‘Yellowjackets’ and Ben’s Fate After THAT Episode, Explained

Ben (Steven Krueger) has had one of the most traumatizing journeys on Yellowjackets. While the show is largely about the young women stranded in the wilderness following the plane crash, there were also three male survivors. But Travis (Kevin Alves) and Javi (Luciano Leroux) are kids themselves, which makes Coach Ben the only adult who makes it out alive.

A big question before Season 3 began was how Ben survived and if he started the fire at the cabin. It almost killed all the women and left them stranded with no shelter in the cold for the remainder of the winter. At least the answer to the first question was given early on. Still, it was only a matter of time before the ladies found him. And what they eventually do to Ben may shed some light on why the ladies are especially traumatized 25 years later.

Ben First Has a Fake-Out Death in ‘Yellowjackets’

It is revealed early in the season that Ben survived and has been hiding out in the same cave Javi was in for the time he had disappeared. When he encounters Mari (Alexa Barajas), he helps her but also kidnaps her for fear that she’ll reveal his location to the others. He eventually lets her go, and she does tell them where he is. The ladies head to the cave to retrieve Ben, desperate for revenge.

With Ben back at camp, they must decide what to do with him. Unable to reach a consensus, they decide the only fair option is to hold a trial. Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown) is appointed as prosecutor and Misty (Samantha Hanratty) as defense. They both plead their cases, and Misty provides convincing arguments about reasonable doubt, Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) holding court as judge.

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Ben takes the stand and insists that he did not start the fire at the cabin and would never have harmed them. He talks of the fondness he developed for them over the years of working with the soccer team. He tearfully reveals that while he was initially judging them for the things he was witnessing them doing in the wilderness, he later realized how courageous they were. He feared they didn’t need him anymore and, further, that he would be next as a sacrifice.

As the ladies wipe tears from their eyes, it ends up being a hung jury. They continue with revotes again and again until Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) manages to convince — or rather intimidate and bully — some of the more timid ladies to swing their votes in favor of guilty. The decision has been made. Ben will die.

But something unexpected happens. Just as Tai is preparing to pull the trigger for the execution style kill, Travis, Lottie (Courtney Eaton), and Akilah (Nia Sondaya) come running from the woods and knock Ben out of the way before the bullet hits him. Akilah had one of her visions in the cave, and it was of Ben as a literal bridge to home. It must mean something. They have to keep Ben alive.

Ben Meets His End in Brutal Fashion, With a Massive Twist

However, the next episode shows that sparing Ben doesn’t last long. Unsure of what to do with Ben, they keep him tied up like an animal. With his non-amputated foot severely cut to prevent him from moving, even on crutches, he has nothing to do but sit and suffer. When he begs them to kill him, they refuse. When they discover he has been hiding his food and going on a hunger strike, they force-feed him. Their treatment of Ben goes down as one of the worst crimes committed by the girls in Yellowjackets.

In several desperate moments, Ben continuously begs Natalie to put him out of his misery, admitting it was he who set the fire. He goes into detail about how he did it, saying he tore up blankets, shoved them into open cracks in the walls, and lit a match. It’s unclear if he’s telling the truth or is just saying this in hopes that it will anger Natalie enough to finally do the deed and end his suffering.

Eventually, Natalie is unable to deal with the guilt of keeping him like a feral creature. She creeps out in the middle of the night and tearfully plunges a knife into Ben’s chest as he smiles at her appreciatively for finally giving him closure and says, “Thank you.” The ladies are furious at this act, instantly firing Natalie from her post as leader and appointing Shauna in her place.

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The most jarring scene comes later when, as the ladies surround the fire feasting on Ben’s body, Lottie begins to chant and sing and dance. The other ladies chime in, and soon, it’s a full-on party. But they are stopped in their tracks when Lottie sees three figures coming from the distance. In walks a man and a woman who are just as surprised to see these ladies as they are to see them. But the man looks to his right, jumps, and screams, “What the…?” The camera pans to show a decapitated Ben’s head sitting off to the side, the one body part of his the ladies didn’t consume. Who these people are and what implications they will have for the plot has fans excited to see what comes next.

Ben’s ‘Yellowjackets’ Journey up to That Point

After surviving the crash but having his leg amputated, Ben was not in good spirits. Not only was he the only adult left, but he was stranded with a large group of teenage women who were not getting along with one another and making rash decisions, reflective of their age and inexperience. He powered through as the ladies descended deeper and deeper into desperation, looking on, horrified as he saw some of the things they were doing, notably resorting to cannibalism.

He had a tough time coping, not only because of this, but also because he was depressed thinking about the life he left behind, including his boyfriend Paul (François Arnaud). It weighs so heavily on Ben, combined with the lack of food and water, that he starts to hallucinate. The ladies do what they can to keep him alive, particularly Misty. But as he sees what’s happening, he feels that his days are numbered. At some point, when food becomes scarce again, he is certain he will be next.

Coach Ben had a pivotal role in the Season 2 finale. As the ladies tucked in for the night at the cabin, they are awakened by smoke, only to realize that a fire has broken out. As they all come running out of the cabin, they watch the flames rise and expand and slowly burn. Looking on from a distance is Ben, implying he did it. He then disappears, and the ladies are left to somehow survive in the frigid winter.

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He sets traps and forages for food as best he can. When he comes across a hidden pit with a trunk inside, he discovers a massive supply of food, including army rations and protein bars. This is what he uses to survive the winter. But when Mari accidentally falls into the pit he uncovered, his downfall begins. He can’t bring himself to leave her to die, but he can’t let her go, so he captures her and brings her back to the cave with him.

Eventually, Ben, who has seemingly slipped into a madness of his own, talking to people who aren’t there, decides to let her go back. As suspected, she reveals his location to the others, which seals Ben’s eventual fate. Had Ben not let Mari go, he could possibly still be alive. However, the ladies were bound to find him eventually, especially since Misty figured out prior to this that Natalie had known where Ben was all along.

What’s most interesting about Ben’s tragic death is how the ladies explained it once they were rescued. Did they claim Ben died in the crash, conveniently leaving out the story of their torture of him and cannibalism? Could Paul be the one suspicious of what really happened, tormenting the ladies 25 years later as he deals with a nagging feeling that something isn’t right? If the ladies eventually find out that Ben didn’t set the fire (if he was lying to Natalie), the guilt will weigh heavily on them. It was one thing to cannibalize a body for sustenance when there was no other option, but it was completely different to murder a man in cold blood and eat his flesh when other sources of food were plentiful.

One thing fans know is that there are other people in the wilderness who now know what they did. The chances of them having survived are slim since the ladies don’t seem worried that there is anyone else alive who knows of the heinous things they did. But living with the guilt alone of Ben’s murder is a burden they all carry, and one that likely traumatized Natalie the most. After all, it’s Natalie, feeling like she had no other choice, who was the one that did the merciful deed. Yellowjackets is streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime.