Coach Ben Went From Sympathetic To Sinister In The Yellowjackets Season 2 Finale

This article contains major spoilers for "Yellowjackets" season 2 finale. 

Throughout the entire second season of "Yellowjackets," tension has been building between the stranded soccer team and their coach. Fans have been speculating about whether or not Coach Ben is next on the menu, and Steven Krueger teased a dark turn for his character — but what unfolded in the finale was entirely unexpected.

Ben has been keeping to himself and retreating into a dream world where he is back home with his boyfriend Paul after accepting his proposal to move to the city with him — avoiding his terrible fate in the wilderness. These moving flashbacks of what could have been cause Ben to mentally spiral and contemplate ending his life.

As the only adult in the group, Ben has always been somewhat ostracized by the girls. Between the loss of his leg and his mental instability, they hardly view him as a leader. He can't help them hunt and he spurns any responsibility when Shauna goes into labor, leaving the teenagers to fend for themselves. His refusal to eat Jackie officially brands him as an outsider. For the girls, it puts Ben on a moral high ground — as if he's declaring himself better than them — and marks a clear divide.

But if "Yellowjackets" has taught us anything these past two seasons, it's that the series is always throwing curveballs. Just when you think Coach Ben is headed for the chopping block, he strikes first instead. This jolting revelation raises a lot of questions about where Coach Ben's story is going, especially since most audiences predicted he would be the Yellowjackets' next meal. Now that we know Ben lives to see the third season, what does this mean for his character arc?

While there is a possibility that Ben is not the one who started the fire, the show strongly indicates that it was him. After he struggles to light a fire in his new secret cave, we see him steal matches and rope from outside the cabin. The final scene reveals that the supplies were not just for himself: he uses them to burn the Yellowjackets' cabin down and block the doors.

Witnessing Nat being crowned the next queen of their cult and genuinely enjoying the reception, almost immediately after the horror of seeing the Javi's butchered body, destroys Coach Ben. He believed Nat was the last vestige of humanity in the deadly wilderness. Now, Ben has no allies left and a target on his back.

The attempted murder of his students is disturbing, but it's coming from a complex emotional place. Ben is physically and psychologically worn down from hunger, depression, and anger at the girls' casual acceptance of cannibalism. Yes, they are also starving, but all he knows is that Javi has apparently been murdered by them for food. 

One could argue that Ben's act of violence makes him just as bad as the girls. He is also willing to kill for his own self-preservation. On the other hand, he has genuine reasons to fear the teenagers. They have turned into feral predators who enjoy the thrill of the hunt, beyond the simple need to eat. Perhaps Ben believes that it would be better for them to die in a single blaze rather than destroy each other one at a time or survive with the traumatic memories of consuming their friends. Or perhaps his motives are dominated by the realization that it's kill or be killed in the woods, and Ben doesn't want to be a victim.

The roasted cabin was an unexpected twist in the season 2 finale that raises the stakes of the characters' future survival and suffering. The last connection to civilization is gone, and they are one with the wilderness now. The devastating incident leaves us with burning questions for season 3: Will Nat bring everyone to Coach Ben's hiding place? Will Coach Ben have to fight them to stay there? 

The tension between Coach Ben and the girls was one of the most compelling parts of this season. Most "Yellowjackets" fans predicted he would be served on a platter by the end of the finale. In the last episode, the writers cleverly subvert expectations (as well as the Bury Your Gays and Bury Your Disabled tropes) by having Coach Ben preemptively act against those who would not hesitate to harm him. 

Whether you view Ben's arson as an act of cruelty against children in his care, or an act of mercy to stop the madness from going any further, it certainly opens up some exciting possibilities for season 3. With no confirmation yet about Ben's fate in the present day storyline, it's possible that he ultimately beat all the odds and survived. Perhaps he's still hiding out in that cave.