Ben Scott (2024)

Benjamin “Ben” Scott is a character on the Showtime original series Yellowjackets. He is portrayed by Steven Krueger.

Profile[]

Ben Scott was the Assistant Coach of the WHS Yellowjackets, a team of talented teenage female soccer players bound for the nationals. He joins the team on the tragic plane flight to the nationals which crashes in the woods of Canada, forcing the survivors to scavenge in the wilderness for 19 months.

Coach Scott is violently ejected from the plane when it crashes. Misty Quigley discovers him buried under some of the plane's wreckage. She calls over the other girls and they manage to lift the wreckage, only to discover that his right leg is a mangled and bloody mess. Misty chops off what remains, takes off her belt, and uses it to stop the bleeding. The other girls, however, stop her from revealing the truth to Coach Scott for fear of the shock. Later, however, Misty tells him the truth, much to his horror. She then uses a hot prod to cauterize the wound in order to stop the bleeding for good. Coach Scott is the only adult to survive the crash, as Head Coach Bill Martinez is killed along with the plane's pilot and other flight crew.

Coach Scott is poisoned by Misty after resisting her advances. When she confesses to having a crush on him, he claims to feel the same way, but tells her they have to keep it secret because of him being an adult and a teacher. In truth, he is actually gay and dating a man named Paul, which he confesses to Natalie Scatorccio when she asks him if he is gay after realizing that he never stares at any of the girls' breasts. He explains that he broke up with Paul because Paul wanted him to move to the city with him and Coach Scott was afraid that he would be nothing if he lost Paul.

When the crash survivors discover a Cessna plane in the woods, Laura Lee begins studying the flight manual for it and after some weeks declares her intention to fly the plane in order to find help. He tells her that as the only adult he can't let her do it, but she asks what he's going to do to stop her. Unable to actually do anything to stop her, he joins the other girls in helping to clear weeds and debris in order to make a runway for the plane. Before she takes off, he pleads against it one last time, but, being deeply religious, Laura Lee tells him that it is her purpose. He then watches her make a smooth takeoff, but is then shocked along with everyone else when the plane explodes in midair.

Following this tragic accident, the crash survivors believe they are only days away from starvation. In order to give themselves something to live for and have one last party before they die, the girls decide to host a "Doomcoming." Misty asks Coach Scott to be her date to the Doomcoming. He initially refuses, but she manages to guilt him into it. At the party, the girls have wine made from berries that turned into booze. Coach Scott expresses his disapproval of underage drinking, but the girls can tell his comment is only perfunctory. They begin dancing and Misty asks him for a dance, but he tells her that his dancing days are behind him. Natalie then pulls him away, telling him that she has real booze, so they head off to enjoy it.

They find a quiet place and Natalie reveals the booze, which she found hidden under the porch of the cabin. She tells Coach Scott that it's strange, but she hasn't really wanted it. She asks him how much longer he's going to keep up the "secret boyfriend" act. He turns the question on her, asking what's going on with her and Travis. She tells him that it's obvious he wanted her to be a different kind of girl. He starts to counter this, but before he can, he realises that Misty has poisoned him again. Natalie says that she thinks she poisoned them all, but at least you can't die from shrooms. "You mean, like shrooms shrooms?" asks Scott and she tells him to buckle in.

As the shrooms start to take effect, Natalie starts crying. She says it's stupid she's crying about a boy, but Scott tells her that it isn't stupid, it's love. He says that love is everything, the whole reason they're there and that she needs to go find Travis and tell him she loves him. He says it can save them all and shouts at her to go. After she goes, however, Misty shows up, saying that she heard everything. She says she agrees that love is the reason they're there and pleads with him not to fight it. He breaks, telling her that he doesn't love her, he loves Paul. "Who's Paul?" she asks, stunned. He tells her that Paul is his boyfriend and that he's gay. "Yeah, that's right. You heard me. I'm gay. Gay, gay, gay!" He chuckles softly, asking his mother if she heard that. "Dad? God?" he asks. "All my furry forest friends. I'm gay!"

The next morning, everyone awakes, groggy and confused from the events of the night before. Coach Scott states that he boiled some water, as everyone else is probably as hungover as he is. Someone asks if anyone has seen Jackie before she appears at the door of the cabin saying that she has nothing to say to any of them. This quickly results in an argument, but Coach Scott tries to break it up, saying that he's sure that they all said and did some stuff the night before that they regret on account of the shrooms. His statement leads those who haven't already figured it out to realize just what happened the night before. They point the finger at Misty, but she says that they were meant for Ben, then doubles down by saying "none of this would have ever happened if he wouldn't have tricked me into falling in love with him."

Before things can escalate further, however, a bear suddenly appears before the group. Coach Scott urges everyone to stay calm, to no avail. Lottie then asks Shauna for the knife and moves towards the bear who is simply sitting down in front of her. To everyone's shocked surprise, Lottie stabs the bear through the head. That evening they feast on bear meat. When Jackie refuses to join the group in prayer, an argument ensues. She and her best friend Shauna get into a massive argument which results in Jackie going out in the freezing cold alone. Coach Scott tries to intervene, but at this point he has lost any remaining authority. Jackie does not come back in the cabin that night. In the morning they find her frozen to death in a sudden cold snap and snowstorm, after being unable to start a fire.

Two months later, Jackie's body still remains, Shauna holing up in the meat shed and having conversations with an imagined version of Jackie. When she goes so far as to put makeup on it, Taissa declares it to be not healthy and that they are getting rid of it. They construct a pyre to cremate it, but that night the wind blows a large tree branch upon the fire. The additional fire causes the pyre to ignite, roasting Jackie's body. The next morning they discover a perfectly cooked body and something seems to come over them. Shauna says that Jackie would want them to eat the cooked meat and they begin feasting upon her body. Coach Scott, however, watches from the doorway of the cabin, horrified. Though he briefly seems to consider joining it, he turns away, disgusted, and closes the door.

Following this, Coach Scott mostly lies in bed, listless, still in shock over what the girls have done. He begins having hallucinations of the girls trying to eat him as well. He begins having flashbacks of Paul, his secret boyfriend. He recalls Paul telling him that he wanted him to move in with him, but being reluctant to do so because of how radically it would change his life. He remembers the terrible moment when Paul told him that it would best if they were not together if he wasn't willing to commit to a life with him. As he continues to stew, his reminisces turn to fantasy, imagining the life he could have had if not for choosing to board the plane with the Yellowjackets.

Coach Scott remains largely cut off from the group, stuck within his fantasy world. When Shauna goes into labor, the girls ask for his help, as he was once the teacher during a sex ed class in school, presenting a video about childbirth. He, however, protests that he literally just pushed play on a video and can't do anything to help them. Later, after Shauna's child is stillborn, Coach Scott is confronted by his fantasy of Paul, who tells him that he can't remain forever, that this was never meant to be his hiding place and it's time. He is forced to confront the reality of where he is and shaves the mustache and beard he's been growing before heading to a cliff to end it all.

On the cliff, he is confronted by Misty Quigley, who realizes what he is about to do. She pleads with him to stop and he asks her if she could just push him off. She, however, protests that they need his strength, that people are dying all around them and that life is precious. When this has no effect, she tells him that they will eat him. He replies that he doesn't care and she tells him that she will personally savor every moment of it and tell the world their love story. When this still doesn't work, she says she'll tell the world that he impregnated Shauna, or reveal to the world that he's gay. None of it works and she breaks down, pleading that she tried to keep Shauna's baby alive and that she can't have another death on her hands. This works, and he steps away from the cliff.

After Lottie takes a beating from Shauna, who is upset about the stillbirth of her baby, she is left in a bad state, seemingly on the verge of death. Natalie expresses to Coach Scott that Lottie's dying may not be the worst thing and Coach Scott agrees it might be best for her if she's in pain. Natalie, however, is thinking about something else: specifically the fact that Lottie seems to have some weird power over people. Coach Scott is skeptical, but Natalie tells him that she even saw Javi, Travis's little brother, bowing to one of the trees with the mysterious symbol upon it the other day. This seems to mean something to him. He asks her which one it was and she tells him it was the one near the creek.

Following this, Coach Scott seems to have a renewed energy. He begins studying a set of drawings made by Javi and making modifications to his crutches so that they are more snow-worthy. Misty discovers him with the knife he is using for this and worries he make again being trying to take his life, but he explains what he is doing. She agrees that some fresh air might be good for him, helping to clear the bad thoughts.

Using Javi's drawings and the maps made by Natalie and Travis, Coach Scott seeks out the tree in question. There, he discovers an underground lair with a passage that seems to stretch on for a while, the remains of a fire and a number of animal skeletons. This is apparently where Javi had taken refuge during the over two month period that he had been missing from the group. He later returns to the cabin, only to find, to his horror, that the girls are preparing to eat Javi. He encounters Natalie and tells her about his discovery, saying that the two of them could survive the winter there. She does not answer him and he tells her that she's not like the others. To this, she replies that she's worse, that she let Javi die in her place. She explains that it was supposed to be her. She tells him that he's a good person and that he really doesn't belong there. Coach Scott returns to the hole and attempts to start a fire using flint, but is unsuccessful. He returns to the cabin and steals a box of matches and an ax. It is strongly implied that he burns down the cabin, sealing the windows and door beforehand to prevent those within from escaping.

Trivia[]

• Coach Scott is one of only three male characters known to have survived the plane crash, along with Javi Martinez and Travis Martinez.
• The removal of Coach Scott's leg proved challenging for the Yellowjackets visual effects team, due to the series being set in the Canadian wilderness. Although Steven Krueger would wear a sock on the end of his leg which would later be removed digitally, the nature of the series meant that the effect had to be handled one shot at a time.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

• In an interview, Ben Scott actor Steven Krueger states that his character is interesting for a number of reasons: he is the only adult who survives the plane crash, other characters look to him for answers, and he has endured a traumatic injury that leaves him feeling helpless. Additionally, he is the "hot teacher" and the girls start to have crushes.^[2]
• In the initial "Pilot" script of Yellowjackets, Ben is described as having a brief flirtation with Cat Wheeler, a biology teacher who is recruited as an additional assistant coach to join the Yellowjackets on Flight 2525. This character was ultimately deleted from the final version of the series. This may suggest that Ben's character was not initially scripted as being gay.

References[]