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Episode 9 “How The Story Ends” Recap

Killing All Hope and Joy: Hannah, Kodi, Melissa, Shauna, Natalie, Misty

Despite Shauna somehow convincing everyone to stay, this causes factions. Natalie leads those who want to leave, and she assumes working with Hannah, a small group, with Kodi as lead, can get them home. However, Hannah has reservations regarding Kodi, due to a name she didn’t recognize on one of his bags, and despite their former interactions, she kills Kodi.

From what it seems, this was perhaps to save her own neck and potentially join the Yellowjackets. But what she doesn’t realize is she is joining an increasingly fractured team which, under Shauna, who is really starting to lose it, she signed her own death certificate. I mean, Shauna shot at Melissa for talking to Hannah and daring to call her crazy. Who is Hannah to her when she’d shoot at the person she was sharing a bed or mat with?

But, perhaps the thing which may cause the most fuss is Natalie discovering Misty is the one who messed with/ broke the transponder (black box) from the plane. You see, after realizing Hannah destroyed her hopes of rescue, Natalie sees Misty running about in the forest and catches her trying to see if the device Kodi was using to talk with civilization, if the antenna needed would work with the one from the plane. Before an attempt to contact the outside world is done, Natalie catches Misty and confronts her, and we’re left to wonder if Misty broke another device that delayed everyone’s return home.

Too Many Reveals At One Time: Walter, Misty, Shauna, Van, Taissa, Melissa

Even though Van was last seen on what we could assume would end up her deathbed, she ends up waking up after talking to her normal self, about “Goonies” and the hero’s journey. It is a strange dream, never mind strange she is able to move around as much as she can, but with being mobile means Misty, Van and Taissa heading to Melissa’s home to hopefully stop Shauna. Luckily for them, not so much Melissa, they run into her on the way there and go together.

There, in Melissa’s home, accusations are flown around, including Shauna’s about the brake cutting, the freezer, the stalking and more. Misty dispels the freezer thing by noting the lock has been broken for a while and she just didn’t tell Shauna. However, that doesn’t answer the other issues so with that, Melissa is still seen as a suspect and tied up for everyone’s safety. Rightfully so too, but with all evidence pointing towards Shauna, and Misty losing support, she storms off and reunites with Walter.

Now, this reunion is mainly a ends to a means, as Lottie’s phone holds evidence and Walter is the only one with access to her data. So once Misty gets that, and discovers something shocking, it seems she may finally have some major answers. Sadly for the audience, those answers will be held off until the season finale.

You’re A Believer, Aren’t You?: Travis, Lottie, Van, Melissa, Taissa, Shauna

Back in the past, it is revealed Travis made the pit seen in season 1, which led to the demise of the fabled “Pit Girl.” However, what wasn’t revealed then was that, originally, it was made to kill Lottie. While Lottie’s influence is waning, she still has influence, and with her being a factor in why Travis is stuck in the wilderness, he planned to have her killed. But, with her walking over the trap he tested, with a simple log, and Lottie not fall in, either his faith gets renewed or he realizes Lottie can’t be outsmarted so easily.

Getting back to the present, Melissa being tied up doesn’t stop her from closing off an air duct for the fireplace. Thankfully for everyone, Van was outside, so she is able to come in and rescue Taissa and Shauna. Now, for Shauna, she was just knocked out, but Taissa was wrestling with her dark alter ego before she was rescued and awakened, leaving you to wonder if Dark Taissa finally regained control, which leads to Melissa.

Melissa has no issue admitting what she did, and with that comes Van questioning if this is a good reason to kill her and see if this would satisfy the wilderness and maybe send her cancer back into remission. The problem is, Van doesn’t have the heart to kill Melissa but to much surprise, Melissa can kill Van and does, and then escapes. Leaving Van bleeding out as Taissa weeps and we’re left wondering how Alex is going to react to all this blood throughout the kitchen, dining room, and living room?

Other Noteworthy Information

• Aired (Showtime): April 4, 2025
• Director(s): Ben Semanoff
• Writer(s): Sarah L. Thompson
• Jeff and Callie smoke weed together, and we learn the Joels gave him the job to furnish their hotel.

Review

Highlights

• Van’s Mercy Killing & Melissa Being The Bad Guy

On The Fence

• Hannah Killing Kodi
• Misty Keeping What She Discovered On Lottie’s Phone
• Another Delay Tactic Discovered

Overall

Our Rating (76/100)

When it comes to “Yellowjackets,” I’m starting to feel like death is meaningless. Van’s death, similar to Natalie’s, felt like a mercy kill for a character who didn’t have much going on, didn’t seem like they could have a notable revival, and their death would mean more than them continuing to live. Now, as seen, Natalie’s death didn’t really have much of an impact on the story. Yes, it is brought up to remind everyone Misty is a bit crazy, but in comparison to Shauna and Taissa? She seems pretty normal.

So with that in mind, the best thing to come out of this is Melissa becoming a physical villain and the show doing away with having “The Wilderness” and unseen, or rarely seen in the Antler Queen’s case, figures being the antagonists. But, with that said, it remains a rather frustrating show to watch.

Between Hannah killing Kodi, even if it was a survival tactic (mutually assured destruction at minimum), to past Misty likely being another factor in why it took another winter for the Yellowjackets to be rescued, never mind her not revealing what she found on Lottie’s phone, I find myself feeling like “Yellowjackets” is getting desperate to hold onto people’s attention through the cheap means most mystery shows do when they know they are stretching a story thin.

“Yellowjackets” Guide

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