Hive Mind: Speculation

[peachmangosteen]

On 4/4/2025 at 3:12 AM, BitterApple said:

I'm guessing we're getting Pit Girl in the finale? 

I don't think it'll be the one from the pilot. They were in much more elaborate garb then, weren't they?

 

[Wicked]

I keep expecting a Lost "we have to go back" moment

[Anela]

On 4/5/2025 at 9:06 AM, Wicked said:

I keep expecting a Lost "we have to go back" moment

I was hoping they wouldn't go there, but they probably will. I didn't think they would have a current-day hunt, but they did. Sort of. 

I was on reddit again, and I find it funny that I've never cared who the Antler Queen is, but I've always wondered about Pit Girl. She was the hook. Other people don't care about Pit Girl, but are always trying to guess who the Antler Queen is. 

[peachmangosteen]

I never cared about the identity of either. I just feel like they're both pretty much irrelevant but we'll have to see how it all shakes out.

At this point, I think Shauna is probably Antler Queen. I don't know if that was the original plan though. I feel like they've made some big adjustments with Juliette leaving and then I just feel like the original plan wasn't to kill Lottie off so soon either.

It feels almost inevitable that Pit Girl is Hannah to me. But it could just be Mari, Gen, or the other random crying girl they have been showing a bit more this season.

Part of the reason I haven't cared about Pit Girl is because I just assumed they killed all the girls that way so her actual identity doesn't really matter; it was just to show how far gone they become.

 

Edited April 7 by peachmangosteen

[Anela]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

I never cared about the identity of either. I just feel like they're both pretty much irrelevant but we'll have to see how it all shakes out.

At this point, I think Shauna is probably Antler Queen. I don't know if that was the original plan though. I feel like they've made some big adjustments with Juliette leaving and then I just feel like the original plan wasn't to kill Lottie off so soon either.

It feel almost inevitable that Pit Girl is Hannah to me. But it could just be Mari, Gen, or the other random crying girl they have been showing a bit more this season.

Part of the reason I haven't cared about Pit Girl is because I just assumed they killed all the girls that way so her actual identity doesn't really matter; it was just to show how far gone they become.

 

She was to draw people in, like Drew Barrymore in Scream.  

[BitterApple]

I guess it's fun to speculate, but I agree with all the above. Pit Girl and Antler Queen were never meant to be big reveals. The former is either Gen, Robyn, Mari or Hannah and the latter could be anyone. The leadership role has changed multiple times since they crashed in the Wilderness. It's probably Shauna, given they don't have much time left in the woods. 

I'm actually more interested in the practical stuff. How do they do the body cleanup? How will they hash out their cover story and how the heck do they actually get rescued? In S1, Adult Tai and Adult Shauna imply that it's because of Natalie, so I'm excited to see that play out. 

[peachmangosteen]

Yea, I’m ready for the rescue to happen because that’s something we really know nothing about. 

I don’t see how they could kill the remaining 5 or whatever girls in the finale but I kinda hope they somehow do it so we can move on to the recuse next season.

[Anela]

I still want to know who pit girl is.  I just wasn’t expecting Travis to be the one to make it.  

[peachmangosteen]

14 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

How do they do the body cleanup?

I assume they are just gonna eat everyone now lol so no bodies to clean up. How they’re gonna explain why so many of the girls plus Ben and Javi’s bodies just disappeared though I have no idea.

I don’t know how they’d figure out a story and get it together if they just happen to get rescued so I guess maybe Natalie will leave alone to find someone or fix the phone and give them time to figure that out. But that doesn’t really make sense to me either. 

5 minutes ago, Anela said:

I still want to know who pit girl is.  I just wasn’t expecting Travis to be the one to make it.  

That made me be like wait Travis just made that in like 20 minutes to try to trick Lottie? That feels so unbelievable but then everything does so it tracks lol. 

Edited April 7 by peachmangosteen

[BitterApple]

1 minute ago, peachmangosteen said:

 

I don’t see how they could kill the remaining 5 or whatever girls in the finale but I kinda hope they somehow do it so we can move on to the recuse next season.

Same. At this point the cannibalism has lost the shock value. The two background girls barely have any lines, so their deaths will be even more forgettable than Krystal's. We know Hannah dies, so the only two fates I'm invested in are Akilah and Mari. Gen, I don't care about either way. 

Just now, peachmangosteen said:

I assume they are just gonna eat everyone now lol so no bodies to clean up. How they’re go explain how so many of the girls bodies just disappeared though I have no idea.

I should've said the bone clean-up, sorry. The bones would show cut and teeth marks. I'm assuming they'd have to get rid of them somehow in case the family members wanted remains. 

[peachmangosteen]

Good point. Honestly it’s a lot so I feel they might just gloss over it like they did with the girls building a village and starting a farm in a month or whatever.

Quote

We know Hannah dies, so the only two fates I'm invested in are Akilah and Mari. 

It would be absolutely ridiculous and stupid but most of the show is so I don’t care, I want them both to survive lol.

[Thalia]

I know the show is set up to show us what happened in the wilderness and how it led to the present day.  They may not have planned to show us what happened in the months after they return to NJ.   But as time passes and, as @BitterApple said, the shock value of the cannibalism and murders lessens, I've become more interested in seeing how 1) are rescued; 2) how and why they explain what has happened over the past 18 months, including how everyone else died; AND, 3) what the heck happens in their first few months back. 

How do they handle their families?  How do they react to the families of those they killed and noshed upon ("I believe I could take a second helping there, Van!).  We've seen Lottie's parents, but I'm particularly interested in seeing Ben's lover, Jeff, and whatever decision the YJs made at some point to separate from each other.   It seemed like they were consciously staying apart up until the part the blackmail started in season one.  

[AstridM]

14 hours ago, Anela said:

I was hoping they wouldn't go there, but they probably will. I didn't think they would have a current-day hunt, but they did. Sort of. 

I was on reddit again, and I find it funny that I've never cared who the Antler Queen is, but I've always wondered about Pit Girl. She was the hook. Other people don't care about Pit Girl, but are always trying to guess who the Antler Queen is. 

Mention of either of those things makes me want to beat my own head against the wall repeatedly 😂. Make. It. Fucking. Stop.

[peachmangosteen]

.

Edited April 7 by peachmangosteen

[JasonCC]

I tend to agree with the above that the Antler Queen and Pit Girl were more meant to show how far these descended. The animal masks, etc were all creepy as fuck. It wasn't necessarily a mystery but a teaser that "this is going to get twisted and DARK" if that makes sense. Not a guessing game or whodonit.

I do speculate how they trim down the 90s cast. Akilah doesn't seem like she wants to stay at all and is wising up about all the Wilderness supernatural stuff. For one hot second I thought maybe she stays with one or two of the background girls (Gen, Robin, Britt)

The ante now is a bit more the rescue logistics and the early integration into regular society.

Sophie Thatcher deserves an Emmy nom from the latest episode. That scene crying as the first snow fell? I cried too.

Edited April 8 by JasonCC

[Anela]

I'm about to watch. My wireless headphones that connected to my TV broke, but I have headphones that I can plug into my Roku remote, so I can watch now. 

I did see that one prediction about who killed Lottie, was right. 

[Brn2bwild]

This is out there, but does anyone think it would have been cool to see Jackie live and see how being in the wilderness changed her? I could see Jackie becoming hardened, but at the same time maintaining her moral compass and maybe eventually aligning with Nat in the sane/anti It camp.

[sistermagpie]

23 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

This is out there, but does anyone think it would have been cool to see Jackie live and see how being in the wilderness changed her? I could see Jackie becoming hardened, but at the same time maintaining her moral compass and maybe eventually aligning with Nat in the sane/anti It camp.

There have been people asking for that practically since the show started. 

[AstridM]

19 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

There have been people asking for that practically since the show started. 

Definitely not me, lol.

[JasonCC]

This is a combo of speculation and wishful thinking, but I hope the writers know a long 4th/final season is okay (instead of the much talked about 5 plan) and also its okay to not have equal attention spent on both 2021 and 90s timelines. I feel the narrative is with the past, rescue, etc and to a large degree 2021 timeline has run its course. 

I love Jeff and Callie and adult Misty (and have questions about Walter) but we don't need to see that storyline in equal proportion to the 90s storyline. A 3 to 1 recipe is okay for that final season as we see what contortions the rescued girls must have gone through with their alibis once back in New Jersey,

Other speculations:

No one else ever knows Misty destroyed the transmitter. Nat takes that to her grave, and it is part of the reason Misty idolizes her above the other YJ's so much. 

We will get one last humorous moment with Gary.

There may be one or two left behind (Akilah?) and the whole "evil things we did there...and after" is a murder in the modern world post-rescue because a "second rescue"  could really be dangerous in terms of undoing whatever is the cover story they told.

 

Edited April 21 by JasonCC

[AstridM]

On 4/21/2025 at 4:43 PM, JasonCC said:

This is a combo of speculation and wishful thinking, but I hope the writers know a long 4th/final season is okay (instead of the much talked about 5 plan) and also its okay to not have equal attention spent on both 2021 and 90s timelines. I feel the narrative is with the past, rescue, etc and to a large degree 2021 timeline has run its course. 

I love Jeff and Callie and adult Misty (and have questions about Walter) but we don't need to see that storyline in equal proportion to the 90s storyline. A 3 to 1 recipe is okay for that final season as we see what contortions the rescued girls must have gone through with their alibis once back in New Jersey,

Other speculations:

No one else ever knows Misty destroyed the transmitter. Nat takes that to her grave, and it is part of the reason Misty idolizes her above the other YJ's so much. 

We will get one last humorous moment with Gary.

There may be one or two left behind (Akilah?) and the whole "evil things we did there...and after" is a murder in the modern world post-rescue because a "second rescue"  could really be dangerous in terms of undoing whatever is the cover story they told.

 

The major stars are in the adult cast, so unlikely, imo. 

[Brn2bwild]

Theory: Shauna doesn't dislike Callie because she reminds her of Jackie, but because she reminds her of Mari.

Besides having the same long, dark hair, she also has the same flippant, snarky attitude. 

[peachmangosteen]

Not sure if this belongs here but not sure where else to ask it: Has anyone ever heard anything about that season 2 episode that never aired that the one writer said would air between season 2 and 3? It seemingly was the one with Jason Ritter as presumably the Cabin Guy. I'm guessing maybe they just decided to drop whatever lore he had from the show. Which probably means we'll never learn about the symbol on the trees. Annoying.

[Brn2bwild]

6 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Not sure if this belongs here but not sure where else to ask it: Has anyone ever heard anything about that season 2 episode that never aired that the one writer said would air between season 2 and 3? It seemingly was the one with Jason Ritter as presumably the Cabin Guy. I'm guessing maybe they just decided to drop whatever lore he had from the show. Which probably means we'll never learn about the symbol on the trees. Annoying.

I was watching an interview between Samantha Hanratty and YouTuber kfunggg where Samantha said something to the effect that the Cabin Guy episode would have contained too many spoilers for future seasons, so it was canned/scrapped/postponed.

[Anela]

12 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

I was watching an interview between Samantha Hanratty and YouTuber kfunggg where Samantha said something to the effect that the Cabin Guy episode would have contained too many spoilers for future seasons, so it was canned/scrapped/postponed.

I hope they still show it, at some point. 

A couple of years ago, I remember being annoyed by certain things, all the speculation that Adam was Javi, cabin daughter, things like that. But this year, I really got into it all. 

[peachmangosteen]

8 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

I was watching an interview between Samantha Hanratty and YouTuber kfunggg where Samantha said something to the effect that the Cabin Guy episode would have contained too many spoilers for future seasons, so it was canned/scrapped/postponed.

Weird lol. Like why make an episode for season 2 that you feel spoils too much for future seasons? Further proof the writers really kinda don't know what they're doing.

I hope it does eventually air but I sort of figure it just won't and they'll either drop whatever it revealed or reveal it some other way.

[BitterApple]

It feels like there's so many loose ends that won't get tied up. Cabin Daddy, the symbol, what happened to Krystal's body, who burned the cabin down, who was Javi's friend, Erik Cheong (the most absurd red herring ever), Jessica Roberts dying from a fentanyl overdose with seemingly no investigation. Who left the phone in the restaurant bathroom (assuming Melissa wasn't lying). Supernatural vs. Mass Hallucination. There's probably more I can't think of off the top of my head, but it's quite a bit of dropped plot. 

[peachmangosteen]

Some of those I definitely think they feel aren't necessarily loose ends. 

The Jessica Roberts thing is basically like Natalie's death/Kevin's death/that other cop just taking the fall for it, probably Melissa killing Van, even Melissa faking a suicide. Like we just have to accept the cops are incompetent I guess, which isn't hard to believe really lol.

Javi's friend I think they want us to just accept it was a figment of his imagination. I think they showed Ben talking to someone to drive that home. It's not my favorite explanation but I feel like it's all we're gonna get.

And the phone in the bathroom again I think they just want us to figure Shauna is paranoid and it's just a coincidence. Just some random woman leaving their phone in there. It happens.

Erik Cheong, I think we're supposed to believe Joel Mchale (I forget his characters' name lol) was telling the truth and he just bought some stuff at a thrift store.

Supernatural vs. Mass Hallucination: They've completely given up on the supernatural aspects tbh. I was hoping they'd at least keep the question going for awhile and the writers do seem to be trying to say they are in interviews but sadly I think they're just going with 'gas poisoning' for the reason behind like say the shared dream, Lottie's schizophrenia as the reason for her visions, the frogs producing the sounds, etc.

I think they will leave who burned down the cabin and what happened to Krystal's body as lose ends honestly. I hope not but I just don't see them going back there.

And I am afraid they're just gonna drop Cabin Guy and therefore the symbol too but perhaps they'll incorporate that still.

I still wanna know how the hell Bad Tai knew where the symbols were but I just don't think they're gonna tell us. And if there's already some kind of explanation for it that's been fanwanked I've missed it.

Edited May 1 by peachmangosteen

[JasonCC]

Quote

 think they will leave who burned down the cabin and what happened to Krystal's body as lose ends honestly. I hope not but I just don't see them going back there.

I would be okay with the cabin remaining unknown (I think it actually could have been just a chimney fire as it hadn't been cleaned in decades and then was suddenly getting daily usage). 

Krystal's body: this mystery is more important to me in a larger "how the f*ck do they explain the conditions, whereabouts and circumstances of death of the others once rescued?"

The surviving YJ's really can't say everyone not rescued died in the initial plane crash. Most people aren't buried together with Rachel Goldman. Coach Ben and Javi's remains alone will show what was done to them. Krystal is missing entirely. Jackie's remains will also indicate foul play. The parents of those deceased will want the remains returned to them surely. 

It only just occurred to me: could they lie and say the others killed were with Laura Lee when the plane exploded? That still doesn't work because it is not looking like there will be a long enough notice to exhume and hide the bodies.

Even though a new character, Hannah's fate and story is something that will keep me viewing. I'm more interested in her than Callie, actually.

Edited May 2 by JasonCC

[sistermagpie]

Quote

The surviving YJ's really can't say everyone not rescued died in the initial plane crash. Most people aren't buried together with Rachel Goldman. Coach Ben and Javi's remains alone will show what was done to them. Krystal is missing entirely. Jackie's remains will also indicate foul play. The parents of those deceased will want the remains returned to them surely. 

I don't think people living in the wilderness for 19 months would need to answer for exactly what happened to every dead person and their remains. Jackie died of hypothermia and her remains were eaten. Krystal fell off a cliff and something happened to her body. Seems like in both cases you just can say animals got to the corpses--or killed and ate the person to begin with. The kids were trying to survive, they're not undertakers. They had other things to worry about.

I feel like they could just respond to anybody demanding bodies by saying if they wanted those bodies--maybe even alive--they shouldn't have stopped searching for us because we've been out here just trying to stay alive, so piss off.

Edited May 2 by sistermagpie

[BitterApple]

What's interesting is the world has deducted cannibalism happened but the survivors never admitted it. Does that mean forensic details were never released? Surely, the families would want copies of the autopsy reports, and you'd think one of them would've blabbed to the media? Maybe Mr. Matthews used his money and influence to hush everyone up. 

[sistermagpie]

2 hours ago, BitterApple said:

What's interesting is the world has deducted cannibalism happened but the survivors never admitted it. Does that mean forensic details were never released? Surely, the families would want copies of the autopsy reports, and you'd think one of them would've blabbed to the media? Maybe Mr. Matthews used his money and influence to hush everyone up. 

Autopsies on who? We don't know there was any autopsies to be done on people who died months earlier.

People deduced cannibalism because it's the automatic story people jump to when people are stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash, especially in a cold climate. They don't really have to follow clues to get there--plus the girls were all very closed-mouths about how they survived at all.

Makes me think of the old Kids in the Hall sketch when an airplane cannibal is being put on trial and tries to make people understand the hunger that drove him to do it to the prosecuter, who replies, "We're not talking about a plane crash in the Andes here, sir, you are the sole survivor of a 20 minute delay!"

[KaveDweller]

2 hours ago, BitterApple said:

What's interesting is the world has deducted cannibalism happened but the survivors never admitted it. Does that mean forensic details were never released? Surely, the families would want copies of the autopsy reports, and you'd think one of them would've blabbed to the media? Maybe Mr. Matthews used his money and influence to hush everyone up. 

Would there really be forensic details? These girls were in the wilderness for over a year with no access to medicine/doctors or a steady food source. A bunch of people died, but there are reasonable stories about most the deaths that are true or close to it. They are far into the wilderness and it appears they are going to be found in the winter when the ground is frozen. If they get rescued by someone coming into the camp, it is probably going to be a small team who is focused on getting the survivors out safely and not one who wants to dig up bodies (assuming they don't see any heads on sticks).

[BitterApple]

You can analyze bones and look for cut marks, teeth marks, fractures, etc. 

[sistermagpie]

13 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

You can analyze bones and look for cut marks, teeth marks, fractures, etc. 

But who would prioritize doing that? It's a bunch of girls abandoned in the wilderness under deadly conditions where injuries would be easy to come by with nobody looking for them. After a plane crash and two harsh winters, a handful have survived. If the girls do point people to bones that remain of teammates they buried or kept, seems like the last thing on anyone's mind would be to examine bones to try to prove foul play and cannibalism. Even the families of the dead would probably much rather just deal with death by wilderness conditions. And if they didn't, I think the general public and other families would be protective of the survivors and encourage them to work out their grief some other way.

Edited May 3 by sistermagpie

[peachmangosteen]

11 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

I think the general public and other families would be protective of the survivors and encourage them to work out their grief some other way.

I'm not so sure about that. Clearly these girl never got any help.

I would find it hard to believe that no one tried to find any of the bodies but this show does like to just hand wave things like that so that may be what ends up happening.

[sistermagpie]

4 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I'm not so sure about that. Clearly these girl never got any help.

 

Just to be clear, I didn't mean the girls got all the psychological  help they needed, just that in general I don't believe people, especially the survivors' parents, would support people reacting to their rescue by searching for bodies to prove that at some point over those 19 months some of them committed murder. 

We know that the public is still interested in the story of the girls surviving all that time. The mystery of "what really happened out there" adds some dark excitement to it, but nobody seems to feel like there's some injustice for the people who died along the way. That's just what I mean by protective--that people don't want to punish them for being the ones who made it. The fact that there is still such a mystery would suggest there were no deep investigations like that--nobody brings up gnawed on bones, they just imagine stuff happening.

Edited May 3 by sistermagpie

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

The fact that there is still such a mystery would suggest there were no deep investigations like that

Oh for sure. There’s no way there were any investigations at all. Which is ridiculous but that’s just how the show has been handling stuff. 

I just wonder if they’ll try to explain why there’s no investigation or just move right on past it like they’ve done with everything else similar.

[AstridM]

I need some of coach Ben’s relatives and/or friends to investigate!

[JasonCC]

I might not have been clear above but I don't think a guessing game of what happened to those that didn't make it would happen immediately--all the attention will be on the YJ's who survived.

It's all about the families. Perhaps a year or more later someone wants to have a *insert religion here* burial in their faith or remains with the family. Ben's parents would be told if his remains are found decapitated and legless. 

Speaking of that a small side-plot I think about is Paul. I wonder if during those 19 months he ever had contact with Ben's family which we don't know anything about. My first instinct was maybe they are religious since he wasn't out but  then I remembered I'm around heir age (90s high school experience) and Ben is only 25 or so. Not unusual at all to not be out of the closet even with non-Bible thumper parents (I came out at 24 and my parents are super liberal).

Edited May 3 by JasonCC

[peachmangosteen]

5 minutes ago, JasonCC said:

I might not have been clear above but I don't think a guessing game of what happened to those that didn't make it would happen immediately--all the attention will be on the YJ's who survived.

I mean, in real life, there would be a pretty thorough investigation of a plane crash like that. But this show exists in a not entirely realistic world.

[KaveDweller]

10 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I'm not so sure about that. Clearly these girl never got any help.

I would find it hard to believe that no one tried to find any of the bodies but this show does like to just hand wave things like that so that may be what ends up happening.

I can't think of a similar situation in real life, where a group was found in the wilderness months after being declared dead. But it doesn't seem like hand waving at all to say they didn't dig up bodies and do autopsies. Even if the families did request getting the bodies back, why would they do tests?

[peachmangosteen]

I mean, when there are plane crashes, they search. Perhaps after that long they wouldn't do it as extensively but I highly doubt they'd just be like 'Well, I guess we'll never find any of the bodies let's go ahead and head out' without doing anything lol. But they will on this show because that's just how they deal with this type of thing. They don't seem to want to spend too much time on those kind of details.

Edited May 4 by peachmangosteen