MistyWalter Relationship Analysis
NOTE; hello hello welcome to my analysis of the relationship between misty quigley and walter tattersall from showtime’s yellowjackets ! please be aware that this post contains spoilers for season three - proceed with caution.
Walter is first introduced to us as his online alias ‘PuttingTheSickInForensics’ on the citizens detective community. He and Misty hold a small conversation back and forth regarding the disappearance of Adam Martin. Walter is almost immediately set up to mirror Misty, in that they are equally as interested in solving complex cases. Furthermore, they mirror each other personality-wise. Both of them are social misfits who do not have a lot of genuine friendships. Walter appears to be more content with this fact than Misty, who is desperate to cling to the final fraying threads of friendship she has with the remaining survivors of flight 2525.
Walter manages to track Misty down to her place of work, and leaves her a blank piece of paper as a message. They return to conversing online and Walter informs Misty that he has identified a man who he thinks could be related to the Adam Martin case, inviting her to join him on his boat to interview him, not aware that the man (Randy Walsh) would know Misty. From this point, the pair become almost a contrast of the many fictional detectives from literature we know and love. Building from this, Walter even claims that he is ‘Moriarty looking for his Sherlock’. For those who are not familiar with the detective series by Arthur Conan Doyle, Moriarty is the sworn enemy of Sherlock Holmes. Walter could have claimed that he was the Watson looking for his Sherlock, as John Watson is the close friend and companion of Sherlock Holmes, but he specifically chose to compare himself to Moriarty. This indicates that there is something more to his character, and further proves the point established earlier in this essay that he and Misty mirror each other. In embarking on this journey of investigation together, Misty and Walter become even closer, and their parallels become even more apparent.
At the end of season two, we see Walter return to Camp Green Pine, even after Misty has told him that she does not want him to be there. The fact that he showed up again shows that he genuinely cares about Misty, and may have even developed romantic feelings for her, given how desperate he is to be involved in her life. Of course, Misty’s vision while in the sensory deprivation tank does also confirm that he holds romantic feelings for her. A critical perception of this could be that he is simply trying to get close to her to find out the truth about what happened in the wilderness, as she is arguably the most vulnerable when it comes to not having many people in her life she can trust.
Both characters are clearly willing to breach the law if it helps them get to where they need to be. For example, Misty held Jessica Roberts in her basement to stop her spreading lies about the events of the wilderness. Another example is Misty helping to hide Adam’s body to keep Shauna safe. In terms of Walter, not only did he impersonate an FBI agent, he also murdered Kevyn Tan so that Jeff’s ‘confession’ wouldn’t land the Yellowjackets (and Misty) in trouble for the murder.
One of the final scenes of season two shows Walter telling Misty that the Adam Martin situation has been dealt with, though due to obvious reasons, Misty couldn’t care less about it. The way that she almost crumbles into Walter’s arms is such a vulnerable moment for her character. At this point in their relationship, he is the only person who would not judge her for this display of emotion. He holds her close to him in that moment, the physical embrace being symbolic of their inner likeness. Misty having Walter there with her in one of the worst moments of her life is so important for their bond.
As the season opens, Misty and Walter appear to be living together with a stable routine (cleaning out Caligula’s cage every Wednesday). When we first see them interact this season, Misty is listening to a breathing exercise in her bed, and Walter comes to talk to her about the meetings about murder board and how he finds it interesting. He informs her about the funeral for Natalie and then leaves her alone, recognising that it is not his place to interfere. He also places down the key to Natalie’s storage unit, saying that he “wasn’t even sure if he should tell [her]” about it. It can be argued that he is just looking out for Misty here, as Nat was her best friend in the modern timeline and it may have been too much for her to handle, considering her responsibility for the death in the first place. However, when he walks away from her after giving her the key to the storage unit, he smirks suspiciously, which adds to the theory that he has further plans for her. In a less critical view, this smirk could also just be that he is happy that he found something to get her out of bed.
Later on in the first episode, Misty is walking back from the bar after going to drink whiskey in Nat’s jacket. Misty has lost her phone at this point, she left it in the bar. Walter claims that the bartender called all of her saved contacts and nobody picked up until he got to W. This cannot be correct as you would need to unlock a phone to access saved contacts, and Misty Quigley would never not have a password. This is something that both Misty and Walter would know, but due to Misty being drunk, she is not thinking straight and doesn’t question it, which works for Walter’s plan to keep her isolated from her ‘friends’. I believe that Walter tracked her phone to the bar and lied to her so that she wouldn’t get mad at him and refuse to get in the car.
Following the ‘sleepover’ at Shauna’s house which ends at 11pm, Walter presents Misty with a harsh truth about her friendships. Although this is not something she wants to hear, it is not a lie, a real friend would not have let Misty drive herself home after questioning if she had a drinking problem - not to mention that she had been knocked out with sleeping pills - in all fairness, Shauna did not know about this part, but she still allowed Misty to drive home drunk. Walter’s response to this and his concern for Misty is extremely valid, however Misty views it as a personal attack on her and her friendships. Walter’s friends are never mentioned or shown in the show, that is if he does actually have any. The only person of note in his life is Misty. This is pounced on by drunk Misty, and she genuinely views this conversation as him trying to isolate her from her friends. This is a turning point in their relationship which will hopefully be developed more in future episodes.
