Lottie’s words to Van, and Van’s overwhelmingly relieved reaction, are vital. Van told Taissa that she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, but the rest of the group has no idea that she’s dying. For Lottie to indicate to Van that she’ll soon see the results of the wilderness entity getting what it “wants,” Lottie was either informed of Van’s diagnosis before the rest of the group or she really is attuned to the unexplainable.
Considering “Yellowjackets” is consistently subverting puzzle box show tropes by allowing the supernatural and the tragically ordinary to exist as one and the same, there are multiple directions the show could go with Van’s story. Maybe Lottie is a conduit for the wilderness entity, or maybe she really is sick in the head. Maybe Lottie knew Van was dying because she had previous knowledge, or maybe she gave her the final look because Van has a history of being one of Lottie’s most loyal followers and she wanted an ally before she was shipped off to a psych ward.
Regardless of what is really happening, it doesn’t change the fact that Van still very much believes in Lottie and the power of the wilderness. This has birthed the very popular fan theory that it was Van who sent the postcards to all of the survivors in the hopes of a reunion, possibly working in tandem with Lottie to get them all together once again. When Van tells Taissa that she only has months left to live, making a sacrifice certainly sounds like a last-ditch effort by Van to cheat death once again.
Is Van a villain or someone still operating in survival mode? I guess we’ll have to wait until next season to know for sure.
