How will all of the delicious tension in Yellowjackets pay off in the fourth and final season?

The final season of Yellowjackets premieres on November 20, which is just two weeks away, which is insane. Where did 2026 go? Anyway, after a teaser trailer last month, the full trailer is here and it’s all coming together, the rescue in the Nineties and the trauma and mystery of the present-day storyline. Also, this trailer shows Hilary Swank! She only appeared in a couple episodes in season three, but she is a main cast member for season four.

This is part of my curiosity about how Yellowjackets will come together. It’s not just that the writers have to line up all the plot edges, the character arcs have to resolve, too. Taking a character from extra in season one to main cast in season four feels a little shark jumping, but that’s the delicious tension of Yellowjackets. How will it all pay off?!

As much as I have enjoyed Yellowjackets, though, I am also terribly interested to see what the young cast gets up to once they’re no longer tied to this show’s schedule. Sophie Nelisse, of course, appeared in Heated Rivalry, and Sophie Thatcher and Jasmine Savoy Brown have been making names for themselves as scream queens (Brown also appeared as Eurydice in Hadestown on Broadway this year). Meanwhile, Ella Purnell already has a second hit show with Fallout. Courtney Eaton and Liv Hewson haven’t done anything as big as Yellowjackets, though Hewson is going back to their native Australia to star in a drama series, Treasure & Dirt, and Eaton released an EP last year.

The industry is in such upheaval right now, the traditional pathways feel stifled at best, dead at worst, so I am curious to see how the new generation of stars navigate their careers. One of the biggest and most obvious changes is just that the delineation between TV and film is so thoroughly dead we no longer question a major star like Jenna Ortega swinging between series work and film. On the one hand, it feels a little bit like a wild scramble for every toe hold, on the other, though, it also feels like there is a lot more possibility and less assumptions about what the “right” moves are for young talent. We have one more season of Yellowjackets, and then we’ll see what these young women can really do.