Warning! Spoilers ahead for Yellowjackets season 3, episode 3, "Them's The Brakes!"Yellowjackets season 3 returns with episode 3, "Them's The Brakes," and introduces some fun new ideas, but it still disappointed me. Yellowjackets season 3, episodes 1 and 2 were a solid start, even if they only worked to let us know this is a new iteration of the show that's leaving the problem areas behind. However, episode 3 showed me there's good reason to be concerned about Yellowjackets' future this season. Between the misdirects and the visions, I want to get a handle on who I'm rooting for and what their intentions are in this installment of the story.

My biggest issue with "Them's The Brakes" was that it didn't let us sit with the tension built in episodes one and two. Tai and Van immediately confide in each other about their secrets and connection to the wilderness, and Shauna instantly gets to the bottom of what Lottie and Callie have been talking about. There's no opportunity for the characters to sit with what they've learned and decide who to trust or who to confide in. Additionally, since so much time is spent in the present, I'm beginning to wonder when we'll discover the secrets of the past.

Now that there are no murders on the horizon or messes to clean up, the present-day timeline of Yellowjackets has no reason for its characters to be together. While Van and Tai are linked by love, and Lottie seems convinced that bringing Callie into the cult of the wilderness will solve something, one of the best parts of season 1 was the fact that the story was building to the Yellowjackets reuniting. As it stands, when the adults come together, which they inevitably will, it won't be a satisfying payoff.

However, the promise of Hilary Swank and the hope she's playing the adult version of Melissa is a large part of what's keeping me interested in this season. Melissa immediately captured my attention at the end of episode 2 with the memorable kiss between her and Shauna, and it would be shocking to discover the person who left the phone in the bathroom for Shauna to find wasn't the adult Melissa. Their connection in the woods must be built up and well-established throughout season 3 for us to care about this intriguing but uncertain relationship.

If the older Melissa is the person who sabotages Shauna in "Them's The Brakes" and sparks her fear and anger, the fallout of their relationship must be epic in scale. Young Shauna is on the precipice of becoming a brutal antihero in the past, something the show has teased in both timelines for a long time. We're left wondering when this truly villainous side of Shauna is going to come out. While she's been responsible for people's deaths before, it was always out of fear. Now, young Shauna is harboring too much anger to be kept quiet for long.

In terms of antiheroes in the present, Misty's adult arc is interesting to me, as it's about time she realized the other women are, at best, ambivalent to her and, at worst, find her mind-numbingly annoying and terrifying. Season 3 needs a villain, and she could be the perfect fit. Smart, slightly sadistic, and determined to be feared if she can't be loved, Misty has long had the power to ruin the other women's lives, and a confrontation within the group as a whole could be the spark needed to set Yellowjackets season 3 on fire.

While it's difficult to make every episode an even split between storylines, the younger Yellowjackets have been getting less to do lately. Though "Them's The Brakes" gave them an exciting new mission and has raised some ethical questions that must be answered in the coming episodes, I have a feeling their dilemmas will be solved more quickly than I'd like. The connection between the storylines in the past and present is also getting murkier, as the cause-and-effect relationship the thematic tension had in each part of the story isn't as strong as it was.

As always, I'm left with far more questions than answers. The revelations made about the One-Eyed Man, Taissa's visions, and their connection to the wilderness are nebulous at best, and there's no drive to link this facet of the story to the rest of the plot threads. While the older actresses are stronger and more experienced, the younger performers have what it takes to anchor an intense and dramatic story arc; Yellowjackets season 3 just needs to give them a chance.

Yellowjackets airs weekly on Fridays at 3 AM EST/12 AM PST on Paramount+ and on Sundays at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST on Showtime.