S03.E09: How the Story Ends

[BitterApple]

I can't believe I didn't think of this before, but someone on Reddit made a great post about the transponder and SatPhone. It's unlikely the phone will be their ticket to rescue, because based on what Callie found in that article, the world doesn't know the scientists and the YJ's crossed paths. We already know they kill Hannah at some point, so even if they got it fixed, they'd have to explain how they came into possession of it but didn't meet the researchers. So I'm assuming they either don't fix it or they do but one of them breaks it, realizing it leads to questions they don't want to answer. 

If they don't get rescued in the finale, this show better get renewed because it'll drive me crazy not knowing. 😆

[sistermagpie]

  On 4/5/2025 at 4:22 AM, BitterApple said:

I did a rewatch tonight and I wonder if Callie will be the one who ends up killing her. She's clearly more bonded to Jeff and she looked so sad for him when he said being married to Shauna was lonely. Callie may figure it's the only way they can be free from Shauna's craziness. 

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I don't think she would need to kill her to be free of her. They're her family and they know who she is, that she's crazy. It's not easy to deal with, and it would be good if the point of Shaunas arc was to rectify that. But if she doesn't, they can just not let her drag them into her shit, just like hotel.

It's lonely being a family with Shauna because Shauna herself is lonely all the time, pushing away anybody she could be close to even while wanting to protect them.

 

  On 4/6/2025 at 5:48 PM, peachmangosteen said:

Or it could be supernatural. The viewers who think eveything that’s happened can be explained away by math/science/logic seem to think anyone who doesn’t agree is somehow an idiot who doesn’t understand the show, but the show itself has not done anything to definitively explain things either way.

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Yeah, seems obvious that the whole point is that it's not stupid of Travis to wonder if the Wilderness prevented Lottie from falling into the pit while at the same time there's obviously physical reasons why it didn't collapse.

Melissa is the one who killed Van, did she leave the knife with her fingerprints etc.? This is one murder they didn't actually commit.

It was funny, I thought, when Melissa suggested that Shauna acted psycho with Adam when she really didn't. She really did think he was blackmailing them and killed him instinctually in a sort of self-defense. Did Melissa have any reason to kill Van besides saying it was what It wanted?

I'm intrigued about what Misty saw on Walter's phone. Seems like he's a real suspect for Lottie's murder, maybe for Misty-type reasons. Callie seems to have something weird going on to, but I don't like the idea that she might have killed her. Although it might have been an accident.

I admit, I don't really get why it was a good idea for Hannah to kill Kodi, their only way to get home. 

I also wind up thinking the others can't really just be too afraid to disobey Shauna openly. Seems like they've got to have some reasons for just not liking the idea of those 3 not wanting to go.

Shauna's a nightmare, but I was really happy at Misty going back to not thinking she did it, reducing Misty's anger to just locking her in the freezer in revenge for Shauna being an asshole.

Oh, and I forgot. How did they possibly have Van say that she and Tai were "down at the shore?" You're from New Jersey, Van. You were DOWN THE SHORE!

Edited April 7 by sistermagpie

[WaltersHair]

  On 4/7/2025 at 1:28 AM, sistermagpie said:

Yeah, seems obvious that the whole point is that it's not stupid of Travis to wonder if the Wilderness prevented Lottie from falling into the pit while at the same time there's obviously physical reasons why it didn't collapse.

 

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On my second watch, I noticed Lottie seemed to know that the pit was there before stepping on the bed of twigs. She gave Travis a knowing look before stepping off of it.

The thing none of them seem to realize is that lots of bad always follows whatever good they think 'IT' is giving them. All the horrible things they did to coach in service to It. Forcing Nat to cut him up and then eating him when they didn't need to.  

They could have been rescued by the science group. Instead, Lottie brains a guy and then eats him raw. Joel from The Soup gets a knife in the eye. Melissa and Shauna had a true breakup. Tai and Van fight. Missy gets busted with the transponder. It starts snowing before they can 'clean' up after themselves to leave. They will have to bear another winter.

All of this is fallout.

[BitterApple]

  On 4/7/2025 at 2:39 AM, WaltersHair said:

It starts snowing before they can 'clean' up after themselves to leave. They will have to bear another winter.

All of this is fallout.

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And the irony is staying to clean up has now created an even bigger mess to clean up because many more are going to die. 

 

[JenE4]

Okay, so I admit to getting lost in phone scrolling and didn’t pay attention at the end because this episode was not holding my interest. But now I’m really confused—and glad I can just ask you all instead of forcing myself to rewatch again. What the heck happened in present time starting with the fireplace/potential carbon monoxide poisoning? Who started the fire? Why was Van the only one left there with Melissa and where was everyone else? Why did Melissa kill Van? And what did that have to do with Tai…or was it presumably all “bad Tai’s” doing?

[meep.meep]

The fire was already going when Shauna snuck into Melissa's home.  They had tied up Melissa and parked her on the fireplace lip.  She reached behind her and closed the flu.  Van was in another room and still had on an oxygen mask from the hospital.  She got up and found everyone else knocked out from CO.  She dragged Tai out and brought her back by giving her the oxygen mask.  Then she dragged Shauna out and told Tai to give her the mask.  She went back in and cut the ropes on Melissa and was debating whether to kill her when Melissa tripped her, grabbed the knife, stabbed Van, and presumably booked it out the back door. 

I must be in the minority but I've really liked this season, especially compared to last year's.  Why did they think Melissa was dead?  Who killed Lottie?

[Brn2bwild]

  On 4/6/2025 at 11:17 PM, BitterApple said:

I can't believe I didn't think of this before, but someone on Reddit made a great post about the transponder and SatPhone. It's unlikely the phone will be their ticket to rescue, because based on what Callie found in that article, the world doesn't know the scientists and the YJ's crossed paths. We already know they kill Hannah at some point, so even if they got it fixed, they'd have to explain how they came into possession of it but didn't meet the researchers. So I'm assuming they either don't fix it or they do but one of them breaks it, realizing it leads to questions they don't want to answer. 

If they don't get rescued in the finale, this show better get renewed because it'll drive me crazy not knowing. 😆

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Is it possible maybe the SatPhone ends up providing parts to fix the transponder?

[Cosmocrush]

  On 4/7/2025 at 5:12 PM, Brn2bwild said:

Is it possible maybe the SatPhone ends up providing parts to fix the transponder?

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That's what I'm thinking since they aren't rescued right away, so a transponder that no one is listening for anymore (since it's been over a year) goes off and it takes a while for the authorities to identify it.  Just speculation of course, but if they got the SatPhone working the rescue would be much quicker than we know it was, right? 

[Ceindreadh]

  On 4/7/2025 at 5:10 PM, meep.meep said:

 

I must be in the minority but I've really liked this season, especially compared to last year's.  Why did they think Melissa was dead?  Who killed Lottie?

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Melissa faked her suicide.  She made some comment about how the cops were ready to believe it, even without a body, so I presume she left a note and just disappeared. 

[tennisgurl]

The biggest stretch for me in this episode? That anyone would recognize Melissa without her hat. 

I try to limit my exposure to behind the scenes drama in shows that I like, but I do feel bad that so many of the actresses feel like they had the rug pulled out from under them when the got killed off. It also seems to strongly suggest that there really is no grand plan about where this show is going, which is rough when your writing a mystery show. In general I have found this season to be a big improvement on the last season, but this is giving me real worries about where the show is going. 

Poor Van, she tried to do something good and it majorly backfired. I liked seeing her and teen Van interacting though, its really interesting how so many of the girls have ended up on that plane when they died as adults, like their lives ended the second that plane started going down and its catching up with them now. I guess she at least managed to stop bad Tai from taking over, although without Van as a stabilizing force who knows how long that will last.

I am and am also not surprised that Tai and Van were manipulating the cards, we know from back in episode one that Tai will make the ruthless choice if she thinks it will benefit her and Van usually follows Tai's lead, at least in the teen flashbacks. Even in the flashbacks Van is pushing against Tai more, which makes me wonder if Van will keep participating in the card manipulation. 

Teen Shauna is such a monster now, its not even about survival for her at this point she just loves having power. I am really not sure why they let Shauna/Lottie/Tai just decide that they wouldn't go home, there are way more people on team home than team crazy, and Shauna didn't even have the gun if memory serves. Is everyone just that afraid of Shauna? I don't really blame them for being scared of Shauna, but she is just one person, if she really wants to stay they could just leave her and the rest of team crazy. 

Poor Nat, I so felt for her when she saw the snow and realized how screwed they were. Damn, so Nat knows that Misty was behind them being stuck here and that now that things are getting worse she's going to play the hero? I guess Nat keeps Misty's secret for some reason, that certainly does add a lot to their relationship as adults. I really like Misty, she's a great character, but its often hard to feel bad for her knowing that every terrible thing that happened after the crash could have been avoided if she had told the truth instead of keeping everyone there so that she could feel included. 

I did not see Travis being the one to make the pit trap, especially to kill Lottie. Of course Lottie walks over it like she's walking on water, not because she's chosen by the Wilderness, probably because Travis is a traumatized half starved teenage boy who doesn't know how to build death traps, but I fear Travis might join Lottie's cult again. Its wild to me that so many people watching this still think that the magical angle could be true, the show has been hitting us over the head over and over there there are logical explanations behind everything that has happened. 

Jeff and Callie smoking pot together was a small but very effective scene, it was sweet in a sad way to see them bonding about how hard things have been. 

[sistermagpie]

I'm liking S3, but I think an issue the show has is that Shauna is the only character who seems to really gel all together. You can see the specific trauma she has and how she deals with it, so she's full of rage, but also self-loathing and guilty about it, she pushes people she cares about away and won't get close to them, but is also fiercely protective of them.

But with other characters the stuff we get doesn't really hang together for me. Like Van had all those NDEs and was Lottie's first disciple, but her death doesn't seem to give that a shape at all. Same with Tai and Bad Tai. And certainly Natalie.

[KittyQ]

  On 4/4/2025 at 10:24 AM, Black Knight said:

This is just a small thing, but I appreciated Walter drinking from Misty's martini at the end of that scene, just to let the audience know for sure about that drink. The whole scene I was wondering if it was spiked with something and Misty clearly was too because she never took a sip of it. It's a point for Walter.

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Me too! I thought that Misty was suspicious of Walter (and seriously, who isn't suspicious of everyone else on this show?). So, she didn't even sip the special martini he made for her. But he was sincere. What did Misty see on the phone???

[sistermagpie]

  On 4/7/2025 at 7:41 PM, tennisgurl said:

I guess Nat keeps Misty's secret for some reason, that certainly does add a lot to their relationship as adults.

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I think Simone Kessell said that Lottie knew what Misty had done as well, so everyone may find out.

[MBayGal]

So they are not going home next week? I'm expected to wait a year or more for an even more ridiculous season? This has increasingly become a shit show, and after whatever slop they toss at me this weekend, I am done.

[AstridM]

  On 4/8/2025 at 3:10 AM, MBayGal said:

So they are not going home next week? I'm expected to wait a year or more for an even more ridiculous season? This has increasingly become a shit show, and after whatever slop they toss at me this weekend, I am done.

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I can relate. I’m just done with shows expecting us to wait over a year between seasons. It’s ruined tv for me.

[Anela]

  On 4/8/2025 at 7:23 PM, AstridM said:

I can relate. I’m just done with shows expecting us to wait over a year between seasons. It’s ruined tv for me.

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Same.  I have been missing the excitement about September bringing new shows, or bringing back others for another season.  It was one thing when they decided that some shows only needed ten or thirteen episodes. It’s another to wait two or three years, even when there aren’t strikes.  

Edited April 8 by Anela

[BitterApple]

  On 4/8/2025 at 7:23 PM, AstridM said:

I can relate. I’m just done with shows expecting us to wait over a year between seasons. It’s ruined tv for me.

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Same for me. Outlander took so long to release S7, I forgot all the plot lines. Characters were randomly showing up and I'm like, "Who the heck are you?." I don't know why there's such lags between seasons nowadays. 

[AstridM]

  On 4/8/2025 at 7:32 PM, Anela said:

Same.  I have been missing the excitement about September bringing new shows, or bringing back others for another season.  It was one thing when they decided that some shows only needed ten or thirteen episodes. It’s another to wait two or three years, even when there aren’t strikes.  

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Yeah, I can live with the 10-13 episodes, but waiting YEARS between seasons is unacceptable.

[Thalia]

  On 4/8/2025 at 7:32 PM, Anela said:

Same.  I have been missing the excitement about September bringing new shows, or bringing back others for another season.  It was one thing when they decided that some shows only needed ten or thirteen episodes. It’s another to wait two or three years, even when there aren’t strikes.  

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I have a box upstairs filled with copies of the Fall Preview Editions of TV Guide from 1975 to around 2020.    I was such a nerd, but I was always so excited when that issue came out and I would sit down and plan my Fall viewing schedule.   Now the importance of Network scripted TV has been diminished to almost nothing, and there is no rhyme or reason to when most shows start and end.  

Yellowjackets has done a better job of dealing with aging kids than Stranger Things, because the cast was supposed to be in their late teens when it started.   Some of the younger cast is in their thirties, but it is easier for young women to appear younger than young men.    Dustin looked thirty even in season 4. 

 

[AstridM]

  On 4/8/2025 at 8:22 PM, Thalia said:

I have a box upstairs filled with copies of the Fall Preview Editions of TV Guide from 1975 to around 2020.    I was such a nerd, but I was always so excited when that issue came out and I would sit down and plan my Fall viewing schedule.   Now the importance of Network scripted TV has been diminished to almost nothing, and there is no rhyme or reason to when most shows start and end.  

Yellowjackets has done a better job of dealing with aging kids than Stranger Things, because the cast was supposed to be in their late teens when it started.   Some of the younger cast is in their thirties, but it is easier for young women to appear younger than young men.    Dustin looked thirty even in season 4. 

 

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I blame reality TV. What a fucking scourge upon humanity.

[tennisgurl]

I think the long breaks between seasons have also led to more than a few shows being cancelled. People get into a show, especially in its first season, then the show takes two years to come back and by then people have forgotten about the show or don't realize when it returns or they've forgotten most of what happened in the last season than they don't watch, the viewing numbers fall, and the show gets cancelled. 

I know that a lot of big high budget shows need some extra time to finish everything, but two or three or more years is way too much, and there really is no excuse for smaller low budget shows. 

[Anela]

  On 4/8/2025 at 9:49 PM, tennisgurl said:

I think the long breaks between seasons have also led to more than a few shows being cancelled. People get into a show, especially in its first season, then the show takes two years to come back and by then people have forgotten about the show or don't realize when it returns or they've forgotten most of what happened in the last season than they don't watch, the viewing numbers fall, and the show gets cancelled. 

I know that a lot of big high budget shows need some extra time to finish everything, but two or three or more years is way too much, and there really is no excuse for smaller low budget shows. 

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And expectations are too high, with most new shows.  I like stranger things, but it wasn’t better than some shows that have been cancelled.  There are things I didn’t get to watch right away, that were cancelled almost immediately, because they weren’t a hit in the first week.  

[peachmangosteen]

  On 4/8/2025 at 10:05 PM, Anela said:

There are things I didn’t get to watch right away, that were cancelled almost immediately, because they weren’t a hit in the first week.  

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I feel like nowadays this happens way less than it used to. I remember the days when they'd cancel shows left and right without even airing all the episodes they filmed. Now, any show is almost guaranteed to air one full season at least.

[Chaos Theory]

If I am correct Tai is the only one who hasn’t straight up murdered someone.   She has the other personality who maybe has but even that is unclear but “Good Tai” hasn’t murdered anyone yet.    It will be interesting if Mellisa is that line she crosses.

I know people dislike/Hate Shauna but she is my favorite character right now.   Someone whose anger is all consuming and that anger has become the driving force behind everyone’s actions.  
 

Jeff and Callie getting high together was both funny and sad.

Did not expect Van to die the way she did but it makes sense and jumps the plot forward.   The adult timeline has an enemy now.

This is still among my favorite shows in tv right now.   Heck maybe ever.   Even with the long wait times.  I just hope it gets a proper ending.

 

Edited April 9 by Chaos Theory

[sistermagpie]

  On 4/9/2025 at 7:32 PM, Chaos Theory said:

I know people dislike/Hate Shauna but she is my favorite character right now.   Someone whose anger is all consuming and that anger has become the driving force behind everyone’s actions.  

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I feel the same way. She's destructive, but not in a way that bothers me--it's compelling, and doesn't strike me as more petty or selfish than everyone else the way it seems to come across to some. She seems to personify the whole experience in some clear way.

[Colorado David]

  On 4/9/2025 at 7:32 PM, Chaos Theory said:

If I am correct Tai is the only one who hasn’t straight up murdered someone.   She has the other personality who maybe has but even that is unclear but “Good Tai” hasn’t murdered anyone yet.    It will be interesting if Mellisa is that line she crosses.

didnt she off the pet dog

 

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