Yellowjackets S3 on Showmax
Gen Terblanche14 February 2025

Yellowjackets Seasons 1-2 recap: Citizen detective alert!

We’re back for the cannibalism and the comedy as we head back into the Canadian wilderness for the tale of a teenage girls’ soccer team going feral in the 19 months following a plane crash – and the impact on the survivors back home 25 years later. 

While stranded, the survivors form a nature cult, driven by starvation, PTSD, madness, and a desperate desire to appease any force in the wilderness that could stand between them and a death.

Come for the drama, stay for the hilarious background details, like Misty’s (Christina Ricci) citizen detective boyfriend Walter (Elijah Wood) listening to Not While I’m Around from the musical Sweeney Todd – a stage play about cannibalism, obsession and true love – before deciding to divert attention from Misty’s role in dismembering and hiding a body.

And now, to give new citizen detectives a hand, we’ve collected the show’s biggest outstanding mysteries, along with a list of who’s died, who’s still alive, and what we now know.

Read more about Yellowjackets’ biggest shockers here. Binge Yellowjackets Season 1-2 now. And stream Yellowjackets Season 3 from 15 February. New episodes Saturdays.

The Yellowjackets death count

Yellowjackets S3 on Showmax

According to the newspaper article we see in Yellowjackets, there were 19 soccer players aboard Flight 2525. Add Coach Ben and Coach Martinez, with his sons Travis and Javi, two pilots named Robert and Fred, and a flight attendant named Janet, and we have 26 in total.

Rounding everything up, by the end of Season 2 we have:

  • Five plane crash deaths: Robert, Fred, Janet, Coach Martinez, and Yellowjacket Rachel. 
  • Six confirmed wilderness deaths: Javi and the Yellowjackets Jackie, Laura-Lee, Crystal/Kristen, “pit girl”, along with Shauna’s baby (she was pregnant at the time of the crash and gave birth in the cabin).
  • Two modern-day crash survivor deaths: Travis and Natalie.
  • Nine crash survivors we haven’t seen in the modern timeline: Coach Ben, Akilah (aka JV), Mari, Melissa, Gen, and four as-yet unnamed Yellowjackets.
  • Five crash survivors alive in the modern day timeline: Shauna, Misty, Tai, Van, and Lottie. 
  • And three people killed in Yellowjackets cover-ups: Jessica, Adam, and Kevyn.

Yellowjackets wilderness timeline

Yellowjackets on Showmax

29 May 1996, at the end of spring in Canada: Flight 2525 crashes in the wilderness after flying off course.

August 1996: Laura-Lee dies while piloting a small plane she found in the woods.

September 1996: Javi flees after seeing the girls run wild in a bacchanal thanks to Misty drugging their stew with hallucinogenic mushrooms, and Jackie dies during the first snowfall.

November 1996: The survivors eat Jackie’s corpse, and Taissa leads Van to the symbols carved on the trees in the woods while “sleepwalking” as the feral version of herself. 

December 1996: The survivors find a (now mute) Javi again when they locate the final tree with the symbol. 

January 1997: Crystal/Kristen falls off the cliff, and Shauna beats Lottie to a pulp after her baby is stillborn. 

February 1997, now late winter: The girls hold their first wild hunt with Natalie as their prey. But when Javi falls through the ice, they accept his death instead and eat him. Lottie convinces the other girls that the wilderness has chosen Natalie to lead them, and the cabin burns down while they’re sleeping.

The Yellowjackets were only rescued in December 1997, so there are nine months to go as Season 3 begins.

Mysteries solved!

Who was sending blackmail postcards to the Yellowjackets? Would you believe it was Shauna’s himbo husband Jeff? He ran into financial trouble and used secrets he read from Shauna’s private journals to put the squeeze on the surviving Yellowjackets. Shauna was the only one who didn’t get a postcard. Those same postcards prompted Taissa to hire Jessica Roberts to investigate. But when she poked her nose into Misty’s business, Misty murdered Jessica to keep all their secrets.

Who’s the Antler Queen? At the start of the series we see a figure with a net headdress and mask, with two crowning antlers, seated at the centre of the girls’ cannibal circle. She also wears a white cloak with locks of girls’ hair sewn onto it (like a royal cloak with ermine tails). Nicknamed The Antler Queen by fans, she is the girls’ chosen leader in the wilderness. It’s likely that Natalie is the first Antler Queen, and that the position might still change in the coming months. In Season 2, episode 7, when the grown up Lottie hallucinates the Antler Queen in place of her usual imaginary therapist, the Antler Queen asks her, “Does a hunt that has no violence feed anyone?"

Still looking for answers

  • Who came back alive and who got eaten? At this point, there are nine people still potentially on the menu: Coach Ben, Akilah (aka JV), Mari, Melissa, Gen, and four as-yet unnamed Yellowjackets.
  • What does The Symbol mean? This stick figure resembling a woman impaled on a hook is first seen carved on a tree in the woods the day of the plane crash. It’s also found carved in the floor of the cabin the survivors take shelter in, where it seems to have been used in a ritual. While she’s sleepwalking or dissociating, Taissa follows the same “man with no eyes” that her grandmother saw as she was dying into the woods and finds more trees with the symbol carved on it. Van later maps the trees and finds they form the same symbol on a much larger scale, with the final tree just a stump, which hides the entrance to the underground cave or mining tunnel system where Javi is hiding, which also has the symbol mapped out. So the symbol might, in fact, be a map of the mining tunnels around the cabin. Lottie believes that the symbol is meant for protection, and in the present day timeline, she uses it as the key symbol for her cult.
  • Who took care of Javi for two months? After he runs away from the girls, Javi survives in an underground cave system or mining tunnels for two months. While he refuses to speak to the girls when they find him and bring him back, he confides in Coach Ben, “She told me not to come back". He claims that “she” was his friend. Considering the struggle the others have had to stay alive, could Javi’s friend be a live person?
  • Who is Pit Girl? This is the fan nickname for the girl we see being chased through the woods into a pit filled with sharpened sticks, then presumably cannibalised by the surviving Yellowjackets in Season 1. The running girl has long, dark straight hair and was wearing Jackie’s necklace, which, we find out in Season 2, episode 8, is given to the chosen victim who draws the Queen of Hearts card when there’s no more food, not even soup made from boiling Jackie’s leather belt. At the moment several clues point to this being Mari, but we still have some unseen Yellowjackets. Unless the snow continues into March, Pit Girl will probably be hunted down in the coming winter, shortly before the girls are rescued.
  • Who or what possessed Lottie during the seance? In Season 1, the survivors hold a seance in the cabin during which Lottie seems to be possessed and speaks in French (while she studied French at school, she was bad at it, according to Jackie), saying, “It always wants blood. It still wants blood! It wanted more blood. Blood flows here. Here. Here. It must.” She also speaks French at the end of Season 1 when she places the bear heart on their altar, saying, “Versez le sang, mes beaux amis.”, meaning, “Spill the blood, my beautiful friends.”
  • Is Lottie crazy, or connected to another plane, or both? A question for the ages! Lottie ran out of her medication for schizophrenia in the wilderness. A lot of weird things happen out there … but they could also be explained by the effects of starvation, groupthink, and heavy metals in the water.
  • Who burned down the cabin? All fingers will be pointing to Coach Ben, who’s been appalled by the girls’ descent into cannibalism, cults and madness. 
  • Why don’t they just eat Travis? We’re sick of the attitude.
  • And how were they found? 

Yellowjackets deaths in rhyme

Rachel got stabbed through the throat on the plane

Robert and Fred died by impact or flame

Janet died screaming and writhing on fire

And Coach Bill was impaled by trees and expired

Creepy corpse man was shrivelled up in his chair

Laura-Lee’s aeroplane went bang with her bear

Crystal fell down a cliff while trying to dodge Misty

And poor, frozen Jackie got served extra crispy

Shauna’s stillbirth was buried, not stewed

Javi fell through ice in a wild chase for food

Biscuit was sliced up by the other Tai

And Travis was hanged, but did not want to die

Adam got Shauna’s knife right through his gut

And Walter poisoned Kevyn to save Misty’s butt

Jessica sucked toxic ciggies from Misty

And Nat died by the needle thanks to – oh, come on, now, Misty!

Read more about Yellowjackets’ biggest shockers here. Binge Yellowjackets Season 1-2 now. And stream Yellowjackets Season 3 from 15 February. New episodes Saturdays.

Share:

More like this

Mobland S1 is on Showmax

MobLand S1

Tom Hardy and Pierce Brosnan propel this gripping, gritty crime drama series that follows two powerful families engaged in an intense power struggle.

MobLand on Showmax

Big mobs, small jobs: 10 crime series to stream on Showmax

Not everybody can be the Godfather. From MobLand to The Cleaning Lady to Gangs of London, we look at 11 small but essential jobs that take care of the organising behind organised crime. 

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Africa.jpg

Must-watch trailer: The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Africa

The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Africa brings together Housewives from across the continent, landing on Showmax on 28 November 2025.

OriginalMade in South Africa
The Real Housewives of Potomac S10 on Showmax

The Real Housewives of Potomac S9-10

The reality series follows several well-to-do women who live in a community of rolling hills and gated mansions in Potomac.

First
The Paper S1 on Showmax

From The Office to The Paper

As The Office’s OG documentary crew gets a new business in their crosshairs, we expose the connections between these two workplace mockumentaries.

First
Michael C Hall as Dexter in Dexter: Resurrection

Dexter's deadly to-do list in Dexter: Resurrection

Dexter’s son Harrison “killed” him in the finale of Dexter: New Blood. But he’s back from the dead and on a mission: tie up loose ends.

Spinnes S2 on Showmax

Clementine Mosimane, Mondli Makhoba and Luyanda Zwane join Spinners S2

Clementine Mosimane, Mondli Makhoba and Luyanda Zwane join the cast of Spinners for Season 2, coming to CANAL+ platforms, DStv and Showmax.

OriginalMade in South Africa
Black Bag is on Showmax

Inside spy movie Black Bag

Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, director Steven Soderbergh and writer David Koepp give us a top-secret peek inside their new spy movie Black Bag.

Laugh Africa Comedy Festival S2 on Showmax

Youngins S3, coming soon to Showmax

Latest Stories

Bafana Bafana live on Showmax Premier League

Bafana Bafana composed for Durban showdown against Zimbabwe

Arsenal live on Showmax Premier League

Arsenal and Liverpool early front-runners ahead of Premier League international break

Married at First Sight S2 is on Showmax

Married at First Sight's Portia Baloyi on the reunion and her ex

Slay Queens on Showmax

Must-watch trailer: Slay Queens doccie coming to Showmax

Catch the fiery battle between Chelsea and Liverpool live on Showmax Premier League

The Premier League canvas: a Saturday masterpiece painted in blue and red

Married at First Sight S2 is on Showmax

Relebogile Mabotja to host the two-hour Married at First Sight reunion special

Chasing the Sun 2 on Showmax

South Africa in third place at International Emmys, with four MultiChoice nominations

A still from Finding Optel showing Claire looking through binoculars

What to watch on Showmax in October 2025

Catch Newcastle v Arsenal live on Showmax Premier League on Sunday, 28 September at 17:30

The clash of the new number 9s: Gyökeres vs Woltemade

Married at First Sight S2 is on Showmax

Married at First Sight: Themba on his "stunning" wife Nelisa

Thelma on Showmax

June Squibb wins Best Actress award at age 95 for Thelma

Catch the blockbuster Premier League weekend live on Showmax Premier League.

Red vs Blue: Showmax Premier League serves up a blockbuster weekend

Catch all the action from the Premier League live on Showmax PL.

Blockbuster Premier League weekend: Red vs Blue

Gerard Butler as 'Big Nick' O'Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson in Den of Thieves 2: Panthera. Photo Credit: Rico Torres.

Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr chat about Den of Thieves 2: Pantera

Lunathi Mampofu in Levels Season 1 on Mzansi Magic

Where to see the cast of Levels on Showmax

Catch the London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham live on Showmax Premier League.

From doubt to dynamo: Micky van de Ven's rise at Tottenham

Catch the MTN8 final between Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch, live on Showmax Premier League.

Mhlongo's bold prediction: Pirates to clinch MTN8 Title for a fourth year running

Catch the Manchester Derby live on Showmax Premier League.

Glory awaits: From MTN8 Kings to Manchester's Crown, football's biggest stage is on Showmax

The Brutalist on Showmax

Art, money and power: a blueprint for The Brutalist

Catch all five episodes of Giants on Showmax now!

Uncover the soul of South African football with the boxset of Giants

Vaal Riviera is on Showmax

Rianza Snyman on Vaal Riviera and being a stay-at-home mom

Catch all the action from the Premier League live on Showmax PL.

The best Premier League signings of 2025's summer window

Finding Optel on Showmax

SA siblings’ debut film chosen for BFI London Film Festival

Youngins S3 on Showmax

Simo Magwaza on his challenging role as De Klerk in Youngins