbit. When Tai asks the coyote what it wants, Van says, “We know what It wants. It wants more.”

The coyote symbolizes the wilderness, while the rabbit is a symbolic sacrifice. If the adult Natalie (Juliette Lewis) and the waiter who chased Tai and Van died as sacrifices to the wilderness, more sacrifices will still need to be made, as the wilderness always wants more. Van’s cancer has stopped growing and is in partial remission and Tai seems to think that this miracle happened because of the sacrifices that have happened. This means that in order to stop Van’s cancer from coming back, more individuals may need to be killed in the name of the wilderness.

Why Misty Burns The Picture From Yellowjackets Season 1’s Reunion

Shauna’s Accusations Have Opened Misty’s Eyes To The Truth

Yellowjackets season 1’s ending saw Misty Quigley (Christina Ricci), Natalie, Tai, and Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) attending their high school reunion. Even though the reunion came on the heels of the four survivors dismembering the corpse of Adam Martin (Peter Gadiot) and covering up his murder, Misty was elated to be attending the event with the three women she considered her friends. In season 3, that elation is now gone, as Misty burns the framed photo she kept from the night of the reunion.

Episode #
Release Date

4
February 28

5
March 7

6
March 14

7
March 21

8
March 28

9
April 4

10
April 11

After Shauna accuses Misty of cutting her car brakes, along with making many other insulting comments, Misty realizes that Shauna is not a true friend. Other than Shauna calling Misty so she could keep an eye on Callie Sadecki (Sarah Desjardins) and Lottie Matthews (Simone Kessell), none of the Yellowjackets have reached out to Misty since she accidentally killed Natalie. Misty now understands that Walter Tattersall (Elijah Wood) was right and that her friends do not care about her, which is why she burns the photo in Yellowjackets season 3, episode 3.