| “ | This isn’t just trauma, Natalie. This is real. It chose us. | „ |
| ~ Lottie to Natalie. |
Charlotte “Lottie” Matthews is a major character in Showtime's Yellowjackets. Introduced as a vulnerable but increasingly prophetic survivor of the 1996 plane crash, Lottie transforms into a mystical and manipulative leader, both in the wilderness and decades later as an adult. She is portrayed by Courtney Eaton (teen) and Simone Kessell (adult).
Though she begins as a sympathetic figure struggling with mental illness, Lottie gradually becomes the spiritual epicenter of the group’s descent into ritualistic violence and psychological control. In adulthood, she re-emerges as the head of a cult-like wellness center, blending healing with dangerous delusions.
𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝[]
Lottie Matthews comes from a wealthy family who institutionalized her following visions and erratic behavior. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, she was medicated before the 1996 crash—but after losing access to her prescriptions, her hallucinations returned, and with them, her belief in the supernatural.
In the wilderness, Lottie begins to interpret the group’s survival as a spiritual ordeal. She exhibits uncanny foresight, predicting events and locating food sources, which earns her a devoted following. As hunger and desperation escalate, so does her influence. Eventually, she becomes the group’s de facto spiritual leader—whispering to trees, offering blood sacrifices, and possibly orchestrating or enabling cannibalistic rituals.
𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐄𝐫𝐚[]
Following the crash of Flight 2525 in the remote Canadian wilderness, Lottie Matthews undergoes a profound—and unsettling—transformation. Cut off from her antipsychotic medication, she begins experiencing vivid hallucinations, dreams, and what appear to be psychic visions. At first dismissed as symptoms of her schizophrenia, Lottie’s eerie predictions—such as sensing a bear before it appears or leading the group to a source of food—begin to gain credibility among the other survivors.
Her rise to power begins subtly, through spiritual insight and emotional vulnerability. She comforts the girls, prays over the dead, and starts to frame their survival as part of a larger, mystical design. As the group's mental state deteriorates, Lottie offers answers when no one else can. She becomes a spiritual leader to several girls, including Misty and Van, and performs rituals involving animal hearts, blood sacrifices, and symbolic offerings to what she calls "the wilderness."
By the midpoint of their time in the forest, Lottie has cultivated a cult-like following. Many survivors begin referring to her with reverence, believing she has a connection to the forest's will—something ancient, hungry, and watching. She is soon seen wearing antlers during ceremonies, which has led many fans to believe she is the original Antler Queen, the shadowy, masked figure seen overseeing ritualistic hunts and, eventually, cannibalistic acts.
Despite her serenity, Lottie is not above violence. When the group begins to fall into starvation and paranoia, she encourages the idea that the wilderness demands sacrifice. This ideology leads to a brutal power shift, where survival becomes less about cooperation and more about appeasement of a dark force she claims to understand. Her dominance peaks during the card-drawing ritual, where members draw cards to decide who will be sacrificed for the good of the group—rituals she implicitly condones, if not outright commands.
Though she believes she’s saving the others from chaos, Lottie ultimately becomes a vessel of it. Her leadership warps grief and fear into a cult of personality, one that will haunt the survivors for decades. Whether she was a true prophet or simply deluded is left ambiguous—but in the wilderness, Lottie Matthews becomes a symbol of both spiritual salvation and terrifying control.
𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩[]
Decades later, Lottie reappears as the serene leader of a “wellness community” in upstate New York. While outwardly therapeutic, the commune mirrors the cult-like structure she once presided over in the woods. She dresses in purple robes, conducts ceremonies, and encourages members to “share their burdens” through violent or traumatic means.
She lures Natalie into her orbit by claiming to know the truth behind Travis's death, manipulating her grief and guilt. Lottie's behavior walks the line between spiritual belief and delusional obsession, and her refusal to accept the traumatic nature of their past endangers those around her.
Her influence contributes directly to the death of Natalie, and in some interpretations, she continues to serve as a vessel—or even high priestess—for the same dark force that haunted the survivors decades ago.