Spoilers follow for Yellowjackets season three, episode seven
Ashley Sutton is the latest addition to the Yellowjackets cast, having arrived right at the end of episode six as one of the hikers wandering into the Yellowjackets’ camp, upending their way of life. Though outsiders could have provided them a chance to be rescued, that likelihood fades when Lottie attacks and kills the other hiker, Edwin (Nelson Franklin).
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This leads to episode seven revolving around how Edwin, Sutton’s character Hannah, and their guide Kodiak (played by seasoned TV star Joel McHale), ended up in the forest researching frogs, while accidentally destroying their equipment. After Edwin’s death, Kodiak shoots Melissa with an arrow before he and Hannah flee.
Kodiak falls off a cliff and is saved by Travis and Akilah (previously Lottie’s two closest allies), while Hannah is found and captured by Shauna and Nat. Taissa and Van find their camp, but cannot fix their equipment, while Misty breaks her glasses, finally bringing her costume in line to the look she had in the flash forward of the pilot, suggesting the capture of Pit Girl and their ritualistic feast may be near.
“I Was Just In The Past”
Speaking of the pilot, things could have been very different. Sutton did not originally aim to play Hannah, but a character who arrived much sooner in the story “I first auditioned for the pilot and the writing is just so good and fun and dark and spooky — all sorts of things that I love,” Sutton told People.
“It was so long ago. I met with the producers and [the script] was really funny. I didn’t know fully what the story was. I was just in the past, but at school. I was in ‘the before times’, I guess we’ll call it. I was talking about this with some of the cast my first day with them, telling them how I auditioned for the pilot and then this role came about and I auditioned.”
Given that Sutton says she was in the past, its unlikely we would have seen her again. No female adults even board the plane with the Yellowjackets, let alone survive in the wilderness, where Coach Scott is the only grown up of the group. Sutton will likely get a lot more screen time now, as she and Kodiak are still alive going into episode eight, and tensions are rife amongst the group. While Lottie and Shauna favour killing the captives, it does not currently seem anyone else does, so Hannah will probably stick aroound for a little while at least.
Are We Ever Getting Adult Melissa?
In the modern day timeline, Hannah will continue to influence things too. Adult Shauna suspects the person who has been trying to kill her is Hannah’s daughter, whom she gave birth to as a teenager before heading off on her research trip. This storyline could finally bring the arrival of Hilary Swank, who was named as a recurring star this season but has been a no show in the seven episodes (of ten total) to air this season.
Fans had speculated that Swank might be Adult Melissa, whose role in the story is growing. However, Shauna confirmed in episode seven than both Melissa and Gen are “dead”, so either Shauna is lying, has been lied to, or Swank is not Melissa. Assuming they died in the wilderness, that leaves Mari, Akilah, or Robin as the main candidates for the eighth survivor we see at the feast in the pilot, but none of them seem a good fit for Swank.
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