Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 1 review – “It Girl”  – What happens in the woods definitely doesn’t stay there

With a captivating and deeply unsettling season opener, the show Yellowjackets is back after a long interval. It Girl focuses on two separate timelines and their intertwining narratives dealing with dread, trauma, and tension.

At the onset of the series, the viewers are exposed to new mysteries and emotionally persuaded to witness the gory, festering wounds that haunt the characters. As such, the viewers are ready to experience the psychological horror that the series brings forth.

Disclaimer: This article consists of the writer's opinion. Reader's discretion is advised.

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A quick recap

The show has two timelines: one is the past, while the other is the present, and from what we know, they were interlinked. In the case of the Yellowjackets, we meet them during the culmination of one of their many different stories, only to realize there is a whole set of timelines running parallel to the one we are currently immersed in.

In the 1996 storyline, their tenuous grip on control had completely collapsed. The wilderness had completely dehumanized them, and the harsh winter had driven them to even more hopeless actions. Javi’s death was so heartbreaking. He taught everyone the lesson that survival was more than just waiting it out—it was about giving something up.

Natalie, who had been unwillingly appointed the new “captain,” was obviously struggling with how little moral weight her conscience possessed (as in, it did not weigh much at all). Shauna had recently endured the excruciating experience of losing a baby, an unbearable burden that drove her deeper down the spiral of mental instability.

All the while, their only source of comfort—the shelter—had been consumed by flames, which left them exposed to the weather while having no means of shielding themselves from their internal conflicts.

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Episode breakdown

The third season opens with a cold open that echoes the series’ signature pilot: a girl barrels through the woods, breathless, terrified. At first, it feels as though we’re observing another gruesome chase, but then — surprise — we see it’s a game.

The Yellowjackets invent a new survival technique: an extreme, ritualistic contest, one shedding light on their growing descent into something far darker. This playful-yet-dangerous tradition immediately establishes the tone for the season — what once seemed horrifying has now become habitual.

The survivors have built makeshift shelters and created a small, functioning society in the wilds after their cabin is destroyed. But the picture is far from stable.

Shauna is at her breaking point, still reeling from the devastating loss of her baby. Now, her ire is directed at Mari, and it results in a brutal physical fight. But then the real shock comes after that—Shauna and Melissa end up sharing a spontaneous, charged kiss. Is this the moment of desperation? An act of reclaiming control?

Meanwhile, Lottie and Travis search for meaning in the chaos. Lottie, who once felt she was anchored to the invisible powers of the wild, doubted she was still in touch with them. Travis’s crisis of faith prompts him to go on his own hallucinogenic vision quest. And on his travels, he hears the unmistakable sound of a baby crying in the woods: a cold, ambiguous moment that makes us question.

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Present-day fallout

In the present, Natalie's death still haunts the remaining women. Misty, normally a riddle full of nerves, is falling apart under the heavy weight of guilt. Her breakdown peaks in a drunken, unbalanced outburst at a bar—her loss of composure is rarely witnessed by the public, but she experiences it in the rare moments.

The impressive Christina Ricci plays a significant part here, making us realize the partitions in Misty’s purposely built-off mask in this episode.

Somewhere else, Tai and Van are trying to recall something from their past when Tai’s inner demons come as an obstacle. A Man With No Eyes once again appears in Tai's mind, showing that she is still far from being out of her ordeal. Their meeting is a bittersweet one—although love is present, there is also an unspoken awareness that their common wound is an incurable one.

Shauna, in the meantime, confronts a new mystery when a cassette tape shows up at her place. The appearance of this incident is definitely creepy—Yellowjackets has always been able to combine horror with mystery. The latter has a detective touch to it. Who could be the one who sent the tape? What can we find on it?

Overwhelmed by the grief of losing a baby she would never meet, Shauna is near the edge of falling to pieces. Her reason is no longer exacted on Mari, but eventually, a very cruel battle ensues. But the real shock comes afterward—Shauna and Melissa are in a sudden, highly emotional kiss. Is this a moment of desperation? An act of reclaiming control? Or is something deeper happening within Shauna’s psyche?

Lottie and Travis continue their quest for a sense of coherence in the midst of turmoil. Lottie, who used to believe she was the one who could communicate with the forest’s unseen powers, is now worried that she may be losing her abilities.

Travis, in the end, decides to breach the borders of normal and take a close look at his fears in a mega-dose altered state through the hallucinogenic vision quest. While on the acid dream, he hears clearly the sound of a baby crying in the wood—a confusing and foreboding moment that forces us to wonder: Is this a manifestation of grief, or is something truly supernatural at play?

The conflict with Callie’s mother is continually stronger, and she is rebelling in more and more daring ways. Shauna is doing her best to stay on the right path and not to lose her mind, but it is quite clear that her daughter is like a ticking time bomb that will most likely explode and mix all this teenage rebellion and a great deal of generational trauma together.

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Final Thoughts: A Strong, Unnerving Return

I'd have to give a beginning like this an absolutely 9.5/10⭐

It Girl is a pretty much perfect way of showing Yellowjackets to a new audience, as it implants and explores its psychological as well as supernatural themes that will likely be a big part of the season. The show is able to make us question what's real and what's a manifestation of trauma through the continuous use of optical illusions, which blur the boundary between reality and fiction.

The most striking feature of the episode is the play between horror, character drama, and mystery. This new season is by far the most volatile; the characters are so close to running around like savages and have to endure every difficult situation.

The present-day timeline, though a bit more subtle, also embodies the main topic of the series—women trying to run away from themselves; this plot is as powerful as the one in which they have to be one unit to survive any trouble that comes their way.

One thing that leaves us all is the element of mystery:

1. Who mailed Shauna the tape, and what's on it?
2. Is the baby's crying in the woods a hallucination, or rather a token of something that is not of this world?
3. As for Misty—will she let her tearing conscience talk her into confessing, or she will stick with her usual manipulative ways?

She has had to confront the whole dissociation.

One thing is for sure–Yellowjackets are back, and as distressing and addictive as ever.