No one is safe in “Yellowjackets,” as evidenced by the fact that multiple main characters have been killed off since the show debuted. One of the most emotional deaths came at the end of Season 2, when Natalie Scatorccio (Juliette Lewis) dies via an accidental injection of phenobarbital delivered by Misty Quigley (Christina Ricci), causing her to have a death vision in which she’s trapped on the crashing plane once again. But the character’s demise was apparently preplanned from the moment Lewis signed on, which is likely why it was heavily foreshadowed all the way back in Season 1.

Even though fans thought the character’s exit was a total disaster, Lewis knew for a while, possibly from the start, that her character was a goner. “I very much knew [Natalie would be killed off]. I think I’m good for a series for two seasons,” the actor told Variety after her character’s death aired. The decision was a long time coming and, clearly, storyline dictated, but it appears that Lewis’ preference for working in film may have also played its part.

Big hints on the part of the show’s writers also winked toward the character’s exit from the show. “Something I know the showrunners had always thought about, and that [co-creators] Ashley [Lyle] and Bart [Nickerson] had always thought about from the pilot, was that mysterious moment when Natalie hallucinates Misty at the kegger in the woods,” director and executive producer Karyn Kusama told The Hollywood Reporter. The big hint was that Misty was always destined to kill Natalie — but Lewis’ character also died for another reason.

Why else did “Yellowjackets” kill off Natalie? Well, it reminded the audience that in a show filled with gruesome deaths, the series has undeniably heavy stakes, and the girls’ actions breed inescapable results, even if a character is played by a big star. “There can’t be consequences if you’re not going to have what they went through affect some of our seminal characters,” co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco told GamesRadar. “For better or worse, we hope that that’s understandable to our very dear audience, because if the impact doesn’t have an effect on them emotionally or psychologically, then what are we doing? Because that’s the conceit of the show.”

Natalie’s story arc also features her messy entanglement with death, whether through her drug addiction, nearly dying multiple times in the wilderness, or failing at killing herself. When you take all of that into consideration, then her death nearly becomes a wish fulfillment.

That the girls’ actions have consequences is a fact that the show has proven time and time again since Natalie’s death, including the murder of Lottie Matthews (Simone Kessell) and the death of Van Palmer (Lauren Ambrose) during Season 3. In short: the wilderness wants what it wants, and it will do whatever’s necessary to get what it needs — even if it means killing its acolytes.