Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) is one other survivor of the aircraft crash in Yellowjackets, however his circumstances modified massively in Season 3.
The Paramount+ collection follows the ladies’ soccer workforce members’ excessive strategies to outlive within the harsh Canadian wilderness, the place they’re stranded with out hope of rescue.
Within the two seasons of Yellowjackets, Ben has skilled loads, together with shedding his leg and almost ending his personal life, however Season 2 was a turning level for the character.
Coach Ben’s Story in Yellowjackets Season 2 Defined
As the one grownup survivor of the aircraft crash, Coach Ben grew to become an authority determine and an ethical compass for the group of women in Yellowjackets (learn extra concerning the common solid members right here).
His belief within the group started to wane early in Season 2 when the ladies turned to cannibalism to outlive after Jackie’s loss of life. Ben refused to partake, driving a wedge between him and the group.
Ben’s psychological state declined in Season 2, and he began to lose hope, even considering ending his personal life earlier than he is talked out of it by Misty.
Ben additionally discovers the cave Javi was hiding in to outlive and contemplates transferring there. Within the Season 2 finale, he confides in Natalie concerning the secret spot, however she refuses to go together with him and warns that he is too good an individual to stick with their group.
The coach finally pries himself away from the Yellowjackets workforce to retreat to the cave and is seen taking an axe and a few matches with him. This instantly factors to him being the perpetrator when the ladies’ cabin is burned down within the season 2 finale.
The place Is Coach Ben in Season 3?
It is initially unclear what occurred to Coach Ben when Yellowjackets Season 3 returns.
Within the premiere episode, it is revealed that the ladies have all labeled Ben as their enemy, assuming he set fireplace to their cabin. Additionally they imagine he died through the winter (though Natalie is aware of in a different way, which may very well be a degree of competition down the road).
Later within the episode, Ben manages to outlive the chilly months in Javi’s cave. Whereas delusional from starvation and impaired by his leg, he uncovers a crate of provides, which dramatically adjustments his state of affairs.
He then units a lure, hoping to catch animals to eat, however nabs Mari as a substitute.
Ben is shocked to study from Mari that the cabin burned down and that the ladies suspect him, portray him as harmless of the crime for now.
The coach is hospitable to Mari, however he cannot let her depart. He would not need her to return to the group and inform them he is alive, which might virtually definitely spell his doom.
What’s even worse for Mari is that she overhears Ben speaking to somebody who is not there, suggesting Ben’s psychological state is not 100%.
What Is Coach Ben’s Future in Yellowjackets Season 3?
Season 3 of Yellowjackets has positioned Ben in a precarious place. Whereas he managed to outlive away from the group for some time, the arrival of Mari means he is now in peril of being rediscovered and hunted by the workforce.
Ben has been an incorruptible character till now, however Mari’s risk to his survival is likely to be sufficient to push the coach to take a harmful motion.
It has been established all through Yellowjackets {that a} unusual supernatural pressure could affect the group (Lottie refers to it as “the wilderness”).
With Ben now additionally seemingly communing with one thing that is not there, this might trace that the coach has succumbed to the wilderness as properly.
Whereas some followers have speculated that Yellowjackets could also be constructing to a reveal of a monster within the woods, like a Wendigo or another mythological beast, the showrunners have instructed (as per SlashFilm) that an “exterior monster within the woods” will not be the reply. Nevertheless, they have not dominated out the potential of an influential supernatural pressure.
It stays to be seen whether or not Ben has been influenced by the wilderness like another survivors. In Season 2, the coach was seen hallucinating about his life together with his boyfriend again residence, so it is attainable that the particular person he’s speaking to is likely to be his companion, showing as a figment of his unconscious.
The reality of Ben’s situation will undoubtedly be essential in Season 3. Nevertheless, the character’s extra urgent concern is staying beneath the radar; if the Yellowjackets study of his location, it may spell doom for his or her coach.
Ben hasn’t been proven to have an older counterpart in Yellowjackets, so whether or not he makes it out of the wilderness alive is an enormous thriller.
New episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3 are launched on Fridays on Paramount+ at 12 a.m. PT/ 3 a.m. ET.