Yellowjackets Finale: Christina Ricci on Natalie Death, Season 2 Twist

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Storytelling,” the Season 2 finale of “Yellowjackets,” now airing on Showtime.

The second season of “Yellowjackets” has come to a dark and twisted end. In the 1996 timeline, teenage Lottie (Courtney Eaton) handed the role of leader of the desert to Natalie (Sophie Thatcher), as all the young girls bowed to her, confirming that she was in fact the queen. Antler. However, the celebration was cut short as a fire broke out in the middle of the night. As everyone escaped, the group stood outside in the snow, watching the flames encapsulate their home.

In the current timeline, the group again drew cards to see who wanted the desert – an idea suggested by Lottie (Simone Kessell). Before performing this age-old ritual, Natalie (Juliette Lewis) warned the rest of the residents to leave, including Lisa (Nicole Maines), whom she had grown close to throughout her time at Lottie’s retreat. After Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) lures the queen in and the group begins to hunt her, Shauna’s daughter, Callie (Sarah Desjardins), shows up just in time to save her mother.

Then Lottie started listing all the ways the desert is still available to catch them, talking about the many deaths they had caused. Upset, Natalie pulled out a knife. At this moment, Lisa approached the group with a gun pointed at Natalie. She demanded that Natalie drop the knife, which she did, but Lisa kept the gun drawn. With that, Misty (Christina Ricci) ran to inject her with phenobarbital – but Natalie got in front of Lisa, ultimately dying at Misty’s hands. The episode ended with Natalie’s body being removed, explained as an overdose, and Lottie taken to a mental hospital.

It’s safe to say that while all of the characters will be affected by Nat’s death next season, the entire cast also felt the shocking twist, as Lewis has been on the show since the beginning.

Thatcher, who plays the younger version of Natalie, said Variety she was “pretty devastated” by Lewis’s departure.

“It’s so heartbreaking, but it also creates more levels for young Natalie, because viewers will have that in mind,” she said. “I think there’s another layer to watching young Natalie now and in the future. But Juliette was my mentor, and she’s just so amazing. Losing her on the show was really like losing a part of It was sad, but I think it will be interesting to see how it goes from now on.

In an interview with Ricci, whose self-proclaimed best friend Misty accidentally killed, she shares her reaction to the final twist, Misty’s devastating mistake, and her overall feelings about Season 2.

When did you learn of Natalie’s death and what was your reaction?

I only found out very shortly before the episode was filmed. We all love Juliette. I love Juliet. We’ve all been through so much on the show and become so close, we’ve fought, we’ve made up, and we love each other — and we’re like sisters. I think we were all very upset and sad that Natalie was dying. And it was hard to shoot. It was very moving. We shot a lot more than we ended up in the episode where I was holding Juliet while she was dying and everything. They were really difficult and really upsetting scenes. I met Juliette the next day at the airport and we started crying again.

Do you feel like part of Misty wanted to kill Natalie?

No. It was a total mistake. She made an impulsive choice – another typically immature, impulsive and selfish choice where she was going to kill the person who was going to hurt her friend. Not wanting her friends taken away from her, it’s about keeping what she wants. It was a disastrous decision.

Was there a time when the group was actually going to kill Shauna?

I think this question is more for each individual actor playing each character. I can talk about what I think is Misty’s position at this time. I think there’s something incredibly seductive and exciting about playing something that was such a big part of their past, something that had so much impact, and at the time, they were so committed to it. I think this reenactment probably evoked a lot of those same feelings. But I think given what Misty has been through in previous episodes – she has something to live for, something to protect. Finally, having something to lose in real life makes her a bit more pragmatic and less inclined to jump on that idea.

When they finally get to that moment, I think something about that physical memory and that emotional memory comes back. So I think she probably would have participated in it, but she’s not leading the pack. She just follows Natalie to make sure nothing bad happens to her.

During the finale, we found out that Natalie is Queen Antler, the person we saw in the pilot. Were you aware of this?

We don’t see Misty reacting emotionally to what’s happened to her in the past very often. She kind of has this hyper-vigilant refusal to feel bad, or be emotionally affected by it. But she can’t help but act out the feelings she had in the past, so her obsession with Natalie from the start is because Natalie was the original queen of Antler, as revealed at the end of this episode.

Do you think anyone in Misty’s life knows what really happened to Crystal?

No. I don’t think Misty thinks it’s her fault. I think some characters can easily apply the “wilderness” and its power and willpower when needed to not feel responsible for certain things. We see most of the characters choosing when they decide it’s the desert doing something, and not them. I think this is one of those cases where she would handle it that way, so that she wouldn’t really, intellectually, feel bad about it. Of course, subconsciously she does – which is why she wants nothing to do with Walter once he reveals he knows who she is. But I don’t think that’s a conscious thought for her.

Speaking of Walter, his energy matched Misty’s perfectly. How did you and Elijah Wood create this?

I think most of that is really in the writing. Elijah is such an amazing scene partner, and we really got to match. It just worked. It was really perfect.

What was it like filming that big dance number in Episode 7?

Well, originally I did some dancing too! I joined them on stage, and they didn’t use any of that, so I must have been really bad – which isn’t surprising. I don’t know much about musicals and I don’t consider myself to be someone who likes to dance or sing. So it’s no surprise that I was cut off from this!

People would love to see a Walter and Misty spin-off one day.

It’s a fun idea.

Would you say the investigation into who killed Adam is closed now?

I do not really know. I thought the Adam Martin thing was sort of over last time, but it wasn’t. Anything can happen, really.

Do you pay attention to the reactions of spectators on social networks? And if so, have you noticed a difference in reactions this season compared to last season?

I read the reviews of the episodes. People always seem to really like the individual characters. And they seem very intrigued by different aspects. I think the 1996 screenplay is so incredibly gripping and so well executed. They are such an incredible cast of actors in this story. It really feels like this is the storyline that people write about or talk about the most.

Did you have a conversation about what next season will be like without Juliet, and what Misty is going through?

No. I had no conversation about next season. Each show has its own way of working, its own dynamic. And in this show, I think the writers have a huge burden not only with the complexity of the story, but also with the number of main characters they have and the number of storylines. So usually we don’t get a lot of information before we shoot.

This interview has been edited and condensed. William Earl contributed to this report.

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