After three seasons, Yellowjackets has come closer to answering many of the core questions viewers have been dying to know. The third season finale brings the girls stranded in the wilderness closer to a rescue, and there are naturally plenty of questions about what a fourth season might focus on.
The show has fallen off of the awards radar, but it’s still one of my favorites because of its combination of old-fashioned teen drama and heady sci-fi.
Without further ado, here’s what we know about Yellowjackets season 4 at this point:
Will there be a Yellowjackets season 4?
As of this writing, Yellowjackets has not yet been renewed for a fourth season. Ashley Lyle, one of the show’s creators, has said that their original plan for the show was for it to last a total of five seasons. “The original plan was about five seasons, and we feel like we’re still on track for that,” Lyle told Entertainment Weekly in 2023.
What will happen in Yellowjackets season 4?
Given where season 3 of Yellowjackets landed, it seems very possible that season 4 of the show could be focused on the girls’ rescue from the wilderness. At the end of season 3, Natalie discovers the plane radio that Misty hid in season 1, and even makes contact with someone.
In speaking with Variety about season 4, Lyle teased that, “We do have plans to pivot at some point, but I think everyone’s going to have to watch and see when that might happen.”
Sophie , who plays young Shauna in the series, didn’t have any direct hints, but did offer a hint as to what she’s hoping for in season 4.
“I would like them to be rescued [in season 4]. Or maybe like, partially, half [of season 4] is in the wilderness, and then half is them getting back to real life,” she revealed. “And I would love to see how they cope with that, having the pressure of family and the media and school, and having to be immersed in like, a normal life after having undergone all of those events.”
Meanwhile, in the adult timeline, Melissa murders Van, and Jeff and Callie go on the run after Callie confesses to accidentally killing Lottie. The future there is more uncertain, and given the way the bodies are stacking up, it certainly seems like any character could be next. What seems clear, though, is that the darker Shauna we got in the wilderness is beginning to show up in the modern day as well.
“It’s interesting, to me at least, that some of the audience is saying, ‘Wow, Shauna has gone so dark.’ And, as Ashley said, the seeds were definitely sowed when she was doing all sorts of things, like killing a rabbit with a shovel — et cetera, et cetera — in the early stages. I feel like the word we used for it the other day was self-imprisonment,’” co-creator Jonathan Lisco explained. “She was imprisoning herself in this domestic situation, and she was trying to quash all these impulses for many years, and now they have been unleashed.”
Will there be any new additions to the cast for season 4?
While we still don’t know whether Yellowjackets will be back for season 3, and therefore definitely don’t know who might join the cast, it seems like a good bet to assume that there will be a couple of major additions if the show comes back. Each subsequent season has added some key players, including Hilary Swank in season 3 and Elijah Wood in season 2. While we don’t know exactly who those new characters might be yet, it’s safe to say that Yellowjackets might try to pull at least one high-profile name in for a potential season 4.
When will season 4 be released?
Given that season 3 just wrapped up, it seems like a safe bet to assume that it will be at least a year before we get a fourth season. TV production schedules keep getting more spread out, so it even seems possible that Yellowjackets could be gone for longer than that, especially since the show has not been renewed yet.
Will we get to see the full five season plan?
The response to Yellowjackets has definitely gotten more muted with each passing season, and the fact that the show has not yet been renewed for season 4 suggests that giving the show a chance to finish its run is no longer a sure thing. While nothing’s guaranteed, though, Yellowjackets still demands enough buzz that it seems more likely than not that the show will get at least one more season to wrap things up, even if it doesn’t get the two more that were part of the original plan.
