How Yellowjackets Season 2 Was Influenced By Season 1’s Runaway Success

Yellowjackets co-creator Ashley Lyle reveals how the upcoming season 2 of the hit Showtime series was influenced by season 1’s incredible success.

Yellowjackets co-creator Ashley Lyle opened up about how season 1’s success influenced the creative vision for season 2. The thriller TV series follows the titular high school soccer team as they are stranded in the woods following a plane crash while also jumping forward in time when the survivors are adults dealing with their trauma from being lost. The series became Showtime’s highest-viewed new series in six years, with over five million viewers on average through the premium network’s streaming service. After being renewed for season 2, it will premiere on March 26, 2023, on Showtime.Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about a conversation she had with a friend, Lyle revealed that Yellowjackets season 2 was strongly influenced by the show’s success in season 1. She hints at how Yellowjackets season 2 is more intense than season 1, citing the show’s unexpected success as the reason for this. Check out what Lyle had to say below:

“[Lyle’s friend] said, ‘Don’t worry. Nowadays, there’s a billion shows, and there’s a handful that people care about because they love them and a handful that people care about because they hate them, and everything else will just find its little audience.’ We took such comfort in that, and then it felt like people really liked it and we were like, ‘Oh s—. We really have to up the stakes in season 2.’ We had to try to make a better season than we did last time.”

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How Yellowjackets Season 2 Will Have Higher Stakes

Lyle’s teasing of higher stakes in Yellowjackets season 2 echoes what a lot of promotional material for the next season has been hinting at. An official teaser for season 2 hints that the girls were not alone in the wilderness, implying that other forces yet to be seen will make themselves known in the next batch of episodes. It appears season 2 will also explore the cannibalism aspect, as a scene in the winter during season 1 showed some of the girls hunting and killing another for food.

But Yellowjackets season 2 won’t just have to contend with the wilderness mysteries, as the present-day timeline is set to add Lottie and Van’s adult versions to the story. Season 1 ended with the revelation that Lottie’s cult was responsible for Travis’ murder, just as Natalie was kidnaped by them. Because of Natalie’s capture, the survivors likely face a more life-threatening situation in the current timeline as Lottie comes into the picture. Her cult also brings the mysterious symbol from the woods into the present day, with cult members wearing the unknown sigil around their necks.Yellowjackets’ actors have also opened up about season 2’s intensity. Sophie Nélisse, who plays a young Shauna, stated that episode 6 will be intense, while season 2 as a whole will have more violence than anything seen in season 1. Given how successful the series has become, Lyle’s promise for higher stakes in Yellowjackets season 2 should prove deep as the series begins exploring the team’s darkest time of being lost in the woods. Season 2 will premiere on March 26, 2023 on Showtime.More: Elijah Wood’s Yellowjackets Character Continues His Best Career Trend Source: EW