WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Yellowjackets season 3, episode 8!Confirming a popular fan theory, Yellowjackets season 3, episode 2’s ending, as adult Shauna’s fears about her “stalker” overlapped with a scene revealing teen Shauna and Melissa’s romance. Explaining why her survival caused so much confusion for Shauna, episode 8 then revealed that Melissa faked her death after returning home, living under a new identity to hide from the other Yellowjackets.

As Shauna and Hilary Swank’s Melissa reunite for the first time in about 25 years in Yellowjackets season 3, episode 8, the latter’s introduction is arguably the strangest of the series’ survival reveals. Though Lottie’s reveal was centered on abducting Natalie, her survival made sense, with Van’s survival twist also making sense due to her plan to essentially go off the grid. Meanwhile, Melissa’s death fake-out has some curious plot holes, with the show’s strategy to reiterate to viewers which character Swank is playing ultimately exacerbating a complaint about the adult survivors’ costumes.

Yellowjackets' Present-Day Survivors All Have The Same Exact Fashion They Had Back In 1996

Their Clothing Choices Haven't Changed Since They Were In High School

To make sure that viewers weren’t mistaken about what Yellowjackets character Hilary Swank is playing, the show introduces adult Melissa by having her continue to wear backwards baseball caps. The backwards hat detail for teen Melissa seemed to just be based on a youthful fashion statement while also perhaps being a way to cover her hair and keep it contained out in the wilderness. Yet, Melissa is still constantly wearing her backwards hat even 25 years after returning home from the wilderness.

Ultimately, having Melissa continue to wear a backwards hat as an adult made her reveal feel more absurd than Yellowjackets’ other adult survivors. Each of the survivors has their own style that is generally maintained in both timelines, but the backwards hat on Melissa was already a detail that became somewhat of a joke in Yellowjackets’ past timeline. As such, it became far too on the nose for the series to maintain that identifier for adult Melissa, as if it would be too difficult for viewers to know who Swank was playing otherwise.

That said, it was already shocking that every other present-day Yellowjackets survivor has the same style as they did when their planes crashed at ages 17 or 18. Though, their fashion parallels are more subtle than Melissa’s hat. Adult Shauna still primarily wears her flannels and jeans, Van's muted outfits are very similar, Lottie continued to don more ethereal clothing, Nat maintained her leather jacket and dyed hair, and Misty still wears the same cat sweaters she had even back in the wilderness. After 25 years, it’s unbelievable that none of the characters' fashion choices would have changed and adapted over time.

Yellowjackets' Survivors Wearing The Same Clothes 25 Years Later Still Fits With The Show's Themes

They've All Been In A State Of Arrested Development

As ridiculous as it is, the survivors still having the same fashion choices that they did back when they were teenagers still makes sense on some level. Yellowjackets has reiterated time and again that the adult survivors haven't been able to properly move on from those versions of themselves from back in the wilderness. Consequently, they’ve largely been in a state of arrested development since returning home, and their unchanging choice of clothing reflects that.

For the past 25 years, they’ve been unable to escape those versions of themselves. Any time that someone hears the name Shauna Shipman (well, Sadecki now) or Taissa Turner, they think of the teenagers who were stranded in the wilderness for 19 months and may or may not have partaken in cannibalism. Tai couldn’t even escape Yellowjackets' cannibalism allegations during her campaign for senator. Since they must continue to hide so much of the truth about themselves during that time, their clothing gives the survivors an outlet to still express their teenage selves more openly.

Melissa Still Wearing Her Backwards Hat Has A Deeper Meaning For Her Fake Identity Story

It's One Of The Only Parts Of Her Old Identity She Gets To Keep

To that end, adult Melissa choosing to still wear her backwards hat is a way to maintain an important aspect of her former identity. Melissa has been living under a fake name, “Kelly,” with a completely different backstory for over two decades, so she has even fewer ways to maintain facets of her old self than the other Yellowjackets survivors. Considering how strong of an identifier that backwards hat became for her character as a teenager, it’s fitting that Melissa would choose to keep that detail as a through-line for her two identities as an adult.

New episodes of Yellowjackets season 3 release Fridays on Paramount+ with Showtime.