The “Yellowjackets” Season 4 trailer landed Thursday, Nov. 5, on the Paramount Plus YouTube channel, about two weeks before the show’s last season premieres Friday, Nov. 20. The series “returns for its fourth and final season Friday, November 20 exclusively on Paramount+ with the Premium Plan,” Paramount said in August.
Paramount’s October teaser release opened with a question. “They’re finally home, but at what cost?” the teaser announcement said.
The streamer’s Season 4 guide promises “some exciting additions to the Yellowjackets nest” and names six guest stars: June Squibb, Elijah Wood, Molly Ringwald, Devon Sawa, Sam Braun and Dulé Hill.
Inside the ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 4 Trailer’s Three Timelines
The trailer jumps between the 1990s ordeal in the woods and the present day, and it adds a new timeline that picks up after the teens get home, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Jasmin Savoy Brown’s teen Taissa gets a speech after the rescue, and in it she says, “more than anything, we survived because of love,” THR reported.
The trailer also uses Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic,” THR noted, and Hilary Swank’s grown-up Melissa seems to sit for a TV interview about what she went through after the crash. Her teen self (Jenna Burgess) gets protection by becoming “lover and yes-woman to the most volatile Yellowjacket,” teen Shauna, according to Paramount’s guide. An August Paramount release warns that “not every homecoming is a joyous one, and this one’s going to sting.” In the present day, “an old flame has a homecoming of her own, returning to town with a hidden agenda,” the guide says.
Van’s Missing Heart Is a ‘Smoking Gun,’ Says Liv Hewson
Adult Van (Lauren Ambrose) died in Season 3’s penultimate episode, right after saving Tai, her lover, along with Misty and Shauna, from a gas leak Melissa set off, TV Insider reported. “So while Hilary and Lauren are filming Melissa murdering Van, I’m actually off camera in the kitchen watching it happen,” Liv Hewson, who plays teen Van, told TV Insider.
“I wanted it to be about her. I didn’t want it to be a rug-pull or an accident,” Hewson said.
The burial stuck with Hewson. “It’s significant to me, plot-wise, that Van’s body is buried in the ground in a rug with her heart missing,” Hewson said, noting that Van, a known Yellowjacket with her own business, would be missed. “I think that is a pretty crazy smoking gun.”
Hewson declined to enter the 2023 Emmys race because the acting categories are split by gender. “It would be inaccurate for me to submit myself as an actress,” Hewson told Variety then.
Brown, who has described herself as a queer Black woman in W Magazine, plays teen Taissa. Paramount’s Season 4 guide says Hewson’s Van “dreams of returning to civilization and building a real life with her ‘secret’ girlfriend, Taissa.” Brown told W in 2022 that “Tawny and I never disagreed on anything,” talking about Tawny Cypress, who plays adult Tai. (Brown made her Broadway debut as Eurydice in “Hadestown” on Sept. 1, Broadway.com reported. Gayety covered the casting in July.)
How to Watch the Final Season on Paramount Plus Premium
You’ll need the Premium plan, which Paramount’s site lists at $13.99 a month. Seasons 1 and 2 stream on any Paramount Plus plan, but “Season 3 streams with a subscription to the Paramount+ Premium plan,” according to Paramount’s season guide. Gayety’s October teaser story has the first-look photos.
Season 3 set the bar. “Season three marks the most-watched season ever, with the April finale becoming the most-streamed Yellowjackets episode in series history,” Paramount said when it renewed the show in May 2025.
Co-creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson confirmed the ending in October 2025. “After three incredible seasons, and great consideration, we’re excited to announce that we will be bringing the story of Yellowjackets to its twisted conclusion in this fourth and final season,” they said in a statement reported by Variety.
“We can’t wait to share the final chapter with you and hope you find it…delicious,” they wrote.
