Is Jackie Dead or Alive at the End of Yellowjackets?

There has been much speculation about Jackie’s (Ella Purnell) fate from the first episode of ‘Yellowjackets.’ We see a girl running through the snowy woods with several others in costumes chasing her. After her death, blood is drained from her body before she is butchered, roasted, and eaten. It is shown that she has the same necklace with a heart-shaped pendant that Jackie wears, heavily implying that Jackie is the girl in the woods (or the Pit Girl as the creators call her). However, as the series progresses, it begins to emerge that the ‘Yellowjackets’ creators love to misdirect their audience. In episode 6, titled ‘Saints,’ we learn that at least Jackie’s parents believe in 2021 that their daughter is dead. In the season finale, titled ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi,’ we finally get a confirmation about whether Jackie is dead or alive in ‘Yellowjackets.’ Here is everything you need to know about it. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Is Jackie Dead or Alive at the End of Yellowjackets?

Jackie is dead in ‘Yellowjackets.’ She dies in the final episode of season 1. However, it is revealed that she is not the Pit Girl. She is not the one who becomes the victim of the group led by Misty (Christina Ricci as an adult and Samantha Hanratty as the teen) as the Antler Queen in the first episode. Instead, her death underscores a very real danger that the stranded group is facing in the Ontario wilderness in 1996. She gets thrown out of the cabin and spends the entire night exposed to the environment. It snows during the night, indicating the arrival of winter. The following morning, Jackie’s best friend Shauna (Melanie Lynskey as the adult and Sophie Nélisse as the teenager) is horrified to wake up to a snow-covered landscape and rushes outside to discover that her best friend has frozen to death.

In episode 6, we pretty much get the confirmation that Jackie is dead when Shauna and Jeff, who are married with a daughter in 2021, visit Jackie’s parents for their annual lunch on the former’s birthday. While they are there, we see journals with entries referring to movies that didn’t come out at the time of the plane crash. While this may have led some to conclude before the airing of the season finale that Jackie is somehow alive, there is a more straightforward explanation for this. After her return, Shauna probably filled those journals as a way to deal with her grief and guilt.

And the sense of guilt does pile up for her. She discovers in episode 5 that she is pregnant — the result of her secret relationship with Jeff, who was dating Jackie at the time. Jackie eventually finds out, and the ticking conflict finally explodes in the season finale when Jackie confronts Shauna and the others for their attempt to kill Travis. Arguments between the two best friends follow and end with Jackie being thrown out of the cabin. While Jackie was the team leader when they were still surrounded by civilization, things have changed after the crash. Jackie has proven herself to be drastically ill-equipped to survive in the progressively harsh environment of the Ontario wilderness.

After Shauna and the others throw her out, Jackie struggles to start a fire. She dreams of Shauna coming out and inviting her back into the cabin. However, she soon realizes that none of it is real and sees an unknown figure amidst her friends, telling her that he is glad that she is joining them. This is probably the mysterious man whose corpse was found in the cabin’s attic. Jackie seems to have passed away while having that dream, experiencing both comfort and horror.

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