Sophie Thatcher Was Just As Shocked About The Yellowjackets Season 2 Finale As We Were [Exclusive]
This post contains spoilers for the season 2 finale of "Yellowjackets."
The second season of Showtime's "Yellowjackets" ended last night, and while all the characters — both the adult and teen versions — have certainly been through more than a few trials and tribulations, Natalie — played by Juliette Lewis as an adult and Sophie Thatcher in the '90s storyline — arguably gets the worst of it.
Adult Natalie, of course, tragically dies in the finale after Misty (Christina Ricci) accidentally injects her with a fatal dose of phenobarbital. But teen Natalie isn't doing so great either, and it all started in episode 8 after she draws the fatal Queen of Hearts in the girls' new cannibalism ritual, marking her as the next Yellowjacket to be served up for dinner.
It turns out that Natalie drawing that ill-fated card was a surprise to Thatcher as well. And when /Film's Ben Pearson interviewed her for "The Boogeyman," he also asked the actor whether she knew how Natalie would survive getting marked for human consumption when she first got the script.
'Thank God for Travis'
"It was crazy because when I was reading the script, I was like, 'No, this can't happen!' and then I was like, 'No, I survive,'" Sophie Thatcher told /Film. "I knew that something would happen, and I'm like, 'Natalie's going to get out of it.'"
Teen Natalie does get out of being eaten, which is no surprise given we know she survives to become adult Natalie. The scene where she first picks the Queen of Hearts, however, is an intense and emotional one, and Thatcher went on to describe her character's state of mind:
"In that moment, she also takes in that acceptance, and I think she is just so emotionally drained and out of it and has experienced all the worst things a human being can experience. In that moment, she's going to sacrifice herself and she's going to give herself over to her teammates. It was just also the terror of thinking about if she were to try to do something or get out of it, they would chase her."
Even though Natalie has accepted her fate, Travis (Kevin Alves) intervenes and tells her to run. "Thank God for Travis," Thatcher added with a laugh. "He saved Natalie."
Sadly, Travis saving Natalie ultimately leads to the death of his younger brother, Javi (Luciano Leroux), after Natalie and the girls hunting her let the boy drown after he falls through the ice. The wilderness chose, and Natalie survives, albeit with the guilt of letting Javi die, something that stays with her right up to the moment of her own death in the season 2 finale.
The first two seasons of "Yellowjackets" are now streaming on the Showtime app.