Why Misty Quigley Should Be ‘Yellowjackets’ Final Girl

She’s a “conniving, poodle-haired freak.” She’s a murderer. She’s a true-crime aficionado. She owns a parrot named Caligula. She has a boyfriend in Frodo Baggins, but she sort of hates him. She’s Misty freakin’ Quigley, and, in our opinion, there’s a very real chance she might be the last woman standing at the end of Yellowjackets. Are we rooting for her? Well. Are we rooting for any of them, at this point?

Here’s why we think, for better or worse, Misty Quigley (Christina Ricci) might be the final member of her “team” left when the dust settles at the end of Season 4.

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Misty’s Smart Enough to Survive

Without Misty, the adult Yellowjackets would’ve been locked up several times over. They can thank her love of true crime — and the lack of empathy she possesses, combined with her eternal need to belong — for her quick “save” when Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) killed Adam Martin (Peter Gadiot). She also took care of the Jessica Roberts (Rekha Sharma) problem in Season 1, poisoning her with a cigarette injected with fentanyl and ensuring the reporter would dig no further into what happened in the wilderness. Time and time again, Misty has shown herself to be resourceful, difficult to rattle, and shrewd. We wouldn’t want to be her enemy.

Because of that, we think she might be smart enough to see whatever Shauna does in Season 4 coming. Season 3 positioned Shauna and a duo of Misty and Tai (Tawny Cypress) on opposing sides, with the latter two intending to take the former out. Of course, Shauna won’t go without a fight; in the trailers, we see her standing in Misty’s home with a gun. We assume they both escape from that confrontation. In fact, Misty might’ve even baited Shauna to get her to show up there. Unless emotion’s clouding her judgment, Misty’s usually several steps ahead. If she continues that way, she might be the only Yellowjacket to endure while the others tear each other apart.

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The Tragic, Grisly Poetry of Misty

Never forget that we were introduced to Misty (played by Samantha Hanratty in the ‘90s timeline) as she was gleefully watching a rat drown in her family’s pool. She’s never been allergic to violence or shied away from gore. She lies easily and seemingly without remorse. We’re not going to armchair-diagnose, but… there’s something wrong with Misty.

And yet, setting all of that aside (and admittedly, it’s a lot to set aside), Misty’s true desire isn’t to get away with murder. From the start of the show, she’d always wanted to belong. She wasn’t part of the soccer team; instead, she was the equipment manager. Friendless, bullied, and thought of as “weird,” she always wanted the other girls to like her. They never did. Even in the adult timeline, Misty’s treated with overall chagrin and reluctance. It would be almost fitting if, again, Misty’s story ends with her alone, not even united with the rest of her team on the “plane.”

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It’s All Because of Misty

In a way, Misty’s the show’s biggest anchoring character. In the suspenseful, creepy opening, she’s the only unmasked Yellowjacket visible. She didn’t cause the plane to crash, but she destroyed the team’s best chance at rescue. In a way, all of the horrors that unfolded in the wilderness occurred because she was desperate to be needed. It all ties back to Misty — and given that, it should all end with Misty.

What does this mean for the other Yellowjackets? If they don’t survive, there’s poetry in that, too. Shauna’s been fated for death since she left the wilderness, and we’re willing to bet her daughter, Callie (Sarah Desjardins), might be the one to kill her. If Tai dies, it means she gets to reunite with her love, Van (Lauren Ambrose), which would be the closest thing to a happy ending anyone gets on his show. Akilah, who we’re guessing survives into the adult timeline, is too sweet to make it to the end. Melissa (Hilary Swank) probably dies by Tai’s hand, in revenge for killing Van. Unless there are more survivors we don’t know about, that only leaves Misty.

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Where does that leave her? We’re not totally sure. If Walter (Elijah Wood) isn’t pretending to be in love with her for the sake of digging up dirt on the Yellowjackets, maybe she runs off with him, and they end up a happy serial-killer couple living in a suburb somewhere. Maybe Misty eventually spills the beans to the world about what happened in the wilderness, gets incredibly rich off of it, and finds the adoration of the masses hollow because she betrayed her friends — who, notably, were never her friends — to do it. Maybe she just chills with her parrot. Where Misty’s story goes, we can’t ultimately say. It just wouldn’t surprise us if hers is the only one that doesn’t end in death.