10 Saddest ‘Yellowjackets’ Deaths (So Far), Ranked

Content Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the Showtime series Yellowjackets, as well as discussions of abuse, suicide, gun violence, and cannibalism.The opening scene of Yellowjackets cuts between secondhand accounts of tragedy and scenes of a girl being hunted by figures in fur masks as a warning about exactly what you’re getting into. This show is about people enduring hardship beyond the comprehension of those dwelling safely in civilization. Whatever unspeakable terror they experienced out in the wilderness transformed them into something wild, frightening, and dangerous. And not everyone made it out alive.

Season 1 felt like a mere prelude to the terror that is to come since it didn’t make it far enough into the tale to reveal what drives the Yellowjackets into warring, cannibalistic tribes. Nonetheless, it told a great story with its share of dangerous situations which have already claimed several lives. So who dies in Yellowjackets season 1?

10 Natalie Scatorccio’s Father

Fans learn about Natalie’s (Juliette Lewis) traumatic past when it’s revealed that she was witness to a horrific accident involving her abusive father. Before that, though, audiences get a clear idea of what her home’s environment was like growing up. With a neglectful mother and an emotionally and physically abusive father, it’s obvious that Nat didn’t have the best childhood.

This is why fans likely felt bad for her when his father accidentally tripped in the middle of an argument, discharging his rifle and ending up dead in front of his daughter. The shocking moment makes viewers want to hug Nat, but doesn’t really garner her father any sympathy at all.

9 Taissa Turner’s Grandma

The sad moment that led to the very first sighting of the Man with No Eyes sees Taissa (Tawny Cypress) as a kid next to her grandmother on her deathbed. In this bit of her tragic backstory in Yellowjackets, her grandma does what she can to reassure Tai that there’s nothing to be afraid of, comforting her about the thought of death, as it’s something everyone goes through.

A disturbing level of fear disrupts their conversation when Tai’s grandma sees something in the mirror that’s seemingly not there (at first). She shouts at the mysterious with a shaky voice, warning him by saying “don’t you come over here,” but it’s too late. When Tai sees the Man with No Eyes in the mirror, there’s a scary moment that takes away much of the heartbreak of the scenario of a little girl witnessing her grandma’s death (replacing it with fear instead).

8 Rachel Goldman

With Yellowjackets season 2 in full swing, fans can’t be blamed for completely forgetting Rachel Goldman, among the first to die in the show (during the plane crash). Audiences didn’t get to see much of her, and it seems the rest of the soccer team didn’t, either. During the funeral, Laura Lee’s (Jane Widdop) eulogy consisted mostly of small details the girls knew about her, since she “just moved up from JV.”

They managed to make the moment a little heartbreaking by describing how “she was really excited” that “she was going to see Oasis at the Meadowlands.” Rachel also “never confused [her] secants and [her] cosecants” in Trig, and supposedly carried “a flute case once” in class. The survivors’ attempts at honoring her life make the moment somewhat moving, but not any less forgettable.

7 Coach Bill Martinez

Travis (Andres Soto) says it himself during a conversation with Nat in the woods, Coach Bill Martinez (Carlos Sanz) was never a good father to him and Javi (Luciano Leroux). Coach Bill also demonstrates that he’s not the best person outside of parenthood, as his rude discussion with Jackie (Ella Purnell) about why she’s the leader of her team tells fans everything they need to know about his toxic behavior.

That said, the way in which he died and how Travis and Javi found him is something no child should ever see. He wasn’t a very good father, but he wasn’t as bad as Natalie’s dad either. He continued to raise his sons and work after their mom was out of the picture, so his loss is still a sad one.

6 Jessica Roberts

A strong supporting character on the TV show, Jessica Roberts (Rekha Sharma) was initially viewed as a shady individual whose goals and motivations were unclear. She was posing as a journalist offering book deals to the survivors in the present day, and it’s soon revealed that she was actually hired by Tai to smoke out the person responsible for blackmailing her and her teammates.

Unfortunately for Jessica, she underestimated Misty (Christina Ricci), who didn’t hesitate to keep her hostage, manipulate her into thinking they had a book deal, and murder her with her own cigarette. The period where Jessica was helplessly tied in Misty’s basement humanized her, and since she was only doing her job, it made her death feel unfair and somewhat tragic.

5 Biscuit

We didn’t get to see much of Biscuit, but the dog appeared to be a good boy. Regardless, no pup deserves this fate. The furry companion of Taissa’s and Simone’s (Rukiya Bernard) son, Sammy (Aiden Stoxx) went missing a few episodes into the series.

One of the earliest clues to his fate was the bite mark on Taissa’s hand after one of her sleepwalking incidents. But the horrifying reveal of his head on an altar with Sammy’s doll and a heart was much more gruesome than simply being killed by the Bad One. It appears Biscuit died so Taissa could get supernatural help to win an election. It doesn’t help that Taissa tries to replace the adorable pup with a new one just to win Sammy over (hopefully, the latest dog doesn’t suffer the same fate as Biscuit).

4 Adam Martin

It initially seemed like fate conspired to bring Adam (Peter Gadiot) into Shauna’s (Melanie Lynskey) life through a series of coincidences. Unfortunately for Adam, he happened to get involved with Shauna just as Jeff (Warren Kole) began blackmailing the Yellowjackets. As they hunted for the identity of the blackmailer, Shauna caught Adam in a series of lies. His complete lack of any online presence didn’t give him much in the way of an alibi. When she confronted him, the conflict spiraled out of control, and she wound up stabbing him (in one of Yellowjackets‘ most shocking moments).

Whether you were broken up by Adam’s death or not depends largely on who you think he really is. If you believe he’s just a sweet guy who stumbled into Shauna’s life and fell in love, his unfortunate demise is devastating. But if you think he’s a grown-up Javi out for revenge or a stalker trying to learn what happened out in the woods, then he got what was coming to him. Either way, Shauna punished the wrong party for her husband’s wrongdoing. She had strong feelings for Adam, so she’s going to bear plenty of sorrow and guilt from this impulsive decision, which is now haunting her in the form of a police investigation.

3 Travis Martinez

Travis met his end early in the series when Natalie and Misty found him dead at the ranch where he worked. Initially, the police ruled it a suicide, but candles had been arranged under his body in the pattern of the mysterious symbol from the forest. When someone emptied his bank account after his death, the suicide ruling was debunked.

Yellowjackets only ever showed glimpses of adult Travis, so the tragedy of his death flows from its impact on Natalie. Although it seems like they didn’t wind up together, their romance lingered over the years as they helped one another stay sober and survive life after the wilderness. Natalie’s devastation upon discovering Travis’s body and the despair she feels about facing life without him is heartbreaking. Travis appears to be the only real friend Natalie had, and he was taken from her.

2 Laura Lee

Laura Lee was supposed to die in the pilot, but Jane Widdop’s performance was so good that the writers expanded their role. Unfortunately, Laura Lee’s time with the team was still limited. She studied the flight manual and drew on experiences with her grandfather to teach herself to fly the small plane near the cabin. Against all odds, she pulled it off and went soaring into the sky seeking help for her friends. Then, either the effects of the forces of nature or the malevolent force Lottie (Courtney Eaton) warned her about caused the plane to catch on fire. Laura Lee’s story ended in an explosion over the lake.

Although her rigid religious beliefs sometimes annoyed her teammates, they clearly cared about Laura Lee. The rising hope of Laura Lee’s flight followed by her immediate death was devastating enough. But it’s even more tragic because of its impact on Lottie, who would have benefited from Laura Lee’s continued presence. With Laura Lee’s guidance, perhaps she would not have descended into a made-up religion that threatened Travis’s (Kevin Alves) life as she ascended to her place as antler queen and cult leader.

1 Jackie Taylor

Back home, Jackie was the undisputed leader of the team. Out in the wilderness, she fails to adapt to the demands of survival, driving a wedge between her and the rest of the team. As conflicts with the other girls multiply, she discovers that her boyfriend is responsible for, Shauna’s (Sophie Nélisse) pregnancy. This ultimately erupts into an argument where all the issues in their friendship are laid out in front of the whole team. When Jackie tries to punish Shauna by sending her out of the cabin, she discovers she has completely lost the power she held in the group as she winds up outside. Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) is initially the only one who tries to stop her. Perhaps breaking Allie’s (Pearl Amanda Dickson) leg when she tried to freeze the younger player out of the game taught her how easily things can spiral out of control and hurt someone. Unfortunately, their preexisting power struggle led Jackie to lash out at Taissa and silence the only potential ally she had at the moment. She goes outside, struggles to get a fire going, and falls asleep. A sudden cold snap kills her overnight and the girls wake up to see that their fight has cost them a friend.

Of all the deaths so far in Yellowjackets, this one is the most tragic. Any number of decisions could have prevented it. Shauna could have been honest with her friend, Jackie could have swallowed her pride and gone back inside, the other girls could have intervened. Instead, Jackie died alone, and the survivors will bear the guilt of that death, especially Shauna who will be haunted by Jackie’s ghost for the rest of her life. The fact that Jackie’s body has recently served as the survivors’ first taste of human flesh only makes her senseless death even more heartbreaking.

NEXT: The Best ‘Yellowjackets’ Characters, Ranked by How Scary They Are