WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Yellowjackets season 2, episode 6!Elijah Woods’ Yellowjackets character Walter is just as odd as Misty, but there are several theories floating around that could explain what he’s really up to. Walter Tattersall was introduced in a voiceover-only capacity in the Yellowjackets season 2 premiere, lighting up the citizen detective board as PuttingTheSickInForensics with his theories about Adam Martin’s disappearance. Misty tried her best to do her due diligence and downvote his various hypotheses. However, this only caused Walter to foster further interest in her, culminating in a visit to her nursing home where he toured the facility with a woman he pretended was his mother.
Misty and Walter eventually teamed up to find out what happened to Natalie after she was kidnapped. This resulted in the pair posing as FBI agents and questioning Randy, taking a trip to upstate New York, and staying at a B&B, until Misty decided to enter the cult by herself and kicked Walter to the curb. Not much is known about Walter. He claims he’s a multi-millionaire after getting a settlement when bricks fell on his head. He likes show tunes, shares similar idiosyncrasies with Misty, and can always be seen rocking a pair of cargo shorts. However, these Yellowjackets theories Walter may not be as innocent as he seems.
5 Elijah Wood’s Walter Is A Serial Killer In Yellowjackets
Twitter user @lesbianacademic posted a Twitter thread discussing the possibility that Walter may be a serial killer himself. The user posits that Walter is both a serial killer and cannibal who tracks Misty down because he views eating another cannibal as a “higher form of cannibalism.” As the theory goes, as soon as Walter hacked Misty from her user profile on the citizen detective board, he found out she was a Yellowjacket (therefore, a former cannibal) and immediately sought her out. He gets her on his side with the ruse of a shared goal, and slowly begins unraveling his lies as they spend more time together.
When they go to his houseboat in Yellowjackets, it’s shown that he owns a Hannibal mask, and he seemingly takes some joy in slapping Randy. When they are traveling to Lottie’s compound, he says he likes Sweeney Todd – a musical about cannibalism. In addition, the way that he calmly speaks to Misty about how he believes she killed Adam is too naturalistic and blasé to ignore. Most would be fearful in the presence of a serial killer, but Walter could be unafraid because he’s just like her. The idea that Walter is also a serial killer makes a lot of sense, especially given how similar he and Misty are.
4 Walter Was Hired To Investigate Jessica Roberts’ Disappearance
Another Yellowjackets theory suggests that Walter has been hired to investigate the disappearance of Taissa’s hired P.I./reporter, Jessica Roberts. Misty killed Jessica Roberts in Yellowjackets season 1, and considering the attention that’s gone into investigating Adam Martin’s disappearance, it’s quite shocking that nothing has been said about Jessica. It’s assumed that after Jessica died on the side of the road that Misty had to go into cleanup mode, so it’s unlikely that her body was just left there. Taissa wasn’t even aware of Jessica’s disappearance when she called her for information on Van and ended up ransacking her apartment when she got no answer.
It’s possible that Walter could also be a P.I. tasked with investigating what happened to Jessica Roberts. Since he technically wouldn’t be police it would make sense for him to be on a citizen detectives board, and his renowned skills as a hacker could be a particularly useful expertise from his job. Who could’ve hired him is a mystery, but P.I.s do sometimes work for a larger firm, and the two could’ve been coworkers. If not, he and Jessica may know each other from dirtier dealings, as Jessica was also a fixer, and she might’ve told him before she disappeared that she was going to see Misty.
3 Walter Is Looking Deeper Into Misty’s Connection To Adam
One of the most interesting things Walter says to Misty in Yellowjackets season 2, episode 3, is that he’s Moriarty, looking for his Holmes. This suggests that he sees Misty as his equal – but also, his nemesis. Walter first takes an interest in Misty because she keeps downvoting his Adam theories, and goes so far as to figure out her identity from a username alone, even showing up at her job. Throughout all of their time together, Walter never truly drops the subject of Adam. On the houseboat, he asks her to stop downvoting his posts, and in their final meeting, he admits that he thinks Misty killed him.
Walter really could be taking his role as a citizen detective to heart in Yellowjackets, letting Misty take him on a wild goose chase because he has all the time in the world to figure out her connection to Adam. When he told her that he thought she was a psychopath, he was probably hoping that his liking toward her would be disarming, and she would tell the truth. Outside of doing his due diligence as a citizen detective, other theories suggest that he could have a deeper connection to Adam. Before Shauna killed him, Adam mentioned he had a brother that was a proctologist, but this is purely speculation.
2 Misty Was Right & Walter Is A Yellowjackets Fanatic
Sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one, and Misty could very well be right in believing that Walter is just another Yellowjackets fanatic. When Misty accuses Walter of this, he misremembers how long it’s been and states that he’s not interested in what happened 30 years ago. Misty corrects him and drops the subject, but the similarities between the two characters are admittedly just too close to ignore. It’s possible that Walter hacked Misty’s account to figure out who she is and why she’d downvote his Adam Martin theories (a fellow Yellowjackets fanatic) and upon finding out she was a Yellowjacket, he was hooked.
The fact that a random man who perfectly mirrors her just drops into her life with a tape deck full of show tunes isn’t totally lost on Misty. In addition, the constant cargo shorts may seem like nothing, but it’s worth noting that Misty told her unlucky date in Yellowjackets season 1, episode 2, that she was attracted to men’s calves. Walter has proven that when he digs into someone, he digs deep, and it wouldn’t be all that shocking to find out that he picked his favorite Yellowjacket survivor in the present timeline and made himself into someone she would like.
1 Walter Is Another Yellowjackets Blackmailer
Yellowjackets season 1 revealed Jeff as a blackmailer, but it’s possible that season 2 could follow a similar storyline. Reddit user Savagslay certainly seems to think so, and unveiled a very intriguing Walter theory. The user suggests that Walter’s true way of making money is by targeting and blackmailing people, rather than his supposed story about a settlement from an accident. The theory posits that Walter has actually been following Misty from the citizen detectives board for a very long time, prior to downvoting his Adam Martin posts.
This means that Walter could have seen everything, from Yellowjacket‘s Jeff blackmail twist to disposing of Adam’s body to Jessica Roberts’ murder, and now, he’s come to collect. If this theory were true, it’s possible that he posted theories about Adam to lure Misty to him, and since she’s the first Yellowjacket to take the bait, she’s his intended victim. Since in Walter’s mind, he’s Moriarty, and she’s Sherlock, the games that he plays with her become that much more sinister. In addition, it’s unlikely that anyone who owns a boat for the express purpose of needing to leave the country without a passport is up to anything good in Yellowjackets.
