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Those shocking 'Yellowjackets' season 3 finale reveals, explained by Sophie Nélisse

Sophie Nélisse as Teen Shauna and Jenna Burgess as Teen Melissa  standing in the trees in "Yellowjackets."
Sophie Nélisse as Teen Shauna and Jenna Burgess as Teen Melissa in "Yellowjackets."

Kailey Schwerman/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME

  • "Yellowjackets" season three ended with a few big reveals.
  • Sophie Nélisse, who plays young Shauna, has a pivotal role in the finale ending.
  • Nélisse said she's enjoyed playing young Shauna as a villain, but still has empathy for her.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for the "Yellowjackets" season three finale.

Shauna went off the rails in a major way in "Yellowjackets" season three, but at least one person is still rooting for her: Sophie Nélisse, who plays teen Shauna.

The third outing of the Showtime hit survival thriller, which aired its finale Friday, follows a high school girls' soccer team that gets stranded in the wilderness after the plane crash. The show simultaneously tracks the survivors' adult selves 25 years later as their traumatic experiences come back to haunt them.

While each of the survivors has plenty of trauma (because, well, the cannibalism), none have been through the wringer quite as much as Shauna, who was responsible for her best friend Jackie's death in season one and then lost her baby in a stillbirth in the wilderness. These events have led to Shauna going down a dark, violent path in season three.

The episode, fittingly called "Full Circle," takes us back to where it all began: the scene from the pilot where the girls, in makeshift masks, hunt down one of their own, who falls into a pit. Fans have been wondering for three seasons who "Pit Girl" and the group's leader, the "Antler Queen," might be. "Full Circle" gives viewers those two big reveals, establishing that Mari was the girl who was chased and fell into a pit, and Shauna was the Antler Queen pursuing her.

While the "Yellowjackets" cast was heartbroken to lose Mari (Alexa Barajas), they were also excited to finally get answers. The Antler Queen twist wasn't exactly shocking to Nélisse, who said she saw the writing on the wall a few episodes back as young Shauna started wresting leadership away from Natalie (Sophie Thatcher), but she was still happy to finally see it play out.

She also wondered if Shauna's new leadership role will quell the fury and grief she's been driven by all season long. "Is that enough to soothe her need for vengeance and power?" Nélisse told BI.

Given that the others were actively plotting against Shauna after she forbade them all from leaving the wilderness when a pair of scientists and a guide stumbled upon their bloody bacchanal, keeping the group from mutiny will also be a challenge.

"I'm curious to see how long she can hold that power," Nélisse added.

Nélisse thinks Shauna is bisexual, but she's not sure Shauna and Jackie were more than friends

Jackie (Ella Purnell) crosses her arms confronting teen Shauna in a supermarket in a flashback on season 3 of "Yellowjackets."
Ghost Jackie (Ella Purnell) makes a few appearances this season.

Kailey Schwerman/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME

One of the subtler apparent revelations in the finale happens when a drunken Travis confronts Shauna before the girls leave to hunt down Mari. He tells her that "none of this is even real." He suggests that he's experiencing the thoughts of those who have died there, including his younger brother Javi and Shauna's dead best friend Jackie.

Travis tells Shauna that Jackie's thoughts are his favorite: "The slumber party makeouts? The jealousy? The betrayal?"

Whether that was a drug-induced hallucination or not, it certainly seems to suggest that something sexual went down between Shauna and Jackie, further complicating a relationship that was already complicated by Shauna's affair with Jackie's boyfriend Jeff, who ultimately married Shauna and has a daughter, Callie, with her. That, paired with the season three storyline that sees Shauna embark on a toxic relationship with fellow survivor Melissa, is pretty strong evidence that Shauna and Jackie probably hooked up at one point before the crash.

When I brought it up to Nélisse, she seemed surprised by that reading of the moment. She said she didn't take it that way but loved the theory. Though she tries to avoid looking at TikToks of the show, she's well aware that many viewers think there was something more than friendship between Shauna and Jackie, at least on Shauna's side.

"There's not an answer, actually, for that one. A lot of people have been hinting that there was sexuality between Jackie and Shauna," Nélisse said. "But the creators seemed, from our discussion, to say that there wasn't, but that there is just this really complex relationship. It's such a fine line to walk on."

"I think it's up to people's interpretation," she added.

Nélisse has no idea what will happen to Shauna in 'Yellowjackets' season 4, but she has some hopes

According to Nélisse, the cast only gets the scripts for an episode about a week before filming. That means they're not privy to the long game the show is playing in advance of individual revelations, and they don't have the answers to ongoing mysteries like what's going on with Taissa and whether there is actually something supernatural in the wilderness.

"Every season has felt almost like a complete different character to me," Nélisse said of playing Shauna. "I think what's fun is that I get to play somewhat of the villain [in season three], but at the same time, with all of her background and all of her trauma and all of her luggage that she's been carrying."

Nélisse says Shauna's baggage helped her contextualize some of her character's less popular decisions.

"Although everything that she does is maybe not excusable, you understand the why behind it. So I have a lot of empathy for her," she added. "It's been just really fun to be able to tap into something a lot darker. But at the same time, still caring for her and rooting for her, in a way."

So can Shauna go any darker in a not-yet-confirmed season four? Nélisse isn't sure, but she kind of hopes so.

"Part of me wants her to go even crazier, but I'm like, she needs to calm down."

The "Yellowjackets" season three finale is now streaming on Paramount+.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The Pentagon just killed $5.1 billion in IT and consulting contracts with firms like Accenture and Deloitte, calling it 'wasteful spending'

Pete Hegseth
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth axed $5.1 billion in IT and consulting contracts.

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

  • US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth axed $5.1 billion in IT and consulting contracts.
  • This includes contracts with companies like Accenture and Deloitte.
  • He said the terminations "represent $5.1 billion in wasteful spending" at the DOD.

The US's defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, just ordered the termination of IT and consulting contracts with companies like Accenture and Deloitte, calling it "wasteful spending."

In a Department of Defense memo, Hegseth said he would cut a Defense Health Agency contract "for consulting services from Accenture, Deloitte, Booz Allen, and other firms that can be performed by our civilian workforce."

Also on the chopping block is the Air Force's contract with Accenture to "re-sell third-party Enterprise Cloud IT Services," which Hegseth says the government can "already fulfill directly with existing procurement resources."

In the memo, Hegseth also said he was terminating 11 other contracts for "consulting services" that support "non-essential" activities, like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), climate matters, and the Pentagon's COVID-19 response.

Hegseth said the terminations "represent $5.1 billion in wasteful spending" at the DOD and would result in nearly $4 billion in savings.

The savings would be reallocated, Hegseth said, to serve "critical priorities to Revive the Warrior Ethos, Rebuild the Military, and Reestablish Deterrence."

He did not specify in his memo which Pentagon projects this money would go to.

In response to a request for comment, the DOD directed Business Insider to an X video of Hegseth talking about the terminations.

"By the way, we need this money to spend on better healthcare for our warfighters and their families, instead of $500 an hour business process consultant. That's a lot of consulting," Hegseth said in the video.

Hegseth also expressed his gratitude to Elon Musk's cost-cutting outfit, the Department of Government of Efficiency. DOGE has been slashing federal spending across various agencies, whether it be by laying off thousands of federal workers or shuttering foreign aid programs.

"So we want to thank our friends at DOGE. We want to thank all the folks here that have helped us unpack this, reveal it, and we're excited to make these cuts on behalf of you, the taxpayer and the warfighters at the Department," Hegseth said in his X video.

New @DOGE findings, this time it’s $5.1 billion. pic.twitter.com/vHRnDHZSUS

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) April 10, 2025

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO referenced the Defense Department's $841 billion budget in an op-ed he wrote with Vivek Ramaswamy for The Wall Street Journal in November. Ramaswamy, who was co-leader of DOGE at the time, left DOGE in January.

"The Pentagon recently failed its seventh consecutive audit, suggesting that the agency's leadership has little idea how its annual budget of more than $800 billion is spent," the pair wrote.

Last month, Hegseth announced that the Defense Department was terminating over $580 million in programs, contracts, and grants that DOGE had identified as wasteful spending.

Representatives for Accenture, Deloitte, and Booz Allen did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI.

Read the original article on Business Insider

'The Pitt' will return next year after becoming a surprise hit. Here's what to know about season 2.

A still of "The Pitt" showing Noah Wyle crying in a hoodie and doctor scrubs.
Noah Wyle stars as Dr. Robby in "The Pitt."

John Johnson / Max

  • "The Pitt" is the latest word-of-mouth viral TV series.
  • Max has already renewed the show for a second season.
  • Here's what to know about the cast, plot, and potential release date.

"The Pitt" has become a surprise hit for Max, inspiring the streamer to renew the series to return next year.

The critically acclaimed medical drama is part of a recent wave of procedural shows from major streamers. These shows are popular on network TV channels and feature the professional lives of medical, emergency service workers, and cops.

"The Pitt" season one had an interesting twist on the usual medical show model, focusing on the medical staff of a fictional Pittsburgh hospital during a single, extended 15-hour shift. Each episode covered one hour of that shift.

Max told the Wrap, a week after "The Pitt" premiered in January, that the series had one of the most-watched premieres for the streamer since it launched in 2020. Word-of-mouth helped build the audience even further, as chatter on social media about the intense drama encouraged more people to watch.

Taking heed of the show's viral success, Max announced in February that it had ordered another season.

Here's what we know so far about season two.

Season two will be set on the Fourth of July, one of the busiest days for hospitals.
Ned Brower, Patrick Ball, Noah Wyle, Tracy Ifeachor in "The Pitt" season 1
There are too many patients and not enough beds in "The Pitt" season one.

Warrick Page/Max

Season one introduces Dr. Robby and his Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital dayshift team, which includes two bright-eyed medical students, an arrogant intern, and multiple resident doctors.

While the workday is already chaotic from the start, the drama intensifies when there's a mass shooting at a festival near the hospital.

Robby is barely keeping it together already, still dealing with trauma from working at the hospital during the pandemic. When his stepson's girlfriend dies on his watch due to injuries from the shooting, he breaks down and is consoled by one of the medical students.

The team pulls through with only six deaths out of the 112 patients that come to the hospital. Dr. Jack Abbott, a night-shift doctor, talks Dr. Robby down from quitting — or jumping off the roof.

There are other unresolved stories at the end of the finale. Dr. Langdon was caught stealing drugs, Dr. McKay got in trouble with the police for breaking her ankle monitor to help save the multiple shooting victims, and there are a few patients still in critical care that have to be passed on to the night shift team.

Season two may not even address or resolve these story threads.

R. Scott Gemmill, the show's creator, said during a Deadline Contenders TV panel event in April that season two would be set 10 months later than season one, during a Fourth of July weekend. It will still keep the 15-hour shift model.

Holidays are some of the busiest days for hospitals, and the Fourth of July has one of the biggest spikes in hospital visits of the year, partly due to incidents with fireworks. Fans are expecting even more chaos than season one.

"The Pitt" season two is expected to premiere in January 2026.
A still of "The Pitt" showing a woman wearing a t-shirt, glasses and a stethoscope in a hospital room.
Mel (Taylor Dearden) has become a fan-favorite character on "The Pitt."

Warrick Page / Max

Casey Bloys, the chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, told Vulture in March that they plan to have the series out in January 2026, so fans won't have to wait more than a year to see new episodes.

"This model of more episodes cuts down on the gap between seasons. On the platform, we have shows like 'House of the Dragon,' 'The Last of Us,' and 'White Lotus,' which, because of how they're made, can take two years to make," Bloys said. "What I love about something like 'The Pitt' is, I can get 15 episodes in a year."

Noah Wyle, who plays Dr. Robby and is an executive producer, told Esquire in April that the writing room is already meeting to develop a script for season two.

Variety reported that the series will start shooting season two in June.

There may be a new cast for season two.
A still of "The Pitt" showing a woman and a man wearing visors and doctor's scrubs.
Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez) and Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell) play medical students.

Warrick Page / Max

Since Wyle is an executive producer and star of the show, he will likely return as Dr. Robby, but the rest of the cast's fate is uncertain.

Ten months is a long time and may mean certain doctors and nurses have left or transferred hospitals.

The medical students Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell) and Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez) will have finished their rotation and likely return to school. Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) was on the edge of being fired, and Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) considered quitting in the finale.

Alternatively, certain characters could be on other shifts this time round.

At the Deadline Contenders event in April, Wyle said they are casting new actors to join the series.

"We're calling all pros," he said. "We want people who are good at memorising dialogue and really good with props and are used to working in a company, an ensemble."

Wyle did not clarify if this casting was for a main role as a doctor or a guest appearance as a patient.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Zillow is fighting back against a push to make real estate listings more exclusive

Houses
Zillow said if a listing is first marketed to a limited group of potential buyers, it will not be allowed on Zillow.

Grace Cary/Getty Images

  • Zillow said it's banning listings that are initially selectively marketed to the public.
  • The policy targets the selective sharing of listings before they appear on sites like Zillow.
  • Now listings that are made public must be widely shared within a day in order to appear on Zillow.

Zillow announced a new policy Wednesday that it said was motivated by one principle: "A listing marketed to any buyer should be marketed to every buyer."

Under the company's new listing access standards, homes that are listed for sale but only to a limited group — or not made visible to all potential buyers via the common channels — will not be allowed to appear on Zillow.

The policy is a response to a push by some real estate brokerages to selectively share their listings, rather then make them widely visible from the jump, such as on sites like Zillow or Redfin, as Business Insider's James Rodriguez reported Wednesday.

For instance, Compass, the largest real estate brokerage in the US by sales volume, uses a marketing strategy that includes listing properties on a "Coming Soon" page before listing them more widely on sites like Zillow.

Zillow's new policy means that in order for a listing to ever appear on the site, it needs to be submitted to a local database of homes for sale called a Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, and published on sites like Zillow within a day of being initially marketed, on a brokerage's own site, on social media, or via a yard sign.

"Our standards are straightforward: If a listing is marketed directly to consumers without being listed on the MLS and made widely available where buyers search for homes, it will not be published on Zillow," the company's statement said.

Zillow also said the practice of selectively sharing listings hurts consumers and creates confusion in the marketplace.

"It's a bait-and-switch move, where agents or brokerages try to get the best of both worlds — dangling a listing to gain more business, only to turn around and market it widely later," the statement said, adding: "Consumers should not have to wonder whether the home that might be perfect for them is hidden behind a gate they didn't know existed."

Read the original article on Business Insider

We got a picture of one of the first Waymos to touch down in Japan as the robotaxi prepares to map out Tokyo

Waymo
A Waymo comes out of a shipping container at an undisclosed port in Japan.

Courtesy Nihon Kotsu, GO, and Waymo

  • Waymo robotaxis will begin mapping out limited parts of Tokyo.
  • Nihon Kotsu, a Japanese taxi company, will manually drive the cars.
  • Waymo sent us a photo of one of the first 25 robotaxis that will be a part of the mapping process.

Waymo has arrived in Tokyo.

The Alphabet-owned robotaxi company announced on Wednesday that its Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will begin mapping out seven central wards of Tokyo — Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa — which represent some of the city's major commercial hubs.

The cars, however, won't be driverless yet.

Nihon Kotsu and GO, two of Japan's largest taxi platforms, will manage the fleet and manually drive the vehicles. This will help the Waymo cars gather data and learn the country's unique driving patterns, such as left-hand traffic.

"Initially, the Nihon Kotsu drivers will manually drive the car, just like you or I would with our hands on the wheel and no autonomous driving enabled," Sandy Karp, a spokesperson for Waymo, told Business Insider in an email. "Waymo will use the information from these driving missions to begin adapting and validating its autonomous driving technology for operation in Japan."

Waymo will begin the mapping process with 25 vehicles, Karp said.

The spokesperson sent BI a photo of one of the vehicles backing out of a shipment container at an undisclosed port in Japan earlier in March. In the photo, a Nihon Kotsu crew member watches the Waymo as it pulls out of the container.

Karp said the vehicles have since been moved to a depot and are "getting upfitted with some adjustments" to comply with local laws and regulations, including new vehicle signage and an additional blindspot mirror attachment.

Waymo
Waymo's white Jaguar I-PACE will begin mapping out the streets of Tokyo.

Courtesy Waymo

Yasuharu Wakabayashi, president of Nihon Kotsu, said in a statement that the company's drivers have trained in the US and are "well-prepared to begin introducing Waymo's vehicles to Tokyo."

"We anticipate that autonomous robotaxis will help address driver shortages in the future," he said. "We view this initiative as the first step toward building an ideal ecosystem that unites people and advanced technology."

Waymo's approach to a fully autonomous driver system includes mapping out a specific area with its vehicles before it can launch to the public without human supervision.

This differs from other autonomous vehicle-focused companies like Wayve or Tesla, which rely more heavily on end-to-end learning models for its self-driving software. This essentially allows the car to learn to drive in its environment on the go without the need to map out an area beforehand.

Proponents of this approach argue that end-to-end learning allows for a more efficient ability to scale. Waymo's director of product management, Vishay Nihalani, told BI at a recent autonomous vehicle conference in Los Angeles that as Waymo's driver continues to learn, the robotaxi will require less time to map out any given city.

Waymo has also sought partnerships with third parties, including rideshare platforms, to help manage its fleets in some cities.

In Austin and Atlanta, for example, Uber manages Waymos's fleet, which includes vehicle maintenance and depot operations. In San Francisco, Waymo maintains the vehicles on its own.

According to the company, Waymo now provides more than 200,000 paid passenger weekly trips.

The service now operates in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, and Silicon Valley geofenced areas.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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