1 week Ago By Jackie Strause
[This story contains major spoilers from the season three finale of Yellowjackets , “Full Circle.”] Yellowjackets has found a new deadly duo. After the killing spree of season three , the Showtime series ended with a revelatory finale , titled “Full Circle,” that answered both the biggest question of the series ( who is Pit Girl? ) and the biggest question of the season ( who killed Lottie? ).
Both answers also indicated that Shauna (played by Melanie Lynskey in the present and Sophie Nélisse in the past) perhaps deserves what her surviving friends are now plotting against her in present day. The wilderness timeline revealed that the girl who savagely died in the pilot of the series is Mari (Alexa Barajas) , in a hunt that was sparked by “Antler Queen” Shauna (Nélisse). And the present-day timeline in the survival saga unmasked Shauna’s teenage daughter, Callie (Sarah Desjardins), as the murderer of Yellowjackets survivor Lottie ( Simone Kessell ).
In between those revelations, fellow survivor Van ( Lauren Ambrose ) died with a knife to the heart from Adult Melissa (Hilary Swank) after a near-deadly fight with Shauna (Lynskey). All of these roads leading back to Shauna are not lost on Tawny Cypress ‘ Tai when she meets Christina Ricci ‘s Misty at a diner at the end of the finale to put a target on their friend Shauna’s back. “It’s Shauna’s fault that Van is dead.
Really, it’s her fault that Natalie is dead , too ...
The worst of what we went through? She fueled it. She thrived on it. I forgot that for the longest time, but I can’t anymore.
” Sitting across the table, Misty agrees that they can’t let Shauna be the final survivor. Below, in a joint conversation with The Hollywood Reporter , Cypress and Ricci unpack that ending and share what they think it means for the future of the series, as they await a season four renewal. They also open up about working to justify their characters, as Cypress sheds light on her mysterious alter ego (Tai is “deviously narcissistic”) and Ricci shares the season three events that caught her most by surprise (yes, that heart-eating scene was one of them).
*** Both of your characters have lost soulmates now, and you are now plotting something very big at the end of the finale. You’re a deadly duo coming out of season three. CHRISTINA RICCI Ah, yes.
Christina, Misty is driven this season by Nat’s ( Juliette Lewis ) death and her role in it. Your showrunners had foreshadowed Nat’s death in the pilot , with Misty appearing as a vision at the keg party. Ashley Lyle , Bart Nickerson and Jonathan Lisco said that was a harbinger about Misty always being involved in Nat’s death.
Did you pick up on that? RICCI Oh, I had no idea! ( Laughs .) When you saw the pilot, were you wondering why Teen Misty ( Samantha Hanratty ) was there? RICCI No, I don’t think I was wondering why Misty was there. I was probably thinking, “of course Misty is there, she’s a high school student.
” I do you remember thinking that she probably wasn’t invited and just showed up on her own. But I didn’t realize it was mystical — until now. TAWNY CYPRESS I thought Nat was just tripping, and I don’t know why she would see Misty.
But that makes a lot of sense. So when you then read that season two finale script and saw how Misty played a role in Nat’s death, were you shocked or did you have an idea the death was coming? RICCI No, I did not think that Adult Natalie was going to die. Before reading the script, we had heard that was going to be happening.
So I wasn’t shocked by the script. I was surprised that we were losing that character, though. I was surprised.
That event spirals Misty into being laser-focused on solving Lottie’s murder, but then Misty evolves this season. She’s grieving Nat, but you also brought lightness and humor along the way. Was that something you found in the character as you were going along, or did you go into this season wanting to bring something different? RICCI I asked to meet with the showrunners before the season, just to understand what the emotional arc of the character would be.
Coming from film to TV, it’s very different and I still feel like I’m figuring out how to prepare with so little information and so much change constantly. It’s a thing that I’m trying to do and learn, and so I asked what the emotional arc for Misty would be so that I could do what I could do with that information. They described to me that she would be finally realizing that these “friends” of hers are not her friends.
And she would finally be hearing the nasty comments that are made about her. Throughout the last two seasons, I’ve had a really hard time playing someone who’s smart and perceptive, but who never reacts to any of the absolutely nasty treatment she gets from these other women. It’s been really hard for me to play those scenes, because it was just difficult to justify that kind of denial.
So they were saying that in this season, Misty would finally be realizing that these people were not her friends and reacting. She would finally lose it and not tolerate it anymore, and go on a mission that was started by this kind of awakening. So for me, really what happens with needing to solve Lottie’s death is that she’s angry at Shauna and so upset by all the rejection.
This sort of inkling she has that her friends are not really her friends. And that perhaps Lottie’s friends were not really Lottie’s friends, either. She’s investigating Lottie’s death as a way of trying to figure out who is really awful in this situation, and who is sort of a villainous wolf in sheep’s clothing.
That to me was very interesting, and it was very gratifying to play this. Season two had a lot of comedy for me, and that is more difficult for me and less enjoyable. So this season, having her be so proactive and active, and actually incorporate some anger, was a much more comfortable place for me to be.
CYPRESS That was super insightful. Same question to you, then, Tawny. Could you share what you discussed with the showrunners about your arc and how that helped inform how you were playing Tai this season? CYPRESS The conversation I had with everybody before the season consisted of basically how much of this “other Tai” we were going to be seeing and, what did that mean? The different identity, does she share the same memories? “Yes, she does.
” Okay, so I have to build this character and make it make sense to me, and not just have it be some weird supernatural thing. I have to be able to explain it to myself. So that’s where the conversation started.
And with Tai, it’s just built off of narcissism. She’s the most narcissistic person I’ve ever met and how she finds a way to do what she wants without taking any blame or responsibility for it is pretty deviously narcissistic. I’m going to circle back to that with a later question.
RICCI That does explain so much, Tawny. Because they make the show like a Stephen King thing where it has to have a supernatural explanation but also a grounded reality-based explanation. And that’s so perfect that she would create this other Tai so that she could justify and escape herself.
That’s incredible. I knew this would be an insightful conversation! So then we do finally get this finale answer of who killed Lottie, and Misty solves it. I spoke with Simone Kessell at the very beginning of the season, and she was still digesting her departure and how early it came in the season.
What did you take away from Lottie’s ending and when you saw who killed her and how it plays out, did it make sense to you? CYPRESS Did you know that it was going to be Callie the whole season, Christina? I think we were guessing. RICCI I can’t even remember when I found out that it was Callie who killed Lottie. I think Melanie [Lynskey] told me! Melanie always has her shit so together.
I’m so fixated on how I’m going to make everything work and she’s like, “I’ve got bandwidth to go and find out all the information!” So when you need to know something, go ask Melanie! ( Laughs .) CYPRESS ( Laughs .) That’s hilarious.
RICCI She’s the one who told me that it was Callie. I remember being like, “Why? Is it genetic? I don’t understand.” But then by the end, you do understand.
I remember being really shocked by the fact that it was Callie. I was really shocked that Van was dying . The first night I came to shoot season three, we all had dinner.
As soon as we landed, I was still in my airplane PJs, that’s when I found out from Lauren [Ambrose] that she was dying. I was so shocked by that, so then when I found out that Lottie was dying, I already was in the mindset of, “It could be any of us at any time!” So I wasn’t so shocked about Lottie’s death, but then I was shocked that Callie was the murderer. Tawny, when did you find out about Van? Was that a conversation that you and Lauren Ambrose first had together? CYPRESS No, I knew.
They [the showrunners] had told me as part of our discussion about what was going to happen this season. I didn’t contact Lauren right away to be like, “I hear you’re dying.” I wanted to let her tell me in her own time.
And it was the first time we saw each other that she told me. I said I knew. But it was hard because we had to play the entire season then.
Honestly, couldn’t they just have waited until the last second to tell us! It was right at the beginning, when we knew this was the end result, that we decided we were just going to try to fall in love and try to tell a wonderful love story . And so it really informed everything that we did together this season. After Van’s death scene, we see Tai’s raw reaction.
But before Van dies, you have this bad Tai v. good Tai internal face off. I spoke with Ben Semanoff (director for that episode), and he said you filmed a lot more of that scene.
The way they cut it left it ambiguous. What’s your interpretation about what that scene was about and is there a winner in the end? Does “good Tai” emerge? CYPRESS Great question. So when I was talking earlier about this narcissism and how Tai is sort of compartmentalizing this part of her that she can exploit to do things she doesn’t want to do and take responsibility for, you can get lost in that.
You can lose yourself. You can become so much of that that you’re not you anymore. Honestly, I don’t think we’ve ever even met Taissa.
The first season she had this candy shell life. The second season, she was torn to shreds and building herself back up, and third season, she was just doing whatever the fuck she wanted. The parts of the season that got cut: I’m so mad! Because I got so messy doing that scene! I had to force myself to eat mud, okay? It all got cut.
I was basically stuffing mud down my face. RICCI Ugh! CYPRESS It was insane. It was wild.
RICCI That’s so gross! CYPRESS I did all of that and it got cut out, but whatever. Can I ask what the mud was made out of that you were eating? CYPRESS Oh yeah, it was like cake mix, and it was very yummy, but it was all over. I had a stunt girl on top of me that was dressed like me just shoving mud in my face, and then I got to shove mud in her face.
It was awesome. It was a fun little sequence, but it did get chopped up. So yes I do think the clear winner is .
.. real Tai! I think you’re going to get to meet yet another version of this character next season.
That’s my prediction. That is how I interpreted it, but then I was so shocked that “good Tai” would then go and eat Van’s heart! CYPRESS She’s remembering everything. She’s not going to forget anything anymore.
She’s going to remember all the fucking shit and just go. So this is really a new version of Tai without Van, taking it all in. CYPRESS I guess the best way to describe it would be the two sides coming together.
She’s ready for revenge. Like she says, she’s done forgetting. Okay, and what was the heart made out of? CYPRESS ( Laughs ) The heart was strawberry flavored, so that wasn’t so bad, but it was gelatin and the consistency of it was like a six-month-old giant gummy bear that had been left to sit out.
It was not appealing. RICCI I had pictured the McRib, with the gelatinous bones. CYPRESS I have never had a McRib.
RICCI Oh my God, they’re amazing! When they reissue them once a year, you have to have one once in your life. ( Laughs .) CYPRESS OK, I’ll try one.
Christina in the beginning of the season, you said there were things in the adult storylines that shocked you the most. Do you remember what you were referring to? RICCI Most of it was the cannibalistic elements, like the biting of Melissa’s arm and forcing her to eat it . I was also so shocked by the turn that Shauna’s character was taking .
I was very, very surprised by that. It made me refocus and sort of look back at her journey. I will only speak for myself, but I think that everybody else also feels this way: These are really difficult characters.
And to justify all the different turns and behaviors and aberrations, it takes a lot of mental work and, like Tawny was saying how she has to make it make sense for herself to play, we all struggle with that. CYPRESS Yeah, it’s true. RICCI Most of the time when I read these scripts, I’m so focused on my character that I kind of gloss over what’s going on with the other characters.
I’ll get to see it on set and it will be amazing. But when I read that [arm scene], I was like, “Fuck.” I had to go back and really look at what Shauna’s arc had been.
So I was really surprised by that, and I was very surprised by the heart eating, honestly. Totally taken aback by that. CYPRESS ( Laughs .
) Me too. RICCI And then I was really surprised by the way the finale ends for both of our characters. I was totally shocked by that as well, I didn’t see it coming.
CYPRESS No, me neither. In all of my conversations with your cast, everyone is so candid about what you just said, about the work they put in to find the truth for their character. Is that something where, as this story gets deeper and wilder and crazier, it’s a continuous challenge? RICCI It’s not to say that the behaviors are so crazy that we have to justify them.
There is a justification for all of the actions and behaviors from the past and from the trauma and PTSD , and the way that different people deal with guilt and shame and justifications . So there’s the actions on the page, and then you have to do the work backwards to justify it and make it real so it doesn’t feel like you’re just shouting your lines. CYPRESS I think it’s continual.
I mean, it started at the beginning. These women are complicated to begin with. So it’s always been something you have to do your homework with.
You can’t just wing it. You have to put in the work. RICCI In the pilot, I’m abusing an elderly woman! And you understand, to justify going from the way she walks into the room to the way she leaves the room, there is some background you have to do for yourself to make it real.
You two joining forces in the finale is interesting on many levels, because Tai, you’ve been one of the biggest believers in the wilderness, and Misty, you are a lot more rational and logical. So with you two now coming after Shauna, who we have learned so much more about in the wilderness timeline this season, is this the beginning of the end that you are plotting here? Did it feel that way? CYPRESS Yeah, it felt like the beginning of the end for me. Did it feel like that for you? I don’t know what they have in store.
RICCI We don’t know, but it does feel like there’s going to be two sides and ultimately, one side’s going to have to win. CYPRESS I don’t know. I’m excited to work with Christina, though! RICCI Yes, we are really, really good friends.
CYPRESS We’ve only worked together just us alone once or twice, right? RICCI Yeah, this season was the first time. CYPRESS We did that little bit in the first season over the body..
. RICCI ..
. when we’re cleaning up the blood. But this season, we had all the hospital stuff together after Van gets sick.
That was fun. Your showrunners have always had a plan but haven’t known how many seasons it would necessarily take to get there. How many seasons would you hope to keep telling this story? RICCI I would like it to go on forever.
That would be great! CYPRESS I would love that, too. And then movies. Let’s just ride this pony until it drops dead! There is a lot of spinoff potential with Yellowjackets .
CYPRESS I do think that it has five seasons worth of story. I do not think we can wrap it up in one more season, honestly. But who knows; it’s not our job.
In the past storyline, viewers found out about Pit Girl and the Yellowjackets are on the precipice of getting rescued. How did you each feel about what you learned about your characters’ pasts this season, and are there big questions you want to tackle next season? CYPRESS I have questions for Jasmin [Savoy Brown, who plays Teen Tai]. I’m wondering how she approached things.
I’m wondering how much other Tai was in the younger timeline. I didn’t see Jasmin enough this season. That’s how I feel.
I want to see more of her. RICCI I don’t have many questions, because I feel like Misty’s storyline is all very practical and grounded and understandable to me. I’m just really curious about next season.
CYPRESS I am, too. I’m dying to know. RICCI I can’t wait until we get our renewal and then we can actually have conversations with the writers and find out what happens next.
CYPRESS Ask Melanie, she might know! ( Laughs .) *** Yellowjackets season three is now streaming on Paramount+ With Showtime. Follow along with all of THR‘s season three coverage and finale interviews , including our interview with showrunners Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson and Jonathan Lisco , Alexa Barajas on her Pit Girl reveal , Sarah Desjardins on Callie killing Lottie and Melanie Lynskey on Shauna’s ending.
.
