Last year, Showtime confirmed that Yellowjackets would be returning to the woods only one more time with its fourth season now set as its last. Series creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson decided the thriller series, which has spent three seasons blending survival drama, psychological horror, and coming-of-age storytelling into one of the brand’s biggest hits, was nearing its natural endpoint. They felt it was time to start wrapping up the mysteries surrounding the plane crash-surviving high school girls’ soccer team and the lives they lived in the present, and deliver a satisfying finale while at their creative high point. What better way, then, to kick off the final stretch than by adding another 80s icon to a cast already chock-full of them.
A new report confirmed that Molly Ringwald is set to join the Showtime thriller in a recurring role. Labeled part of the infamous Brat Pack, she was ever-present in teen movies throughout the 80s, from The Breakfast Club to Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and many more. Although that era has passed, she hasn’t slowed down, more recently appearing in the long-running CW teen drama Riverdale as Archie Andrews’ mother and joining a pair of Ryan Murphy productions, between Monster Season 1 and Feud: Capote vs. the Swans. Yellowjackets will have her in fitting company among the adult ensemble, including Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, Lauren Ambrose, and Hilary Swank. The series also features Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Samantha Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher, Liv Hewson, and Courtney Eaton.
Ringwald will reportedly appear as Vicky, the mother of Van (Ambrose, Hewson), who’s described as a recently recovering alcoholic seeking a path to redemption for her past actions. Between her character description and what happened in Season 3, her casting may hint at where Season 4 will go next. Van had survived several near-death experiences, from the plane crash that stranded the girls’ team years ago to stage four cancer in her adult life, but she finally met her maker when she was fatally stabbed by Melissa (Swank). Vicky, then, could either appear in a flashback with her daughter in the 90s or try to learn the truth about her death in the present. Whatever the case, her presence only raises more questions about what the final season has in store.
‘Yellowjackets’ Season 4 Will End the Hit Series on a Bittersweet Note
For three seasons so far, Yellowjackets has snapped between the harrowing survival story of the girls’ soccer team in the 90s as they fight for survival in the remote northern wilderness and the lives the now-adult survivors have tried to piece together in the nearly 25 years since. However, they’ve constantly been confronted with the harsh reality that the past is never truly behind them. Each mystery solved has added a new wrinkle to the savagery the group descended into and defined more of their adult realities since then, and viewers have kept turning in. The Season 3 finale was the most-viewed episode of the show to-date, with Paramount+ previously announcing that it reached over 3 million viewers within the first seven days it was available. In an interview with Collider‘s Christina Radish last month, Nélisse described the show’s ending as “bittersweet,” while also confirming that filming began in Vancouver just “two weeks” from then and teasing a finale full of answers that will honor the Yellowjackets legacy.
“At the same time, all the shows that I love, I would rather they end before they lose their essence, so I think it’s the perfect time for us to end. I think that the creatives of the show will really have had the amount of time to write a final season that goes above and beyond, that we’ll be so proud of, that will answer so many questions, that will live up to the expectations of the entire show. I feel really confident going into it, but I will definitely be crushed when it comes to an end.”
All episodes of Yellowjackets Seasons 1 through 3 are available to stream now on Paramount+.
via Collider