Jason Ritter’s ‘Yellowjacket’s episode is ‘lost to time,’ says wife Melanie Lynskey

For two years, Yellowjackets fans have been waiting for the promised “bonus episode” that co-creator Ashley Lyle confirmed in 2023. The following year, Lyle told Entertainment Weekly that fans would have to “wait a bit longer” to see it. And it’s not just fans who are waiting.

During an interview with EW’s The Awardist podcast, Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey confirmed that her husband, Matlock star Jason Ritter, filmed an episode of the Showtime drama that has yet to air. The topic arose during a conversation about Ritter’s viral “the arugula’s gone bad” TikTok video.

“I thought it was so funny. He was in our rental house in Vancouver,” says Lynskey, who plays Shauna Sadecki on the Emmy-nominated drama series. “We were staying there for Yellowjackets — or maybe it was when he was doing his episode, and I was doing something else. His lost episode, lost to time or whatever.”

When pressed for more information about Ritter’s role in the episode, Lynskey demurs. “He was in an episode of Yellowjackets that didn’t air… I’m definitely not allowed to say [who he played]. It was a standalone episode.”

A representative for Showtime had no comment. For now, we’ll just have to add it to the list of Yellowjackets mysteries.

As for her Ritter’s hilarious arugula video — if you haven’t seen it, treat yourself below — Lynskey says her husband’s retch-filled reaction to the rotten greens was 100 percent real.

“He has such a strong gag reflex. He can’t smell anything bad. He just instantly almost vomits at anything. I’m just like, ‘Are you okay?’ It’s not normal to have such a reaction,” she says. “It’s very genuine. He’s not pretending. That’s how he reacts.”

In fact, she goes on to tell a hilarious story about when she and Ritter were first dating and she accidentally stepped in dog poop. Her future husband did not handle it well. “He was so dramatic about it,” she recalls with a laugh. You can hear the whole story from Lynskey — and learn what she hopes to see in Yellowjackets season 4 — in the full Awardist podcast interview below. (The interview starts at 19:30).