A major Yellowjackets fan theory almost became a reality
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The Yellowjackets writers see your tweets, your memes, and your Reddit threads. And in season 1, when fans shared their theories about Shauna's (Melanie Lynskey) lover Adam (Peter Gadiot) secretly being Javi (Luciano Leroux), the writers had a secret: Although that's not the direction they went, they did consider it!
"There may have been some viewers out there who wanted, for example, Adam to be Javi come back from the wilderness to torture and torment Shauna," co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco tells EW. "And, and by the way, that was absolutely something that we considered, well before we ever read that theory on Reddit."
Although Lisco admits the twist "might have worked," he explains that, ultimately, having Adam just be a random nice guy worked better for the larger story that they're trying to tell.
Showtime Peter Gadiot as Adam in 'Yellowjackets'
"We looked at the emotional and psychological arc of the story and we felt at the end that yes, it's a cute surprise and it might be good in the moment, but what's gonna haunt the audience more is if Shauna winds up killing someone who actually liked her, somebody who actually wanted to be with her, and the reason why she killed him was because of her post-traumatic stress," Lisco says. "That's why right before she knifes him in that episode, she's flashing through this montage of all of these things that still haunt her as if she's experiencing them and the threat of them in the current moment, which is literally what post-traumatic stress is. So to stay true to her story and the story in general, we had to let that twist go in the service of the emotional and psychological story. And of course, our audience can debate whether or not that was a good move."
Lisco adds that audiences will see why they made that decision as the show continues with its second season, airing on Showtime later this month. "I'm hoping that once they see the fabric and tapestry of season 2 and then where we're gonna go in season 3, they will realize that that set the table for more poignant long-term storytelling than just closing the loop on someone coming back for revenge."
Sometimes, it isn't all about the twist.
Yellowjackets returns for season 2 on March 24.
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