While typically not a part of the main plotline, drama shows have some of the best romances, due to the elevated stakes. There is something so compelling about watching characters fall in love with each other in the most dire of circumstances, especially when it is clear that these relationships are doomed. Yellowjackets is a perfect example of this, with exciting romantic dynamics in both the past and present timelines.
While Yellowjackets only has a handful of strictly canon romantic pairings, there are so many excellent ships in the show. These can range from pairings that actually get together, to pairings with clearly implied feelings for each other, to pairings that may not have been intended to be romantic but still ultimately came across that way to viewers. These are all the major ships in Yellowjackets, ranked.
13
Misty and Walter
Misty (Christina Ricci) first met Walter Tattersall (Elijah Wood) through an online forum where he was theorizing about the murder of Adam Martin (Peter Gadiot). When Nat (Juliette Lewis) suddenly disappeared, Misty recruited Walter to help look for her, and the two became close. As of the end of Season 3, Misty and Walter are no longer together, but there’s a good chance that Yellowjackets will take their dynamic back to a romantic one again.
For two very unique characters, Misty and Walter’s relationship is one of the least interesting ones in Yellowjackets. Walter’s intensity about Misty is too much for even her, which is saying a lot. This would at least be more compelling if Walter’s interest in Misty came from an ulterior motive, but as it stands, he is just so enamored with her that he won’t move on when it’s clear that she’s lost interest.
12
Nat and Kevyn
Kevyn Tan (Sean Martin Savoy) was Nat’s (Sophie Thatcher) best friend as teens before the plane crash. He had clearly been enamored with her for a long time, and while she cared about him, it seemed like his feelings were ultimately stronger than hers. What little Yellowjackets showed of their teen dynamic had potential, but by the time they reunited in the adult timeline, it was clear that she’d outgrown him.
Nat and Kevyn’s (Alex Wyndham) romance as adults felt particularly odd, because at first she was using him to get information about Travis’ (Andres Soto) death, and then he was a cop investigating a murder that she’d helped cover up. Compared to Nat’s other, much stronger connections, her dynamic with Kevyn just never had that spark, so it wasn’t all that sad when the show eventually killed him off.
11
Shauna and Jeff
The most interesting aspect of Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) and Jeff’s (Warren Kole) marriage is the significant presence that Jackie (Ella Purnell) has in their relationship almost three decades after her death. On its own, though, Shauna and Jeff’s relationship is pretty bland.They had an affair as teens when Jeff (Jack DePew) was dating Jackie, and after the wilderness, Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) only went back to him out of some combination of nostalgia and guilt related to Jackie’s death.
In the present timeline, Jeff has just left ShaunawithCallie (Sarah Desjardins), and it feels like Yellowjackets has been building up to that for a while. Shauna was clearly unhappy in their marriage even before she cheated on him, and Jeff literally started the events of the adult timeline by blackmailing Shauna and the other Yellowjackets, so it’s no disappointment to see them finally hit a breaking point.
10
Melissa and Shauna
Shauna and Melissa’s (Jenna Burgess) relationship was doomed from the start. Melissa had apparently been interested in Shauna for a while before she expressed it, but she didn’t show her that until she followed Shauna and disrupted her private moment of burying her baby away from the group. Shauna and Melissa’s dynamic was far more interesting than her relationship with Jeff, but it felt quite a bit like a shadow of what Shauna had with Jackie, as both Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Van (Liv Hewson) pointed out.
To nobody’s surprise, Shauna and Melissa’s relationship in the teen timeline ended very badly, with Shauna humiliating Melissa in front of everyone. Still, though, there was a lingering connection between them in the adult timeline, enough so that Melissa (Hilary Swank) chose to give up her carefully-crafted cover to reach out to Shauna once again (although this, too, ended very badly).
9
Akilah and Travis
Travis’ (Kevin Alves) main relationship in Yelllowjackets is with Nat, but after their breakup between Seasons 2 and 3, he spends a lot of time embracing the wilderness with Lottie (Courtney Eaton) and Akilah (Nia Sondaya) in Season 3. At this point in the show, Travis and Akilah have mostly bonded through their previous shared devotion to Lottie, but they have a lot of potential as a pairing.
When Travis was starting to question both Lottie and the wilderness, he expressed clear concern for Akilah and for the ways in which Lottie was using her to connect to the wilderness. If Akilah is still alive in Season 4, it would be interesting to see what her dynamic with Travis looks like now that she has lost her faith in Lottie and the wilderness.
8
Simone and Tai
Tai (Tawny Cypress) and Simone’s (Rukiya Bernard) relationship always had an expiration date on it, because Tai was keeping everything that had happened in the wilderness hidden from her. Still, though, Tai and Simone made a cute couple while they lasted. They both clearly loved each other, were loving co-parents to Sammy (Aiden Stoxx), and made a good team.
Her marriage to Simone may not be Tai’s best relationship in the show, but they were one of the most solid relationships in Yellowjackets, apart from the major secrets about the wilderness and Other Tai that Tai had been keeping from Simone for the entirety of their relationship.
7
Nat and Travis
Did Nat and Travis’ relationship feel forced in the beginning? Yes, especially before Travis had his much-needed character development. Still, though, they had a good relationship while they lasted, even if it was clear that these two didn’t have what it took to go the distance. In Season 2, Nat and Travis were a solid pairing that supported each other through some difficult pains and losses, and they deserved to have an on-screen breakup instead of what happened in the show.
Ultimately, Nat and Travis were always just meant to be each other’s first love, but they probably never would have worked as a couple outside the wilderness. They stayed connected to each other on-and-off for the decades that followed until his death, but it seemed like the shared experience of the wilderness drove their relationship more than just an existing connection.
6
Ben and Paul
Although they got very little screentime, Ben Scott’s (Steven Krueger) relationship with his boyfriend, Paul (François Arnaud), is easily the second-best fully-canon romance in Yellowjackets. Before the plane crash, Ben and Paul were in a happy relationship, as revealed in flashbacks. Because Ben wasn’t ready to come out, though, Paul broke up with him.
At one point in the wilderness, Ben imagined moving in with Paul, coming out, and choosing their relationship above all else. Tragically, though, they were broken up before the plane crash, and Paul very well could have moved on by the time he ever learned that Ben had died.
5
Laura Lee and Lottie
Lottie and Laura Lee (Jane Widdop) are one of the more tragic missed connections in Yellowjackets. The two bonded in Season 1 when Lottie opened up to Laura Lee about the visions she’d been having since being in the wilderness. Believing Lottie’s visions to be religious, Laura Lee supported Lottie and decided to baptize her, leading Lottie to have a vision foreshadowing Laura Lee’s death.
Laura Lee’s death was devastating on its own, both for the loss of her character and the representation of the loss of hope of escaping the wilderness for the other Yellowjackets. Even more painful, though, was how much losing her affected Lottie. Lottie was absolutely distraught when the plane caught fire, and she even later saw Laura Lee in a vision. Although Lottie and Laura Lee were very different, Laura Lee believed in Lottie and saw her in a way that the others didn’t, and one can’t help but wonder how Lottie’s arc in the wilderness may have been different if Laura Lee had lived.
4
Misty and Nat
There is no better Misty ship than her and Nat, both in the teen and adult timelines. While Nat never considered Misty a friend as a teen, Misty was always enamored with her, and she really valued Nat’s opinions. Misty let Javi (Luciano Leroux) die just to save Nat, and when Nat was angry with Misty for destroying the transmitter box, Misty cared more about making amends with her than saving herself from getting exposed.
As adults, Misty and Nat had a very funny dynamic, as Misty saw them as best friends, while Nat more reluctantly accepted her company. There was just something so enjoyable about their odd couple dynamic and Misty’s unabashed love and acceptance for Nat, made all the more significant and tragic by the fact that Misty accidentally killed Nat at the end of Season 2.
