Season 3 of Yellowjackets didn’t pull any punches—it was a relentless emotional ride that left fans reeling. Showrunners Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson raised the stakes dramatically, and by the time the dust settled, the series had bid farewell to several beloved characters. While viewers mourned on one side of the screen, how did the cast cope with such a brutal season?
Speaking to Collider at the Newport Beach TV Fest ahead of the Yellowjackets panel, Samantha Hanratty—who plays teenage Misty—reflected on the emotional toll of filming those gutting losses. One of her biggest personal challenges? Navigating the intense shoot while pregnant with her first child—an experience that added its own gravity, even though her pregnancy wasn’t woven into the storyline.
When it came to the hardest death to film, Hanratty didn’t hesitate. “All of the deaths have been very intense,” she said. “But one of the biggest ones for me was with Steven Krueger. I just adore him and love him, and so… yeah. That was a top one. That was a gut-wrenching moment.”
Krueger portrayed Coach Ben Scott, the lone adult survivor of the infamous plane crash. Misty’s evolving, often unsettling infatuation with Ben was a throughline from the start. But by Season 3, Ben’s health had sharply declined, and suspicions among the group mounted that he might’ve set their cabin ablaze. In a haunting scene in episode 6, a weary Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) makes the brutal decision to end his suffering—stabbing him in an act Misty can hardly comprehend.
That moment shattered Misty. And clearly, it left a mark on Hanratty too. Beneath the wilderness horror and cannibalistic chaos, Yellowjackets has always thrived on its emotional core—and this was one death that truly hit home.
Who Died In ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3?
Coach Ben Scott wasn’t the only casualty in Yellowjackets Season 3’s merciless spiral. The first jaw-dropper came with Lottie’s (Simone Kessell) shocking death—her body discovered lifeless at the base of a staircase, launching one of the season’s most compelling mysteries: who killed her? The chaos didn’t end there. Newcomers Edwin (Nelson Franklin) and Kodi (Joel McHale) met a grisly end after stumbling into the girls’ treacherous wilderness camp. But nothing stunned fans more than the sudden, brutal death of adult Van (Lauren Ambrose), slain out of nowhere by none other than adult Melissa (Hilary Swank).
And in a long-awaited reveal that reached all the way back to the show’s first episode, we finally learn the identity of the girl who plummeted into the spiked pit: it was Mari (Alexa Barajas), bringing chilling clarity to a moment that haunted viewers for seasons.
Still, there’s reason to believe not all hope is lost. Some characters may yet find justice or redemption as Yellowjackets charts its path into Season 4. Coach Ben’s demise, though devastating, may have served a deeper narrative purpose. And Melissa? She’s still out there—but not for long. Adult Taissa (Tawny Cypress) is on her trail, and that confrontation is bound to be electric.
Until then, we hold our breath, mourning the fallen and wondering how far this story is willing to go. One thing’s certain: Yellowjackets isn’t done breaking our hearts—or blowing our minds.
You can stream all episodes of Yellowjackets on Paramount+.
