“It wasn’t for survival”: Yellowjackets actors break silence on Coach Ben's heartbreaking fate in Season 3

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 6 brought in a shocking twist for the viewers. Natalie went against the group and killed Ben Scott after the coach begged for his death multiple times.

Coach Ben was being held in captivity as the girls thought he could lead them back home. However, Ben couldn't bear his pain and instead saw death as a better option. In the sixth episode of the season, he convinces Natalie, who makes the final blow.

Actors, Sophie Thatcher and Steven Krueger, who star in the show as Natalie and Ben, respectively, have now talked about the heartbreaking plot point in an interview with Variety. Thatcher highlighted a shift in the girls’ morals and behavior, stating what they did to Coach Ben was not just for survival:

"The way that they’re treating him, that was all up to them — it wasn’t for survival. You see a huge moral shift in the girls, and I think there’s something even more heartbreaking, even before the death, with how they treat him and how they force-feed him."

---

Sophie Thatcher and Steven Krueger talk about Coach Ben's death in Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 6

In the interview with Variety, Steven Krueger said that he was prepared for his character to die in Yellowjackets Season 3 as he already had discussions about it with the showrunners:

"It’s never fun to hear that your character is dying on a show. However, I will say I had kind of been prepared for this; I had talked to the showrunners very early on."

Krueger also teased that Ben’s death is going to start a chain of events that will significantly impact the girls’ lives:

"Coach Ben was always going to meet his end at some point in Season 3 because, really, this sets off a chain reaction of everything that comes afterward — that eventually leads to all of the things that people are looking for answers to."

The actor further said he was happy about the way his character met with his end in Yellowjackets:

"I’ll be honest, all I cared about was the storyline. I was like, “Is it a cool death? What are you guys thinking?” And as soon as I started talking about it, I was like, “This is great. This is awesome. This is exactly what the character deserves. I think this is going to be a really beautiful arc for this season.”"

The soccer team members have become more brutal than ever, evident from the way they dealt with Coach Ben. As the season moves forward, it will be interesting to see how far the girls will go to survive in the wilderness.

---

Yellowjackets Season 3 airs new episodes on Paramount+ with Showtime on Fridays.