After a record-breaking season three, Showtime has renewedYellowjackets for a fourth season. The season three finale, "Full Circle," showed an alternative perspective of the pilot's opening Wilderness sequence as well as the additional surprise that Natalie had secretly separated from the group in a victorious quest to contact someone in the outside world. Natalie's triumphant endeavor is the first real sign of a successful rescue following the downfall of a potential homecoming courtesy of the frog scientist team. But, as the Yellowjackets still have an anticipated few months or so left in the Wilderness, and a potential continuing power struggle between Shauna and Natalie when Natalie returns to the group, season four has plenty of ammunition in preparation for what season four could bring, and if the time has finally come for rescue.
Both timelines have plenty of questions that need answers, and character relationships that deserve a stronger focus as the Wilderness timeline starts moving toward the sequence of events that leads to the group's inevitable separation as adults. Even if stronger answers may not come until a potential season five, season four can still lay the groundwork for the seeds needed to better understand how some of the strongest relationships became undone, or how some of the relationships that are barely represented became so integral to the series later on. Season three did start moving the needle forward in circumstances such as Natalie's relationships with Misty and Shauna, such as explaining a background for Misty's loyalty to Natalie, as well as setting the groundwork for what made Shauna and Natalie's relationship more complicated.
Natalie and Shauna's dynamic is a breakout relationship in season three, constantly showing the two at odds in presenting opposing sides of the spectrum in terms of what it means to survive while connected or disconnected from one's humanity. They represent different leadership styles as well as presenting strong, differing reactions to the cold world around them, as the two have acted as two of the most prominent members of the Yellowjackets, as the hunter and butcher. Their dynamic still has a chance to grow in season four, as their adult counterparts do not seem to entirely hate each other. However, when it comes to justifying references to the changes from teenage dynamics to adult relationships, there are still plenty that season four has the ability to focus on.
In the case of Natalie and Travis, for example, the two spend a lot of time together in seasons one and two, only to barely see each other in season three. This does give each of them time to spend with other characters, but the adult timeline teased that Natalie and Travis eventually unhealthily lean on each other on and off following their rescue. Even if this dynamic does not start in season four, laying more groundwork for the return of their bond could help solidify what makes their relationship as adults so problematic. Certain aspects are already strongly understood, such as the connection they each have to the events that led to Javi's death. Yet, it is not clear if anything else is attributed to how they were never quite able to remain together or stay apart for long periods of time.
The connection between Taissa and Natalie as adults is also an interesting one, but one that the Wilderness timeline has yet to truly justify. Natalie and Taissa spend some time together interacting, but never quite enough to explain why Taissa feels the need to pay for Natalie's various times in rehab. Is Natalie's success at reaching the outside world part of what helps Taissa bond with Natalie? There are many details that could contribute to Taissa potentially feeling indebted to Natalie, and season four has the potential to offer further explanation and exploration of their relationship. In season one, the adult connection between Natalie, Taissa, and Shauna was a primary point, with Misty's connections existing on the outskirts. At what point did Shauna, Taissa, and Natalie become their own version of a trio? While season four may be a little too early to directly explain how those three orbit each other, there could be more seeds laid for how Shauna and Natalie become Taissa's two main threads to their time in the Wilderness, and how Van, Misty, Lottie, Travis, and Melissa, as well as any other potential survivors that have not been revealed yet, went their separate ways.
Van and Taissa are another relationship that the adult timeline explains goes south after rescue, but it is not entirely certain as to when everything goes wrong. Van references that Taissa had been the one to end their relationship, but does it come entirely out of nowhere, or do the cracks of their relationship eventually start to make themselves known while still stuck in the Wilderness, or not long after rescue? Taissa and Van's relationship is one of the strongest and most constant that the Wilderness timeline has to offer. But was Van's decision to help Natalie and Misty fix the radio and make contact with the outside world the first crack in Van and Taissa's relationship, as Taissa had argued to stay in the Wilderness?
Van's connections with Natalie and Misty could also be more heavily focused on in season four. For the most part, Van's time is spent primarily with Taissa. But, season four could see the opportunity to expand on Van's relationships with the two people she started an alliance with. Season three already confirmed that Shauna and Van never became close, but that does not mean that Van did not have any other connections. Van's reunion with Lottie in the season two adult timeline shows that there was certainly a strong remaining connection between them, even if they did not get to explore it more as adults, as both characters met their untimely ends in season three.
Another relationship with plenty of build-up that earned more execution is between Lottie and Natalie. Season two spent a lot of time showing Lottie and Natalie as teenagers and adults in a strange limbo of a relationship, with Natalie rejecting the Wilderness religion that Lottie built, as Lottie showed her desire to keep Natalie safe. In season three, their relationship is mostly small pieces rather than emotionally driven storylines as a whole. However, the small moments they do get are meaningful, with Lottie stepping in to help Natalie after she killed Coach Scott to save Natalie's life by giving Shauna control of the group. However, season two suggests that there is a deeper, more complex relationship between Natalie and Lottie than season three presents.
Season four could also justify Van's line about how Melissa and Gen had grown close to Hannah, as well as showing Hannah give Melissa the tape to pass along to Alex. Shauna and Melissa's Wilderness relationship may be up in the air, as Melissa appears to still be hurt by Shauna's actions and siding against her, but unable to kill her. However, their adult dynamic has the opportunity to become a catalyst to continue Shauna's reign of terror. It is uncertain where Shauna views her own loyalties, in the aftermath of Van's death, and being unaware that Taissa and Misty have started plotting against her. Perhaps Shauna sees power as her only ally, as that is a relationship that her Wilderness counterpart spent time striving for, while her adult counterpart had only started leaning back into that mindset toward the end of the third season. Shauna's ability to be dangerous in the adult timeline has always been a part of the show, but her relationship with power is only getting started. There are so many avenues that season four could go down in terms of storylines and continuing to develop character relationships, and any choice that gets made will help play a role in understanding the trauma bond and history that the Yellowjackets share.