Warning: SPOILERS for Yellowjackets season 3, episode 10!
Only one week after in the present timeline, the finale brought the past timeline "Full Circle" — incidentally also the name of the episode — by revealing Mari as Pit Girl and ending her time on the show. This meant that the newest addition, Hannah (played by Ashley Sutton), made it out unscathed despite fans theorizing her demise from the moment she stepped on screen. But beyond making it out alive, she also played a vital role in ensuring that the rest of the YJs made it out of the wilderness alive.
Yellowjackets season 3, episode 10 began with Hannah ostensibly having taken Shauna's side, due to her stabbing Kodiak in the eye and agreeing to partake in the hunt without much protest. But after a heartfelt scene with Natalie, it became clear that Hannah only made a split-second decision for her own survival, and was still hellbent on helping Nat seek rescue. Armed with her wilderness garb, Hannah pulled off a masterful gambit by fooling Shauna into believing she was Natalie until it was too late to stop her from radioing for help.
Screen Rant interviewed Sutton about stepping into the world of Yellowjackets as Hannah, and having to get up to speed on the cruel culture of the Wilderness in just a few episodes. The actor revealed that she initially believed she was being set up as the season finale sacrifice, explained how she approached Hannah's analytical brain, and shared her secret hopes for season 4 and beyond.
Ashley Sutton’s Yellowjackets Season 3 Role Ended Up Much Bigger Than She – Or Fans – Expected
“It Was Just Really Fun How The Fans Were So Sure That's Who I Was”
The fact that Hannah survived Yellowjackets season 3 was in and of itself a miracle, given how many viewers were betting on her to bite the dust before the finale credits rolled. Granted, the narrative teed her up for it perfectly: the adult survivors pointed out that she was long gone, and her traveling companions each met their respective demise within two episodes of their introduction. In fact, Hannah’s survival was a surprise to Sutton herself, who “had no idea” that returning in season 4 would be an option.
“I honestly didn't ask any questions when I came in,” the actor explained. “I really like to live script by script, so that I'm really in the story.” Not only that, but she had previously been in consideration for a small role in the pilot, so she was more than happy to get another swing at the show. “I kind of thought I would be Pit Girl!” She confessed, referencing a popular fan theory about the first onscreen death. “When I showed up on set, I was like, ‘Definitely, that's who I'm going to be. That makes so much sense.’”
She played this crazy, pivotal role in helping everybody make it home. She makes it for now, I guess!
Thankfully, “the story kept evolving, and Hannah got this really cool arc with the Kodiak scene in episode 9.” By the time Sutton read episode 10, it was clear that Hannah was here to stay as long as the Wilderness remained. “She played this crazy, pivotal role in helping everybody make it home. She makes it for now, I guess!”
Rumors about her casting long preceded her appearance on the show itself, and Sutton fondly recalled the other popular fan theory about who she was playing. “Everyone was dead set that I was going to be Shauna's mom, Deb Shipman,” the actor explained. “That just made me giggle for so long. It was a few months before the show came out, but everyone was like, ‘No matter what, she's going to be Shauna's mom. You can't tell me any differently.’”
She naturally took it as a compliment, seeing as “Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse are fantastic and amazing actresses. But it was just really fun how the fans were so sure that's who I was, even though they were wrong.”
A Closer Look At Hannah’s Not-So-Shifting Allegiances In Season 3
"I Need To Make It Through The Night To The Next Morning"
Hannah is introduced to the world of Yellowjackets as a frog scientist with a dorky boyfriend, but she quickly evolves into someone who can go toe-to-toe with Shauna and kill on the spot when backed into a corner. The revelation that she gave birth to her daughter Alex as a teenager but still made it through her schooling in order to wind up on such an important trip suggested that she had grit, but what other gaps did Sutton fill in for her character?
The actor described her process in our interview, revealing that, “I break down every piece of dialogue from the writers and figure out a way to make it real to Hannah.” Naturally, her scientific mind was of utmost value, “so when I got the audition, I did a mock research paper that would help me get the funding to go on this excursion and understand how much this would cost. I knew the weight of the whole project, so the disappointment of losing all of that — on top of losing Edwin, on top of losing Alex — felt really heavy.”
After that, Sutton made it a point to apply her actor’s homework to the story itself, shaping how “Hannah would use her analytical, scientific brain to process everything and to monitor each of the different characters she was interacting with.” While her choice to stab Kodiak in episode 9 read as a betrayal to Natalie, Sutton insisted that “Hannah was always Team Natalie. She's Team Go; she's not Team Stay in any way.”
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“Killing Kodiak is just such an in-the-moment decision she has to make to survive because if Kodiak says Hannah got the knife, then Hannah got the knife from Natalie,” the actor defended her character ionately. “The two of them are going to go down in Shauna's book, so she makes the decision. She kills Kodi because she needs to save herself in that moment. ‘I need to make it through the night to the next morning.’”
After observing the Yellowjackets scientifically, “she sees how much of a dictator Shauna is,” and makes her move. “In order to play the game, she has to get on Shauna's good side, and then she can start maneuvering everything." This added significant weight to the scene between Natalie and Hannah, which Sutton declared was “my favorite scene because it was the most truthful. Hannah really gets to be so real and so raw. Hannah would sacrifice anything to get any of them home. She truly will do anything at this point because what's happening in the camp is so crazy.”
Sutton confessed, “Sophie [Thatcher] and I did that scene a couple of times” to get it right. “It is such a different place for Hannah. We've seen her almost in tears at every other point in time, but as she's saying all of the things that are happening to her, it's not sad; it's a matter of fact.” Once director and showrunner Bart Nickerson yelled cut, though, “Sophie and I started bawling because we felt so much heart and empathy in that moment for Natalie and Hannah. It felt so heavy and beautiful to witness how they're both saving everybody.”
Season 3’s Breakneck Pace Left Hannah No Time To Deal With Her Trauma
“I Think Episode 10 Is The Very Beginning Of Her Processing Everything”
Hannah was thrown into one of the Yellowjackets’ ritualistic hunts on just about the second day of her capture, which was obviously a disorienting experience. Sutton as an actor had a blast, though. “It was really fun to do the fitting with our costume designer, Marie Schley,” she itted. “To get to wear all of the hunting garb and be a part of that experience was really fun.” Another favorite moment of chaos for her was “the scene with the cards, feeling the tension of everybody picking to find who gets the Queen of Hearts.”
Of course, Hannah’s not having quite as good a time as her interpreter. “I think it's traumatizing because she's lost so many people so far,” Sutton acknowledged. The actor gives the girls some leeway after what they’ve been through, but Hannah herself is not necessarily considering their trauma. “She knows they're clearly killing and eating each other, but she doesn't know how it happened. I feel like it's shocking and crazy, and it is part of the reason why she finds Natalie and is just like, “What you guys are doing is not cool. It's not okay.’”
Now that she has some power with Shauna, she's like, "Can I have Edwin's things so that I can be close to him?"
In the midst of the hunt, Hannah hasn't been given much chance to mourn Edwin onscreen or ponder her own choice to kill Kodiak. “I don't think she has processed any of it,” Sutton agreed, given that “everything is happening so quickly.” But one costuming trick in episode 10 hinted at her healing process: Hannah is wearing Edwin's vest and flannel. “Now that she has some power with Shauna, she's like, ‘Can I have Edwin's things so that I can be close to him?’” the actor explained. “I think that's the very beginning of her processing everything.”
Whether she’ll get to process anymore in season 4 (should the series be renewed) is another matter. “I hope we get to see some part of that for her in the future, but episode 1 of season 4 is probably also going to be so dramatic,” Sutton cautioned. “I hope she gets a couple of moments, but I don't have any faith that she will at all.”
Looking To Hannah’s Precarious Future In Yellowjackets Season 4 & Beyond
“I'm Excited To See That Onscreen And Read It For Myself Either Way”
Despite the lack of renewal, Yellowjackets is currently on track to complete its original 5-season plan, which means there are still opportunities to develop Hannah’s character before her expected demise. When asked who she’d like to see her character interact more with, Sutton had an immediate response: Van. “Liv Hewson and I became close on set, and there are so many moments between them during the Team Go-Team Stay banter. They were giving me these looks that were really helpful for Hannah.”
“I don't know if that will help the story in the present day,” now that Van is dead, the actor itted, “but I think that would be fun for me.” Her second, more narrative-focused choice was Gen, played by Vanessa Prasad. “I know Hannah has some sort of connection with Gen and Melissa. They tell us that's who she was closest to in the present day, so getting to explore that with Vanessa will be really cool.”
While Hannah's gambit to trick Shauna is successful, allowing Natalie to communicate with the outside world, this is not the first rescue fake-out Yellowjackets has dangled in front of audiences. While Sutton said the cast “didn’t talk about it,” she personally believed the season 3 finale was the real deal. “In my mind, I feel like this is the beginning of it. I don't know how it can happen, or how the writers and the creators are going to play this out for us. But watching it back afterwards, I was crying!”
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“As a fan of the show, we know they go home, and I'm just so excited to find that moment where this traumatic experience ends. I can't wait for them to escape, so that they can start processing.” Or decidedly not processing, which the show has suggested is the survivors’ preferred method of self-care. “Maybe just burying everything deep down inside and forgetting all of it,” Sutton joked. But whatever happens? “I'm excited to see that onscreen and read it for myself.”
Since Hannah never made it out of the wilderness, there was no way to answer my last question, but Sutton gave it a go. How would Hannah feel about Melissa marrying her daughter Alex, given the events of episode 9? Her answer was a surprise. “Hannah would think Melissa's a real one,” the actor confirmed. “She told her to watch out for Alex! Melissa's tactics in doing that are a little extreme, but they've all been through trauma. If Hannah made it back, she would also be living in the same deep state of trauma as everyone else.”
“I think she would just be grateful that someone is keeping an eye out for her daughter, and that she is safe,” Sutton concluded, before apologizing for her own part in furthering Melissa’s tactics. “I don't think Hannah realized her tape would cause so much chaos in the present day. When I was watching episode 10, I realized exactly that. I was like, "Oh my gosh, Hannah has caused so many problems." She really is mes their present-day life, I'm so sorry about that!”
Check out our other Yellowjackets season 3 interviews here:
- Sophie Nélisse (3.04)
- Sarah Desjardins & Warren Kole
- Courtney Eaton & Kevin Alves
- Director Ben Semanoff (3.09)
All episodes of Yellowjackets season 3 are now available to stream on Paramount+ with Showtime.
Yellowjackets
- Release Date
- November 14, 2021
- Network
- Showtime, Paramount+ with Showtime
- Showrunner
- Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Jonathan Lisco
Cast
Shauna Sadecki
Tawny CypressTaissa Turner
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Benjamin Semanoff, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Deepa Mehta, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Liz Garbus, Scott Winant, Eva Sørhaug, Jamie Travis
- Writers
- Liz Phang, Sarah L. Thompson, Ameni Rozsa
- Creator(s)
- Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson
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