ShowtimeYellowjackets Season 3 is set to bridge the gap between the past and present timelines, and Episode 6 just teased how with the arrival of two newcomers. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Earlier on in the episode, Akilah has a hallucination at the gas cave: Coach Scott is their bridge to their rescue. The Yellowjackets decide to keep him alive after he was found “guilty” of attempted murder. However, after incapacitating him, he’s done with life and just wants to die.
He tries starving himself but the girls ruthlessly force-feed him. Finally, Nat’s humanity takes over and she mercy kills him. Due to this act of defiance, Shauna’s made the new queen of the group, and she orders that they honor Coach Scott… by eating him.
During their feast, they start screaming into the Wilderness, which attracts what looks like two hikers or birdwatchers. They tentatively approach the girls in shock, only to spot Ben’s head on a platter. We don’t know what’s going to happen next, but these are the three strongest theories.
Coach Scott really is the bridge (but not in the way you think)
ShowtimePerhaps the Coach Scott imagery is true. Rather than helping to rescue the Yellowjackets, his death is what led to the cannibalism ritual, which led to the strangers finding the team. The girls might decide that the hikers know too much about what they’ve done, and so they murder them.
This chilling act continues the chain of events, as whoever goes out looking for the missing trekkers ends up finding the Yellowjackets instead. This still leaves one question wide open, though.
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You see, in the present-day timeline, someone has been stalking Shauna, and they know what happened out in the Wilderness. Although they left a tape for her, Callie swiped it, only to hand it to her mother in Season 3 Episode 6 after finding out that Lottie may have been murdered.
Shauna finds out it’s a DAT (Digital Audio Tape), a recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. They’re pretty hard to come by, but adult Van digs out an old DAT player.
When they listen to it, they hear an audio of their screams and chants the night they ate Coach Scott. It makes perfect sense that the hikers are the ones who recorded them.
ShowtimeOh, and it looks like they are birdwatchers. While speaking with Tai, Van only realizes the severity of the situation when she explains who uses DAT tapes.
“In my experience, like, weird garage bands and super intense birders and…” she says, at which point the penny drops. “Get dressed right now,” she tells Tai, no doubt knowing that the recording must have come from the strangers.
Now, if they’re dead, how is the tape still circulating? Well, if this theory is to be believed, maybe one of the girls could have swiped it and kept it as collateral.
After all, it’s widely theorized that the person stalking Shauna is adult Melissa – maybe she got a hold of the tape and survived? As Van herself says, “The only people that even know about this are either us or dead.” Maybe, it’s one of them.
The birdwatchers make a narrow escape
ShowtimeAn alternative theory is that, rather than murdering the birdwatchers, the Yellowjackets imprison them like they did with Coach Scott.
Right now, tensions are higher than ever between the group, and so they might not want to make any rash decisions. With winter fast approaching, they might try to buy some time, and maybe even figure out a way to get home.
However, unlike Ben, they’re able to run. What if the birdwatchers manage to overthrow the girls and escape?
Given they appear to be lost themselves, they might die of starvation or an animal attack, leaving behind the recording device. Then, during a hunt, Melissa or another solo Yellowjacket finds it and keeps the tape for themselves – out of paranoia or as a trophy.
Alternatively, the birdwatchers could escape and make it back to civilization. They notify the authorities, but by the time an official search party is sent, the girls have covered up all of their heinous acts.
Little do they realize that the birdwatchers still have the damning tape. This does, of course, lead to another question: why wouldn’t they just hand the recording to the police?
Well, maybe the Yellowjackets threatened to pin the blame on them. Or, they might simply feel too scared after seeing what the gang got up to out in the woods.
They join the Yellowjackets, but it’s a fatal mistake
ShowtimeIn the third and final theory, instead of immediately killing the birdwatchers, the Yellowjackets see an opportunity. Maybe the birders are lost too, and so they make a deal to survive together.
They tell them Coach Scott’s death was an accident, and the newcomers learn how to live like the team. The timeline certainly adds up. We know it’s summer right now, but in Season 3 Episode 6, Tai says the nights are starting to feel colder.
They aren’t rescued until around December 1997, meaning there are still several cold months to come. What’s more, we still haven’t seen the Pit Girl scene just yet, nor have we seen them in full hunter mode, wearing their masks alongside the Antler Queen.
As such, these events are set to unfold in the upcoming months. Perhaps the birdwatchers will become the unlucky prey during this time.
As for the DAT tape, same as above – one of the girls secretly stashes it. Or, they might not even know it exists, but an official finds it when they search the crash site and keeps it for themselves.
Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 7 drops on Paramount+ with Showtime on March 21, 2025. Until then, read about the Man With No Eyes, and check out our recaps for Season 3 Episode 1, Episode 2, and Episode 3.