The Biggest Yellowjackets Questions We Can’t Stop Thinking About

Misty in restaurant on Yellowjackets
(Image credit: Showtime)

General spoilers for anyone who isn’t staying current with Yellowjackets, so be warned!

Like a wonderfully marinated blend of Lost, The Craft and Hannibal (the TV series, which was hopefully obvious), Showtime’s Yellowjackets delivers on freaky-deaky atmosphere, unpredictable characters, excellent performances, and a knack for doling out more mysteries and questions than answers. But in the best of ways, as opposed to being endlessly frustrating. That said, it’s not like fans want to keep asking the same questions for the show’s entire run, which had better last long enough for all the plot knots to be resolved. 

Below is our running tally of unanswered questions as we continue bouncing back and forth between the timelines in Season 2. It admittedly won’t be 100% comprehensive, or else I’d still be too busy writing questions to watch the new episodes.

The Hunter apparition in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

What's The Hunter's Story?

The oldest known resident of the cabin and its surrounding area, the hunter served as a couple of Season 1 scares, as well as a source for endless bullets and a malfunctioning plane. But when did he arrive? Did he do so willingly? Where did he land his plane? Did he actually try to escape? How long was he there before he died? How many more questions could we have about this completely unexplored character?

The soccer team in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

How Many Yellowjackets Are Still Alive In Total?

To date, viewers know that Shauna, Taissa, Natalie, Misty, Lottie, and Van are still alive in Yellowjackets’ current-day timeline, with the list of confirmed team member deaths as follows: Jackie, Laura Lee, Crystal and Rachel (who died in the crash). We also know that Coach Martinez and Travis are also both dead. So that leaves at least four more team members whose fates are unknown — Mari, Akilah, Gen, and Melissa — plus any background characters who might get more screen time in Season 3.

Lottie standing in the snow in front of weird tree in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

What's Up With The Weird Mossy Trees?

I have my theories about the weird unfreezing tree moss is about, and yes, it involves the moss being sentient. But what makes certain trees different from others in the area, and why are only (seemingly) specific ones marked with the weird symbol? And then there’s the whole blood sacrifice element, which seems to be a thing that exists in the world and outside of the teens’ minds. 

Symbol carved into wood in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

Where Did The Symbol Come From?

While the real-world origin of Yellowstone’s mysterious symbol may or may not tie back to an early Supernatural episode, that definitely can’t be the explanation within the show. So did the symbol pre-date the plane crash, due to previous inhabitants, or did one of the teens inscribe the symbols on the surrounding trees without being aware of it?

Survivor standing above pit in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

Who Is Pit Girl, And What Was Her Sacrifice About?

One of Yellowjackets’ earliest and gnarliest head-scratchers was the sacrificial death and subsequent consuming of an as-yet-unidentified victim casually dubbed Pit Girl, due to the horrifying trap she ran into for still-unconfirmed reasons. Did the pilot’s flash-forward-in-the-flashback scene depict something out of The Most Dangerous Game, with Pit Girl first being the victim of an unlucky card draw? Or was this more of a revenge tactic for Misty and the other unidentified members of the furry cannibal crew? And did killing her add into the whole blood sacrifice element?

Yellowjackets Antler Queen

(Image credit: Showtime)

Who Is The Antler Queen?

Also first seen in the pilot episode is the character who came to be known as the Antler Queen for all the obvious reasons. It’s believed she holds a place of power among the eventual cannibal cult that forms, but comments made by Teen Lottie actress Courtney Eaton point to the theory that a different teen takes on the Antler Queen role in the same luck-of-the-draw way that chores are decided. 

Adult Lottie bleeding onto tree stump in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

Does Lottie (Or Anyone) Have Powers?

Starting with her possibly saving her entire family from dying in a car wreck, Lottie is the Yellowjackets character who seems most likely to exhibit supernatural abilities of some kind, even though it appears the character herself doesn’t even fully buy into that. And if it isn’t her powers specifically, does Lottie have a deeper connection with the show’s central flashback location that the other girls lack?

Adult Shauna in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

What Happens To Shauna And Jeff's First Baby?

Another one of Yellowjackets’ longest-running mysteries centers on the fate of Jeff and Shauna’s first child, who doesn’t appear to still be alive in the current-day timeline, with their teen daughter Callie implied to be an only child. So does that mean Shauna’s baby dies during childbirth, or some point after that? And is it weird if the former is the best case scenario, since I really don’t want to have to think about a baby living through this for only a few weeks before something traumatic happens?

Laura Lee worried in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

What Caused Laura Lee's Plane Crash? 

The main reason Laura Lee waited as long as she did to try the plane out was the notion that the area didn’t allow anyone to escape. So would things have played out differently had she left on any other day, or was she always fated to be a victim to the mysterious fire that broke out in the cockpit so soon after her successful takeoff? Was there a technical malfunction, or was it something else? And is there even a way for any of the survivors to look into that, or would that kind of follow-up happen after everyone gets rescued?

Javi returns to Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

What Happened To Javi?

So far, Javi’s reappearance after being gone and presumed dead hasn’t yielded any significant answers, since he’s still largely remaining silent on the matter. He did break his silence (notably while Lottie wasn’t around), telling Coach Scott that “his friend” told him not to come back to the cabin, which seemed to be related to the drawing of tree roots that the coach was looking at. So was he wrapped up in a tree out there in the snow, or perhaps underground in some way?

Tai leaving a restaurant in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

Is Other Taissa Paranormal Or A Mental Disturbance?

Taissa is the Yellowjackets character beyond Lottie who seems most likely to have abilities, so to speak, though her other-ly Mr. Hyde persona seems far more damaging and dangerous to her and those she loves. By and large, even with the eating dirt and gnawing her own skin, Tai’s oddball behavior could be explained away as something physiological, possibly related to sleep deprivation, but the fact that viewers can witness Other Taissa reflection in the mirror makes it seem like something outside the bounds of reality.

Man with No Eyes in Yellowjackets opening theme

(Image credit: Showtime)

Who Is The Man With No Eyes?

The Man with No Eyes goes back to Taissa’s childhood, though it’s unclear at this point whether or not it’s specifically her hallucination/haunting, or if that particular vision is one that had connections to her grandmother’s death. It’s clearly tethered to some form of trauma for Tai, who remains haunted by the ghoulish specter even in the current timeline.

What Actually Killed Travis?

For a little while there, I was seemingly content with the idea that Travis had actually killed himself, and that Nat’s insistence about him being murdered would inevitably come up empty, thus poking more holes in the idea that something supernatural is afoot. (Even if it wouldn’t make hardly any sense for Travis to have properly killed himself that high off of the ground.) I don’t know if I fully believe Lottie’s side of the story, completely with the ghost of Laura Lee popping up, or that Travis rose up in the air as if guided by an evil spirit. But I don’t really think there’s much narrative value in suicide being the outcome at this point. 

Adam Martin in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

Is There More To Adam Martin's Backstory?

In many other mystery dramas, a character like Adam Martin’s probably wouldn’t continue garnering fan theories this long after his on-screen death, especially when the theories aren’t directly about him potentially still being alive. No, I feel very confident that Adam is dead and unidentifiable at this point. But I can’t shake the fact that Yellowjackets’ creative team specifically had Callie talk to Shauna about Adam essentially not existing online, despite being an arguably popular local artist. It’s possible that was just a loose-ended MacGuffin to keep fans guessing, but it really doesn’t seem logical for that dude to be such a lifestyle hermit. Unless he actually did have ulterior motives in seeking Shauna out.

Misty and Walter outside of cult camp in Yellowjackets

(Image credit: Showtime)

Is Walter A Friend Or Foe To Misty?

First, I have to say I probably don't care one way or another, since Elijah Wood is so perfect in this role that I'd buy into any scenario that's thrown our way. But his comments to her and their literary connections indicate that he's playing her without her realizing it, but this is exactly the way Misty would want him to gain a sense of false confidence. I just hope she doesn't destroy their bond should he prove himself to be a true friend.

Anytime any of these questions get answered or updated by Yellowjackets in a confirmation-heavy manner, we’ll keep adding and adjusting the new info here, so keep checking back to stay up-to-date on what should be confusing you the most from one week to the next.

Yellowjackets airs Sunday nights on Showtime at 9:00 p.m. ET, and streams early on Fridays with a Paramount+ subscription with the Showtime add-on.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.