Never believe showrunners when they say they have a 5-year plan. Much like the pirate code, a show bible is really just a set of guidelines. Yellowjackets has any number of plot twists, timelines, mysteries, and prophecies to keep straight. But there’s still wiggle room in that grand plan. Speaking to SiriusXM’s Jessica Shaw at the 92nd St. Y, Melanie Lynskey let it slip that one member of the Yellowjackets team wasn’t supposed to make it past season 1: Van. “Liv, who is now a regular, was supposed to die in the first season,” Lynskey said. “But they were so great, they were kept around.” Van came close to dying a couple of times in season 1 of Yellowjackets, but apparently one of those near-deaths was originally intended to stick. Now, not only is Van alive, her adult self is Lauren Ambrose. That’s the least dead a person can be!
Lynskey is all about the free sharing of information. She told Shaw that she gave her younger self, Sophie Nélisse, every bit of information she had during the first season. “People keep coming up to me like I’m the town psychic, and being like ‘When do I die?’” she said. Shaw made sure Lynskey meant that her fellow castmates were asking when their characters die, not random people on the street. So if you want to know when you die, please do not ask Melanie Lynskey. She has as much information on that as you do.
