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Why This Yellowjackets Finale Death Is "Eating" the Cast Alive

Showtime's runaway hit series Yellowjackets just introduced a cult in the season finale on Jan. 16 and we talked to star Melanie Lynskey about why a certain death is "eating her alive."

By Samantha Bergeson Jan 17, 2022 4:00 AMTags

Thank the gods of the sky and the earth because Showtime's Yellowjackets just delivered a shocking season finale

On Sunday, Jan. 16, audiences finally got some answers about what really happened out there in the wilderness. 

No, Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) did not deliver her baby, but we did discover the ice cold way Jackie (Ella Purnell) perishes and we learned the true identity of the Antler Queen. Oh, and did you really think that Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Misty (Christina Ricci), Taissa (Tawny Cypress) and Natalie (Juliette Lewis) were the only survivors? 

Bear with us (we've got all the puns) as we keep track of what parts of the multiple mysteries were seemingly solved, and what new twists we encountered. 

Spoilers: Jackie is officially dead, along with our theories that she was the Antler Queen. Sure, team captain-slash-homecoming queen Jackie had "influence," according to her now-also-dead soccer coach, but as Lottie (Courtney Eaton) pointed out, Jackie doesn't belong

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Speaking of Lottie, the soccer star turned séance master might be possessed—we already know she's off her meds—but she's now leading the team in sacred occult rituals that include cutting up a bear heart and thanking the forest for food—with Misty (Samantha Hanratty) and Van (Liv Hewson) by her side.

Showtime

And we know that Taissa is still using those exact ritualistic tactics to win elections, murder dogs and harness the power of the mysterious symbol that was etched in the woods...the same one that Lottie's modern-day cult followers who eerily look like hospital workers (hi, Misty!) wear around their necks. We can't be the only people who paused the scene of Natalie getting kidnapped by the creepy clan mid-suicide attempt, right?! 

Plus Lottie most likely was behind Travis' murder (exhibit A: sacred candle placement), especially since Nat discovers Lottie drained Travis' bank account post-mortem. 

It's a whole new conspiracy ahead of season two...and we somehow have even more questions. Thankfully, some of the cast could dissect what the heck we just watched. 

Showtime

"In the last episode, there is a big reveal of Lottie stepping into that position [of the Antler Queen]," Lynskey exclusively confirmed to E! News, clarifying that Lottie is in fact not the tall brunette running for her life in the flash-forward...or so she thinks. 

"I was so careful about getting so much information, including exactly what happened with Jackie," Lynskey added, also asking how people would have responded when Shauna and Jackie's ex, Jeff (Warren Kole), got married later on. "There's so many questions I have for the writers."

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We can also expect for young Shauna to be grieving even more after Jackie froze to death following an explosive argument between the two best friends. Instead of Shauna smoothing things over, both girls purposefully didn't resolve things before night took over, bringing a snowstorm and causing Jackie to die alone in her sleeping bag.

Showtime

Shauna's horrific dream, which also introduced a new ghost-like character, only adds to her descent into darkness...and breeds her guilt for betraying Jackie.

"I don't know what it would take for Shauna to have closure about that," Lynskey noted. "I think that's such a huge piece of what has traumatized her development. I think that what happened with Jackie, and the fact that Shauna wasn't a great friend to her even before that, is such a huge piece of who Shauna is. I think it's kind of eating her alive a little bit. She 100 percent blames herself for what happens to Jackie. She doesn't think anyone else is responsible."  

Showtime

As some fans suspect, Jackie will be the first person eaten, period. And Lottie saw the whole thing coming, along with her disciples, Van and Misty. 

So, is adult Misty in on Lottie's enterprise? 

"It feels like a totally different show," Hanratty, who plays teen Misty exclusively told E! News. "I feel like I'm learning while watching the show. It's interesting because my version of Misty, she's a bit more unhinged. She doesn't know how to hide those parts of her which almost makes the adult version [played by Ricci], in my opinion, scarier because she's learned to manipulate and cover things up so well. The fact that you're not as afraid of her makes her more scary to me, because she is the one that like I feel like we'll do something awful what with a smile on her face."  

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Seems like Misty could very well be playing Nat—while simultaneously trying to save her

And above all, what about Shauna's baby?! 

"I did not ask them what happened with this baby," Lynskey revealed. "It's a huge piece of information that I don't have." 

Showtime

Feeding into our anti-christ theories, could Shauna, who was assumed to be a virgin, be akin to the Virgin Mary? We've already had a burning bush teddy bear, a baptism and Lottie's premonition that whatever is haunting them is already "inside" Shauna. Or are they all actually dead, hence Shauna's dream of Jackie joining them on the dark side in her afterlife? 

Seems like we'll just have to read Jackie's journals, that Shauna must have written in after returning to New Jersey, to find out more answers. R.I.P. Jackie, and hello to a slew of new Reddit theories that the cast is definitely reading IRL

Yellowjackets season finale airs tonight, Sunday, Jan. 16 at 10 p.m. on Showtime.

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