Melanie Lynskey Teases “Insane” Yellowjackets Season 2
No TV show has earned the phrase “expect the unexpected” quite like Yellowjackets.
The first season of the Showtime drama began to tell the wicked tale of the Wiskayok High Yellowjackets girls’ soccer team, who were stranded in the barren wilderness for 19 months after their plane crashed on the way to nationals.
What ensued was a harrowing story of friendship, survival, criminal activity and, well, cannibalistic cults!
The season shifted between a group of surviving Yellowjackets in present day—Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Misty (Christina Ricci), Nat (Juliette Lewis) and Taissa (Tawny Cypress)—and their teen versions—played by Sophie Nélisse, Sammi Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher and Jasmin Savoy Brown, respectively—directly after the crash.
While many questions still linger—What happened to the baby Shauna gave birth to in the woods? How did they get rescued? What’s going on with Taissa eating all that dirt?—details about the highly-anticipated second season have started to emerge.
Not only is there much to unpack from season one’s familiar faces, a bunch of newbies are joining the cast—including the older version of a fan favorite, who certainly has a story to tell.
For everything we know about the second season of Yellowjackets, keep scrolling.
Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME
Van Is Alive!
Six Feet Under alum Lauren Ambrose will play the adult version of Vanessa Palmer (a.k.a. Van) in season two. While the first season explored the present-day lives of her teammates Shauna, Taissa, Nat and Misty, the life of Van—and whether or not she was even alive—remained a mystery.
The actress was seen sporting facial scars in a series of photos released by Showtime Dec. 22, likely a brutal reminder of Van being attacked by a pack of wolves in season one.
Ambrose said that when it comes to what Van is dealing with in the present-day, it’s very similar to what her teammates are still wrestling with.
“I think they all are, in a sense, stuck in the trauma,” Ambrose told Entertainment Weekly March 20. “That experience is just so defining.”
Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME
More Young Van, Too
Season two has plenty in store for young Van, too, as Liv Hewson—who played the younger version of Van in season one—has been upgraded to a series regular in the second season.
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Get Ready For Adult Lottie in Yellowjackets
Simone Kessell, best known for playing Breha Organa on Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, will play the adult version of Lottie, who may or may not be a full-on cult leader.
As for what to expect?
“This woman is a guru,” co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco told Entertainment Weekly March 10. “But she’s also, like many self-proclaimed gurus, very volatile. She’s able to give you the scorpion’s tail at any moment. That’s part of the hold she has on her followers.”
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Plenty More Young Lottie Ahead
The mysterious workings of young Lottie will play a big role in season two, as well. Courtney Eaton, who played Lottie in season one, has been also been promoted to a series regular in season two.
The antler queen will ride again.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival
Elijah Wood Is Misty’s Worst Nightmare
In August, it was announced that Elijah Wood had joined the cast of season two as Walter, “a dedicated Citizen Detective,” according to the network, “who will challenge Misty (Christina Ricci) in ways she won’t see coming.”
Ricci recently revealed that viewers should expect plenty of shared screen time for the duo, telling The Hollywood Reporter March 14, “Most of the season, for me, was spent with Elijah in two-man scenes.”
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Yellowjackets Is Keeping Things in the Family
Melanie Lynskey will have a familiar face on set in season two: her own husband Jason Ritter!
In December, it was announced that Jason had joined the cast in an unspecified role. However, Melanie recently let it slip that they might pop up on screen together.
“I can’t say anything about it, but he did an episode,” she exclusively told E! News March 4. “It’s always so fun to be with him. He’s such a nice person. He made me look better.”
Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME
Things Are Going to Get “Insane”
We know the second season is sure to be bonkers—just ask Melanie herself.
“All I can say is that episode two is insane,” she told E! News at the Emmys in September. “Episode one is great and I was like, ‘I like it, I like it, it’s building on last season.’ And then episode two just goes wild.”
We’re not sure if we’re excited or absolutely terrified. Maybe both.
Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME
Questions Will Be Answered
With so many mysteries in need of resolution, Yellowjackets co-showrunner Ashley Lyle promised that viewers won’t have to wait long for closure.
“It’s important to answer the plot questions we raise, or dig at it and not let it exist as a theoretical mystery,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in August. “Who is blackmailing the Yellowjackets, we intend to answer. What does it all mean and what’s the point of human experience? Those are questions we won’t be able to answer fully. But we don’t want to leave people hanging on a plot level.”
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Something “Violent and Misunderstood” Is on the Horizon
On March 9, Showtime dropped the full-length trailer for season two.
“Once upon a time, there was a place called the wilderness,” young Van warns. “It was beautiful, but it was also violent and misunderstood. And it waited and waited to befriend whoever arrived.”
Later, adult Nat (Juliette Lewis) says, “The whole time, there was some darkness out there,” to which adult Lottie replies, “I thought we left it there when we were rescued, but now I realize, we brought it back with us.”
Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME.
Cannibalism Is Just the Start?!
Cannibalism was introduced in Yellowjackets‘ first episode, with co-creator Bart Nickerson explaining to Entertainment Tonight in January 2022, “We gave away the cannibalism in the pilot. And part of that is we wanted to build to not just that they do in fact engage in cannibalism, but why they do.”
As it turns out, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
“If we do our job right, the eating of a person will not be the most transgressive thing that these young women do in the wilderness,” co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco told Entertainment Weekly in March. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME
Yellowjackets Season 2 Premiere Date—and a Season 3 Renewal
Brace yourself, because season two of Yellowjackets premieres March 24 on the Showtime app, with a broadcast debut set for March 26 at 9 p.m. on Showtime.
But that’s not all—Yellowjackets has already been renewed for a third season and the show’s creators have revealed they have a five season plan in place.
Gulp.
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