Yellowjackets spoilers follow for season 3 episode 9.
Yellowjackets director Ben Semanoff has explained the shocking death that occurred in the latest episode.
Lauren Ambrose's Van has been through the ringer this season, learning that her cancer has stopped metastasizing, and then having another health scare after coughing up blood.
Her end, however, came at the hands of Hilary Swank's Melissa, who had been hiding in secret and has returned in dramatic fashion.
Speaking to ScreenRant, Semanoff said that Van's death is the result of Melissa's building frustrations reaching boiling point, something that will likely be explored further as the show goes on.
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"I don't know what's going to happen with Melissa, and I think the next season might answer a bunch of these questions," he said.
"But I think ultimately, the most important thing was that she didn't need to be discovered. She was living a completely secretive life. My answer is that she was sick of it."
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He continued: "Melissa had gotten away with faking her death and flying under the radar, and I think she was just like, 'How am I going to regain that excitement? I'm going to let the YJs know I'm alive. They're going to come after me, and then all hell's going to break loose.' I think this is what she wanted."
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"I think she wanted to be back in the game," Semanoff concluded, "and now she's essentially being chased through the woods again, had she pulled the card. That's the reason for me.
"I love how that all happened, and that's why I think she stabs her at the end. This is the game. This is what you do."
Yellowjackets airs on Showtime in the US and Paramount+ in the UK.
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
