The adults are in mourning in ‘Yellowjackets’ season 3 first look (exclusive)

The wait for Yellowjackets is nearly over.

After leaving us with some major revelations in the season 2 finale — namely teen Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) being named the new Antler Queen and adult Natalie (Juliette Lewis) dying — Yellowjackets is preparing for an action-packed third season, and Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive first look at what fans can expect.

Although co-creator Ashley Lyle says “there’s a little bit of a time jump in both timelines” heading into the new season, the images show the adult characters, in particular, in the aftermath of losing their friend.

Specifically, when it comes to Misty (Christina Ricci), who accidentally killed her best friend, Lyle jokes, “Misty is handling it great,” before more seriously adding, “Natalie’s death certainly impacts Misty emotionally the most, but I think that the reverberations of it are felt by all of them.”

Speaking to adult Van (Lauren Ambrose) and Taissa’s (Tawny Cypress) relationship, co-creator Bart Nickerson chimes in, saying, “One of the things that we have always been trying to play with, but maybe this season even more so is that, as a result of a lot of their experiences, they’ve obviously put a lot of terrible stuff away, but they’re also trying to recapture some of the best of themselves from that time, too. Some of that will be explored through that relationship.”

Nobody loves a mystery more than the Yellowjackets team, so the co-creators won’t share too much, but Lyle also teases, “One thing that’s always been important to us is that the timelines are really interconnected in terms of the characters and the totality of the characters and the consequences of what they went through didn’t end in the past.”

As for what’s coming for the teens, let’s not forget that last season ended with their shelter burning down. “I think that people will be surprised by their resourcefulness in the face of their continued survival,” Nickerson says.  

Their bigger issue might be political, especially given that Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) clearly thought she was going to be named the new leader before Lottie (Courtney Eaton) chose Natalie. “What we see is a continuation of some of the tensions and resentments that were building in season 2,” Lyle says. “And those really play a large part in how the girls continue to interact this season.”

Speaking of those interactions, season 2 made a splash by quickly getting into the cannibalism stage of the teen’s survival story, and let’s just say: Once you go there, there’s really no going back. “Definitely buckle up this season,” Lyle says. “The cannibalism cat is out of the bag.”

One things fan shouldn’t expect? The previously announced bonus episode that was supposed to air between seasons 2 and 3. “The truth is that there is a bonus episode but we may need to wait a bit longer for it,” Lyle says.

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For now, a third season will have to do. See more exclusive images from season 3 below:

Yellowjackets returns Friday, Feb. 14, on Showtime.