Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Yellowjackets season 3, episode 6, “Thanksgiving (Canada).”

Yellowjackets introduces one of its most shocking plot twists yet when the teenage survivors encounter new characters in the wilderness. Prior to this game-changing ending, Yellowjackets‘ past timeline continues to be dominated by the ongoing torment of Coach Ben Scott (Steven Krueger). Lottie Matthews (Courtney Eaton) and most of the other teens insist that Coach Ben must stay alive after the vision Akilah (Nia Sondaya) had during Yellowjackets season 3, episode 5’s ending, which makes them believe that he is the “bridge” to their way home.

Natalie Scatorccio (Sophie Thatcher) is unable to live with Coach Ben’s continued suffering, though, which only grows worse as he repeatedly begs for death. Eventually, Natalie takes matters into her own hands and kills Coach Ben. Shauna Shipman (Sophie Nélisse) and the rest of the group punish Natalie for taking away their hope by having her carve up his body and prepare a feast. During the feast, the survivors eat and begin screaming and dancing, only to be interrupted by new members of Yellowjackets‘ cast.

Who Are The New Characters In The Wilderness?

They Are Surprised To Encounter The Yellowjackets

The new characters are a man and a woman, played by Nelson Franklin and Ashley Sutton. They approach the survivors with concerned facial expressions. The man raises his hand in greeting and says, “Hello.” He then jumps back and cries out, “What the f***?” when he notices Coach Ben’s severed head, which has been put to the side during the feast where the rest of his body is being served and consumed by the teenage survivors. With only a few seconds of screen time so far, little is known about who the new characters are and why they are in the wilderness.

Their appearances and their clothing do not suggest that they have been stranded for a long time. They instead look like they have only been in the wilderness for a short period of time and have not had to resort to extreme measures to survive. This is further supported by the man’s alarmed reaction to Coach Ben’s head. The new characters may have gone camping or hiking in the wilderness, only to get lost and have the misfortune to come across this group of cannibalistic teens.

Lottie & The Other Survivors’ Screaming & Dancing Explained

Eating Coach Ben Needs To Be More Ritualistic

Before the new characters arrive, Lottie begins screaming because she starts experiencing visions again. Lottie’s visions had previously stopped, which is why she has been relying on Travis Martinez (Kevin Alves) and Akilah to have visions instead. This new vision makes Lottie believe that she and her fellow survivors are not conducting their feast how they are supposed to and that they need to be more animalistic in order to fully connect to the wilderness.

The wilderness makes its mysterious and terrifying screeching noise in response to Lottie’s screaming. For Lottie, the screaming, singing, and dancing is about bonding with the wilderness. However, for many of the other survivors, it is more of an opportunity to unleash the emotions they have been repressing. Under Natalie’s leadership, the group has established a sense of normalcy, but they are still consumed by a great deal of anger, sadness, frustration, and pain. Lottie’s ritual becomes an opportunity to unleash all those feelings, especially after the harrowing situation with Coach Ben.

Why Tai Needs Van’s Help

Tai Is In A Sinister Situation

In the present day, Van Palmer (Lauren Ambrose) is looking up information about DAT tapes on her phone when Taissa Turner (Tawny Cypress) suddenly bolts upright. Tai sounds as if she is gasping for air, and says, “Van! Please. You got to help me.” Her body then relaxes, and she calmly asks why Van is still awake, as if she had not just cried for help seconds ago. This eerie scene suggests that “Other Tai” has nearly taken complete control of her, but the regular Tai broke free for a moment to ask for Van’s help.

“Other Tai” being in control aligns with seeing Sammy (Aiden Stoxx) in episode 5, who seems to think it is not his real mother coming to see him. In episode 6, Van imagines that Tai calls her and begs for her help. It seems “Other Tai” is in control practically all the time now, except for a brief moment when sleeping, which is ironic given that she only used to come out when Tai was sleepwalking. The regular Tai now needs Van’s help so she is not buried underneath her alter ego forever.

Why Tai Met With Lottie The Day She Died

Tai May Have Killed Lottie

Misty Quigley (Christina Ricci) meets with one of Lottie’s former cult members, Lisa (Nicole Maines), earler in the episode. Lisa tells Misty that Tai met with Lottie outside a café the day she died. In Yellowjackets season 3, episode 4, Tai and Van part ways for an hour before meeting up in the city. After learning about Lottie’s death in episode 5, Van asks Tai where she went during that time, and Tai denies that she met with Lottie during that time. Assuming Lisa told Misty the truth, Tai met with Lottie and lied to Van about it.

Earlier in episode 4, Tai calls Lottie to discuss what she said about the wilderness being pleased by the sacrifice of Natalie (Juliette Lewis) during Yellowjackets season 2’s ending. Tai did not get much of an answer before Lottie hung up the phone. She may have gone to meet with Lottie to get more of an answer. It has already been shown that Tai is willing to let others die if that means the wilderness allowing Van to live longer, and she may have wanted to see if Lottie believed the same thing.

If “Other Tai” was already in control then, it is possible that she went to meet Lottie with the intention of killing her. “Other Tai” may have seen killing Lottie as the necessary sacrifice needed to save Van. Another possibility is that the regular Tai went to meet with Lottie, things got heated, and she accidentally killed her. Since then, “Other Tai” may have taken over as a way for her to cope with the horror of what she had done. Regardless of the truth, Misty’s investigation will now have her looking into Tai as Yellowjackets season 3 continues.