WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Yellowjackets season 3, episode 3!The arrival ofYellowjacketsseason 3 brings some long-awaited answers about the show’s compelling mysteries, including the unexpected origins of the Man with No Eyes. Furthering the show’s debate over whether supernatural influences are truly at play with the survivors,Yellowjacketsseason 1 introduced a nightmare-inducing figure referred to byTai as the Man with No Eyes.The dark-haired, suit-wearing, pale man with black sockets in place of his eyes first appeared in a flashback to the death of Tai’s grandmotherwhen she was a child, and has continued haunting her as both a teenager and an adult.
While seasons 1 and 2 left the true nature and origins of the Man with No Eyes a mystery,Yellowjacketsseason 3, episode 3 finally clarifies his link to Tai. As it turns out, he wasn’t originally a supernatural being haunting Tai and her grandmother, but rather played a more innocent role in theYellowjacketscharacters’ New Jersey hometown. It took decades for Tai to finally piece it together, withher realization about the Man with No Eyes at last coming from an old TV commercial for a local ice cream parlor.
The Man With No Eyes Was In Commercials From Tai’s Childhood
Van confirms to Tai that she saw the man, reassuring her that his role in the commercial isn’t just another vision.
However, rather than having no eyes,the man initially has frightening animated eyes that pop out on the screen. After the ad explains their ice cream is so good that it’ll make your eyes pop out, the man continues to happily lick the ice cream cone with empty eye sockets. The figure is even seen on the sign for Ozzie’s informing prospective customers where the parlor is located, suggesting he’s essentially the mascot for the business. Plus, Van confirms to Tai that she saw the man, reassuring her that his role in the commercial isn’t just another vision.
Why Tai Saw The Man With No Eyes When Her Grandmother Was Dying As A Child
The Man With No Eyes Symbolizes Death & The Unknown For Tai
Tai seeing the Man with No Eyes in visions dates back to her grandmother’s death when she was a child. InYellowjacketsseason 1, episode 3, a flashback shows Tai at her grandmother’s bedside in a hospital, withher grandmother suddenly spotting something in the mirror and telling the “Man with No Eyes” to come toward her. A moment later, her grandmother begins frantically screaming, “Don’t let him take my eyes!,” traumatizing a young Tai. When Tai went to her grandmother’s funeral, she opened one of her eyes and found that it no longer had a pupil.
Taissa’s Connection To Yellowjackets’ Symbols Explained
Taissa’s sleepwalking is becoming a major problem in Yellowjackets, but it clearly connects to the mysterious symbols in the 1996 timeline.
The context of that flashback suggested that something supernatural was at play with the Man with No Eyes, but the new reveal of his origins suggests it could be less sinister than expected. The Man with No Eyes might have never been there the entire time, withyoung Tai likely conjuring him up as a physical manifestation of the trauma she associates with death. Since Tai’s grandmother had mentioned a man with no eyes, Tai likely imagined the Ozzie’s mascot since that was the only figure with that description she could think of.
Taissa’s son, Sammy, also saw the Man with No Eyes and had drawings of him in his room.
Since that scarring event in Tai’s childhood, the image of theMan with No Eyes continues to haunt her in moments when she’s grieving, confronting death, or lacking control while in a darker psychological state. For instance, visions of the Man with No Eyes also occur when she’s sleeping, which is whenTai’s “evil” dirt-eating, tree-climbing, frightening persona comes out. Teen Tai notes that the Man with No Eyes guides her when she’s sleepwalking, and even brings her directly to the symbol carved on a tree one night.
Yellowjackets Has To Be Setting Up A Deeper Reveal For The Man With No Eyes
Is He Really Just An Ice Cream Parlor Mascot?
While it’s clear the Man with No Eyes has generally been a moresymbolic figure of Taissa’s discomfort and fear related to death, the unknown, and the dark depths of life and humanity she’s confronted with, it seemed likeYellowjacketswas setting up a darker origin for this entity. Being connected to an ice cream parlor provides an ironic juxtaposition between the creepiness of the figure and the comforting joy of ice cream, which is a common theme with innocence being corrupted inYellowjackets, but that still doesn’t explain why Tai’s grandmother saw him.
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This may be Tai’s version of the Man with No Eyes, but it seems like there’s a deeper layer to the idea of this figure and the fear that Tai’s grandmother felt about him.Tai and her grandmother could potentially have some premonition of death, seeing different embodiments of the Man with No Eyeswhen death is near. Tai often sees him before amajor character dies inYellowjackets, and Tai’s grandmother saw him right before her own death. Ultimately, it’s hard to believe thatYellowjacketswould end the depths of his origin story with the ice cream parlor.
