Who is the man without eyes in Yellowjackets and what does his presence mean for Taissa?

Yellowjackets, now in its third season on Paramount+ with Showtime, continues to explore mysterious and supernatural themes. The series depicts both the tragedy of a girl's football team becoming stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash and how their lives unfolded decades later, presenting mysterious figures that suggest a demonic nature.

As for Taissa, one of the remaining survivors from the woods, she is haunted by "The Man with No Eyes." The eyeless man has been lurking since the show began, but this scary character remained a huge mystery for two seasons. However, season 3 revealed that the mysterious man with no eyes is actually an ice cream shop's mascot.

Despite this revelation, the reason he's terrorizing Tai in the show's two timelines and why he keeps popping up remains a mystery.

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Yellowjackets season 3 reveals "The Man with No Eyes" backstory

The man with no eyes, depicted as a dark, long-haired, suit-wearing man with black eye sockets, first appeared in a flashback of Taissa's grandmother's death in Yellowjackets season 1. In episode 3 of the first season, Tai's grandmother sees a vision of the eyeless man in the mirror before panicking, as if the man is trying to take her eyes. It seems Tai could also see the same vision in the mirror.

Since then, the haunting figure has followed Tai, like when she gave her speech during her political campaign and in the drawings of her son Sammy, which either depict eyes or the lack of them. Moreover, in Yellowjackets season 2 episode 2, Taissa was sleepwalking and trying to follow the eyeless man into the snow and towards the edge of a cliff.

The man with no eyes continued to follow her in season 3, such as when she saw the figure in the alleyway after she and Van dined and dashed in episode 1. The new season also revealed the backstory of the eyeless man, providing some context to the mystery.

Instead of being a nightmare-inducing demonic force, the man with no eyes turns out to be a mascot for Ozzie's Homemade Ice Cream Parlor. In Yellowjackets season 3 episode 3, adult Tai and Van are on the couch watching old tapings of Pee-wee's Playhouse when an advertisement from the 1980s starts playing. It's a commercial for Ozzie's, and Tai is shocked after seeing the man with no eyes ordering an ice cream cone in the ad.

Van also sees the figure, confirming to Tai that it's not another frightening vision. She then tells Van that she might have seen the same figure in the commercial when she was a little kid. However, the reason why the eyeless man remains a lingering presence in her life after decades is still a mystery.

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What does the man with no eyes mean for Taissa, according to Yellowjackets creators?

In April 2023, the showrunners of Yellowjackets discussed the mystery of the eyeless man during a PaleyFest panel with other showrunners and some of the Yellowjackets cast members. Ashley Lyle explained that the man with no eyes wasn't a random addition to the series. She added that she's done a lot of research about the visions people get during their final moments and alluded to the figure as a symbol of death incarnate as far as Tai's character is concerned.

Lyle said:

"I think for Taissa, who's very much not in touch with her spiritual self, and very much not in touch with her ability to believe, or, her faith, there's this sort of symbolic character of, you know, you could look at him as death incarnate."

She further said about the symbolism of the eyeless man:

"I think what he represents is 'the unknown' and the unknown isosomething that Taissa is very uncomfortable with as a character."

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Watch episodes of Yellowjackets seasons 1 and 2 via Paramount+ with Showtime. New episodes of season 3 are available for streaming on the platform every Friday.