Who does Elijah Wood play in Yellowjackets Season 2?

Elijah Wood appears in Yellowjackets Season 2, but who is he playing, and what episodes does he show up in?

2021’s first season of Yellowjackets became a smash hit, with multiple Emmy nominations in 2022 and a green light for Season 2. Said second season has also proven just as popular, and just as good, with all of our episode reviews being 3/5 stars at least.

Fans had been waiting eagerly for said second season, which continues the story of a soccer team that was stranded in the wild for 19 months after a plane crash, and the ensuing trauma that lives on into their adulthood.

There’d also been plenty of anticipation for the show’s characters, both old and new. One addition to the cast of Season 2 is Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Wood. But when does he appear, and who does he play? We’ll explain, but first, spoiler warning for Yellowjackets!

Who does Elijah Wood play in Yellowjackets Season 2?

Elijah Wood is playing Walter Tattersall in Yellowjackets Season 2. He first appears in Episode 2 of the season, then in almost every episode after.

Walter first shows up in voice-over format. See, there’s a secret letter that Misty reads earlier on, which gives her advice on where to find a witness that would help her locate the currently missing Natalie. There’s a voice-over for the letter, which talks in admiration for Misty – and the voice sounds very familiar.

We then see a brief glimpse of him in Episode 2 as he enters the medical residence where Misty (played by Christina Ricci) works. We watch him wheeling an elderly relative in, complaining about any bad practices that could happen in the establishment. Misty looks at Walter with a suspicious fixation, and he also takes a glance at her.

In Episode 3, we finally find out who he really is: The guy on Misty’s online “Citizen Detective” community whose posts about the murdered Adam Martin keep getting voted down by Misty. Turns out he really admires her, as her “nose for analysing evidence is unparalleled,” and he ultimately sought to track her down so that he could be the “Moriarty” to her “Sherlock.”

Walter is somewhat less intimidating than Moriarty however, as during the scene where the pair interrogate a witness about Natalie’s disappearance, with Misty feeding Walter lines, he’s very reluctant to act tough.

However, Walter clearly has some tricks up his sleeve. He owns a boat just so he can escape the country without a passport, and it turns out that the old lady he took to Misty’s work isn’t even his relative, but an old lady who was about to be evicted.

Then in Episode 4, new information comes out: Turns out Walter is a multi-millionaire. After faulty building construction caused poles and bricks to fall on his head, he was able to sue the company for $6 million. He now doesn’t have to work, giving him plenty of time to join Misty on her investigations.

Strangely, he doesn’t care that Misty is a Yellowjacket, in fact he says it’s the “least interesting” thing about her. Her tenacity and sleuthing skills are what draw him to her, which makes a welcome change for Misty.

And as revealed in Episode 5, he also doesn’t care that Misty is a murderer. See, after fact-checking a lie she made up about Adam Martin, Walter believes that Misty is the one who killed him. But he doesn’t mind, as he assumes she was trying to do it for the right reasons. Even when Misty abandons him out of offence, he keeps trying to contact her in order to help. It’s sweet, kind of.

However, we don’t see him again until Episode 8, in which he appears playing a puzzle in his fancy home. He then discovers online that Adam’s body has been found, and emails the Police, saying that he has some information.

At first we think he’s about to rat Misty out, however he remains loyal. See, he draws the Police towards Lottie’s wellness compound – where all of the Yellowjackets currently are – proceeds to kill Detective Tan, and frames another cop, Saracusa, for it. He then comforts Misty after another character, which we won’t spoil here, bites the bullet, and that’s how his character finishes the series.

While we don’t know what’s in store for him in Season 3, we’re very excited to see where Walter – and his relationship to Misty – goes.

Elijah Wood thinks Walter is still untrustworthy

Wood and Ricci have already worked onscreen together in the past, as they both starred in the 1997 film The Ice Storm. So it’s very exciting to see them play off each other once more in Yellowjackets.

Wood has since revealed in an interview with Vulture that he thinks Walter is a wild card, and somewhat untrustworthy: “We’re not entirely sure of who Walter really is. Both Walter and Misty present a version of who they are to the world who is not entirely their true self or their whole self. Walter presents a version of who he is, but there are still so many things that, over the course of their journey together, start to be revealed.

“I don’t even know that I’ve learned everything about the character yet. We can rightfully feel a degree of un-trustiness toward him because he’s giving us enough reason to not fully believe his motivation and where he’s coming from. But there’s a version of him that is also true, which is that he’s this dude who came across a fair amount of money, so he doesn’t need to work and can just dive into his passion, which is true crime. I think there is a version of him that is that simple, but there might be something underneath all of that as well.”

Yellowjackets is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, which you can sign up for here.

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