Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of Yellowjackets.
From the premiere episode in November 2021, viewers have been both excited and fearful about discovering who the “pit girl” was and who the masked figures chasing and consuming her were in the pilot’s opening scene.
Now, more than three years later, the Season 3 finale has at last revealed the identity of the “pit girl.” The teen girls, stranded in the wilderness, have managed to avoid eating each other by consuming their male counterparts, Javi and Coach Ben. Travis is the only exception (and we already know he survives to return home).
However, over the last several episodes, many of the Yellowjackets appear to have lost their sanity, possibly due to group psychosis or supernatural forces. In Episode 8, Lottie, Taissa, and Shauna forced the entire team to stay at camp, despite wilderness guide Kodiak (Joel McHale) offering to lead them to safety after finding them while guiding frog-researching hikers. In Episode 9, Natalie’s rebellion led to hiker Hannah (Ashley Sutton) stabbing Kodi to protect herself from Shauna’s anger.
In the finale, Shauna, the new leader, pressures the girls into a “hunt” where a random card draw determines the prey.
Who is pit girl?
Earlier in the season, Akilah (Nia Sondaya) envisioned finding their livestock dead. In the finale, the vision comes true as Akilah finds the bodies of all the animals she cared for. (However, Akilah later tells Lottie that she killed the animals to make the others believe they needed to hunt to appease the wilderness.)
The Yellowjackets, influenced by Lottie and Shauna, decide to hunt to regain the wilderness’ favor. They use a deck of cards to select their prey. Tai and Van (Liv Hewson) attempt to rig the draw so newcomer Hannah gets the deadly queen of hearts, but Shauna discovers their plan and alters the circle’s order. Mari (Alexa Barajas) ends up drawing the queen. Shauna puts Jackie’s heart necklace around Mari’s neck and begins counting down.
The other girls put on their furs and makeshift masks and begin the chase. Mari tries to avoid being seen by removing her brightly colored jacket and pants (and her shoes), leaving her in a nightgown that is similar to what the pit girl wore in the pilot.
Not everyone wants Mari to be caught. Gen (Vanessa Prasad) tries to distract Taissa so her friend has a better chance of surviving. However, Mari falls into the same pit she fell into earlier, when she dislocated her knee. This time, the bottom of the pit is lined with sharpened stakes (placed by Travis in a previous episode to kill Lottie). Mari is impaled and dies.
The feast scene from the pilot plays out, with Shauna presiding in her Antler Queen costume, now adorned with locks of Mari’s hair.
What this means for Yellowjackets
The identity of the pit girl is revealed, but the finale hints at more to come. Fortunately, the hikers who encountered the Yellowjackets had a broken satellite phone that Misty (Samantha Hanratty), Natalie, and Van have repaired using a part from their crashed plane’s transponder (which Misty intentionally damaged in Season 1).
During the hunt, Natalie, Hannah, Misty, and Van conspire to escape the increasingly paranoid group and contact someone for help. While the girls pursue Mari, Natalie slips away with the repaired phone.
After the feast, Shauna realizes something is wrong when Natalie is unusually quiet. She removes Natalie’s mask and discovers it’s Hannah. Natalie escaped and hiked up a snowy mountain, trying to get a phone signal. The finale’s closing scene shows her contacting a voice on the radio that says, “Yes, I can hear you.”
They might get rescued—but Shauna’s anger suggests the journey back home won’t be easy.
