Teen Misty may have been a part of that ritual at the end of ‘Yellowjackets’ season 1, but she’s not all in. HL spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Samantha Hanratty about the finale, Coach Ben’s future, and more.
When it comes to Misty Quigley, it’s all about power where she can find it. In the final moments of the Yellowjackets season finale, Misty was part of a ritual led by Lottie. Lottie and Van believe there is dark energy in the woods, but for Misty, she’s just trying to find the right allies who can serve her best.
Samantha Hanratty spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife about Misty’s motives for being a part of that ritual with Lottie and Van. She also revealed that she believes Coach Ben will be “punished” for lying to Misty about his true feelings. Samantha weighed in on what she knows about filming season 2 and what’s ahead. Read our Q&A below.
Samantha Hanratty as teen Misty. (Showtime)We saw that crazy scene with Misty, Lottie, and Van performing some type of sacrifice or ritual. As we’ve seen, Misty doesn’t seem to have any allies, so why do you think she’s aligned herself at this point with Lottie?Samantha Hanratty: I think that Misty is attracted to anywhere she can have power. And I think right now, she doesn’t really have anybody. It seems that everybody is kind of starting to turn their backs on her, and she’s just jumping at any opportunity she can to have any type of power, and why not go to what seems to be the most powerful source this at the moment.
This possible supernatural or darkness element has been brewing over the past couple of episodes. Obviously, we see Van is really into it now. Do you think Misty actually believes that? Or is it just more about power?Samantha Hanratty: I don’t think that she believes it for a second. I think that she is willing though to go all the lengths to let everybody think that she believes in it, but I just don’t think that she does. I think it’s all just part of a plan that we’re going to have to wait and see unfold in the future.
I know fans are going to probably draw or think they’re drawing some conclusions into what this means. I can already see people are going to think Lottie is automatically the Antler Queen. But with a show like this, you can’t really be so sure. Does the ending of season 1 necessarily mean that Lottie and Van are part of the group in the flash-forward with Misty?Samantha Hanratty: That’s a great question that I can’t wait for it to be answered in the next season. I’ve been told very few things, but I did get told who the Antler Queen was when I filmed the pilot. Now, that could have changed. They change things on us all the time, so that could have changed. But for now, I’m just going to do my best to be a good actor, and not say anything I’m not supposed to.
Teen Misty in the flash-forward. (Showtime) One person that we do know did not fall in the trap and is not the Antler Queen is Jackie. Honestly, that shocked me because I was pretty on board with the theory that she was still alive, that she got left behind or something, and that she was coming back and was the one sending the postcards. But she, in fact, died… Jackie’s a key player in this and she has been since day one. She’s the team captain. What was your reaction when you found that out and learned that was going to be the big season 1 death?Samantha Hanratty: I knew from the pilot, mainly just because we were all talking about just the auditions and everything. Ella [Purnell] had mentioned, she was like, “Yeah, but you know, I’m only doing this season.” And I was like, “Wait, what does that mean? What does that mean for Jackie?” It had been planned, but I found out over dinner. That was shocking to me, but none of us knew how it was going to be done until we read the episode. I cried during pretty much a good amount of the table read for the last episode. It was just shocking, even just seeing her in the makeup was just like, it was really intense.
It’s a turning point for the entire show and everyone involved. How do you think Jackie’s death is going to change the dynamics amongst the group?Samantha Hanratty: I think it’s going to change a lot. I think this whole show there has been so many different people in power at some point. At some point, Misty was in power for an episode. And then you know, at some point, it was Taissa and for Laura Lee’s episode, Laura Lee was in charge. Everybody has kind of had their moment to shine, but Jackie was kind of always still that leader, even when she wasn’t. So to not have that power figure there, I think it really is going to just change all the dynamics. I am just so excited to start getting these scripts for season 2. I’m like, come on, send them my way, please. I want to know what’s going to happen because I am just as excited as everybody else.
Misty got quite the shock when Ben admitted that he’s gay. I’ve been nervous for Coach Ben probably more than any other character this whole season because of Misty. How do you think her feelings towards Coach Ben maybe have changed or evolved since learning this key piece of information?Samantha Hanratty: I think love is the keyword that you used, and I don’t think Misty knows how to properly love. I hate to use the word normal, but healthier people can kind of differentiate that. I think when you’re a teenager, it’s the kind of the same thing where obsession and love kind of go hand-in-hand. I think Misty’s on the side of more of obsession than love. As far as I’m concerned with season 1, I think that betrayal I don’t think is going to be easily forgiven. I actually had an interview where they brought up a good point there. They were like, “Is she going to feel kind of at ease because he is gay? Like, okay, well, maybe this isn’t about me type of thing.” I don’t know where Misty’s head is going to be at, but I don’t I don’t see her getting over this very easily. Especially because she’s had this obsession with him. I’m really curious now where her a) new obsession is going to lie and b) how she’s going to treat Ben from now on same because I do think he will be punished. I just don’t know how, and I don’t know when. I’m a little bit scared for him too.
In the present day, there’s definitely a connection between Natalie and Misty, some type of buried bond there, and you get to see it in their dynamic. It’s really kind of effortless. As much as Misty annoys Natalie, Natalie is drawn to her. They have an easy rapport. They found Travis together. They definitely work together well. We haven’t seen much of that in the past. Do you and Sophie [Thatcher] know where that backstory is? Do you have ideas about where that would have possibly formed?Samantha Hanratty: The only thing I think I’ve said to Sophie in the whole show is I whispered “I have a secret boyfriend too.” That’s the only thing I think I’ve really said to her in the scenes. So I felt similarly where I’m like, I wonder where this relationship is going to go and where it started. I think already Misty not being a part of the stuff with Travis would make Natalie maybe not hate her, you know what I mean? It’s not like she was one of those people, but I mean, I don’t know. I’m curious. I really hope that we can kind of dive more into that relationship. I’m curious about where things are going to go because Natalie and Coach Scott are so close. I honestly don’t know where things are going to go with their relationship. I think as adults, it’s kind of fun to see them both manipulate each other. Obviously, Natalie goes to Misty when she actually really needs her and knows that she’s burned a lot of bridges and knows that she will kind of always get Misty to help in any way, and Misty’s manipulating just because she wants to be around Natalie.
Samantha Hanratty and Steven Krueger as Misty and Ben. (Showtime)Last time, you guys had not been officially renewed for season 2 just yet. Do you know anything [about season 2]? Have the writers even contacted you? Samantha Hanratty: I literally have not heard from anybody. Obviously, I see stuff like from Ashley [Lyle] on Twitter, but I have not heard from a single person about the show. I mean, if it weren’t for the press, I wouldn’t have even known that we got picked up for another season. I am so out of the loop right now, and I’m really hoping to get into the loop because I want to know everything. I don’t think anybody has really heard anything yet. I really would love to know when we start filming and where we start filming. If we’re going to move up our lives, I want to know where we’re going. Are we going back to Canada? I don’t know. So I want to know as much as everybody else does. I think I know very little to none though, about this upcoming season. I know a little bit about where Misty is kind of heading, which is cool because I needed to know that for where her mindset was. I’m like, ‘Does she believe in this supernatural stuff going on or not?” And I got a more of an elaborate answer than I was expecting, so I was pretty excited about that.
I’m going to need season 2 to give us some Misty parents and see exactly where she came from…Samantha Hanratty: Yes! So I already have that whole backstory plan. I don’t know if we’ll use it, but I have that backstory plan. Her parents are both in the medical field, not really around. That’s why she knows all this stuff. She looks through the medical books all the time. I remember they showed the backyard of Misty’s house. It looked pretty nice to me, so it seems like they would be pretty well off. I’m like, is she adopted? That would be an interesting aspect if she was adopted. I would love to have more Misty backstory. I would be a big fan of that.
