With Kevin Costner in the rearview mirror, Taylor Sheridan’s western opens up its (potentially) final batch of episodes of by addressing the worst.
DESPITE NOT BEING on the air for two years (and Kevin Costner not returning to the megapopular series), there is something electric about a fresh new episode of Yellowstone. It’s like you can smell the blood, manure, and unbridled rage wafting in from the west.
For those who have been around for the long haul, we know that Taylor Sheridan’s neo-western is worth waiting around for, especially considering that the last episode of the first half of season 5 left us with some major questions about who and what from the Yellowstone ranch will survive the final six episodes.
The antics of Yellowstone extend far beyond the screen though. With the exit of Kevin Costner, the Yellowstone gang is tasked with explaining John Dutton’s absence (along with how the hell Tate and Carter went from being twelve years old to full-blown adults). As we grieve the end of an era, remember the old cowboy saying: Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because Beth hasn’t tried to kill you. Yet.
Let’s catch up on the ninth episode of Yellowstone season five.
John Dutton Must Die
When we left off with John, things weren’t looking particularly optimistic for the relatively new governor of Montana. The Yellowstone patriarch hated his job. His adoptive son helped bring impeachment charges against him and was threatening to reveal the elusive “train station” where the Duttons dump their bodies. Oh, and his entire herd was exposed to cattle disease. A big yikes, indeed.
But when the episode opens up and suggests that John Dutton has died by suicide… Beth Dutton, Jesus Christ, and I aren’t buying it.
Almost immediately, we see Beth arriving at the governor’s mansion, which is overrun by cops. No one can answer her questions about what has happened, but when John’s assistant locks eyes with Beth, she suggests that John has died. When Kayce pulls up, the two of them break into the crime scene, where it’s revealed that John has seemingly shot himself in the head. Beth immediately believes that Jamie is responsible for the death because anyone who has watched this show knows, John Dutton committing suicide is just… a non-starter.
Beth and Kayce drive home, but it’s all too much for Beth, who bails from her brother’s truck and runs into a field, calling Rip and telling him the news of his mentor’s murder. Rip immediately takes off, presumably riding hundreds of miles on horseback back to his woman. At the end of the day, Kayce and Beth sit together going over papers, and they both agree—there’s no way that John killed himself. Kayce remembers that there’s surveillance footage all over the governor’s mansion, but they discover from the authorities that power went down in the area just three minutes before John’s time of death. Just as they finish speaking, Rip pulls up to the house and Beth runs into the yard, collapsing in his arms.
Jamie’s No Good, Very Bad Assassin
Earlier in the day, Jamie hears the news of his father’s death from his office and, as Attorney General, is tasked with announcing the news to the public. Through (possibly-forced?) tears, he reports that the governor of Montana is dead. Following the announcement, Jamie returns home to find Sarah waiting on him, wearing a lacy underwear set while holding champagne. But the celebration is short-lived.
Jamie breaks down in tears, and Sarah is confused. She tells Jamie that this is what he wanted, but Jamie seems shocked by the idea that he told someone to do something and they actually did it. But Sarah explains that the deed is done and Jamie has won, explaining that John never loved him and ultimately abandoned him, so it’s time to step up and own this situation.
Let’s Go Back to the Good… Well, the Better Times
After the big suicide reveal, we go six weeks back in time to see Rip and the Yellowstone ranch hands head south. The crew is headed down to the Four Sixes in Texas to transport the livestock to a safer place while a strain of disease works its way through Montana. (Fun fact: Taylor Sheridan now owns this ranch, in real life)
Most of the tenure in Texas is just scenes of Rip telling the Four Sixes that they don’t take handouts, dropped in between sweeping shots of the Texas landscape. You know how Taylor Sheridan loves an expansive shot of the landscape. But what seems to prevail from the Texas storyline is that Rip comes to understand that this way of life—the cowboy way—is nearly obsolete. From the cute interaction he has with that family in the parking lot where a little boy tells Rip he was worried cowboys weren’t real, to Rip’s big speech about how wind farms and Brazilian cattle will eventually replace them (??), Taylor Sheridan wants us to know: we must mourn the cowboys.
Beth, Who Hates Jamie, Who is Banging Sarah
After the big brawl in the last episode, where Jamie and Beth exchanged words and punches, Jamie and Sarah seemed set on destroying Beth. What we didn’t realize is that they’d be doing that via John’s demise. As the smarmy twins get to work on their plan, the would-be assassins bring Sarah in for questioning ahead of the deed. The potential smoking gun that gives them the most pause is a video of Jamie and Sarah having sex together, but after addressing that, a man named Grant and Sarah discuss that staging a suicide is the best option. She gives the OK.
The Wolves are Still Coming
Still back in time, Kayce and Monica take Tate to explore their new cabin, far-removed from all the drama of the Yellowstone ranch. Monica loves it, which means Kayce is happy, but when he steps out on the porch with Tate, he looks into the distance and sees a wolf. Kayce has quite a history with them—they appeared to him during his vision quest where he envisioned the end of him and Monica—so this ideal home suddenly feels a bit more ominous.
Notes from the Train Station
- Beth Dutton smoking a cigarette and shooting from a flask is the definition of a vibe.
- I love that we got to see Jimmy, happy and at work at the Four Sixes. Did Yellowstone always know what to do with his character? No. But he seems happy and healthy now.
- I love that for some reason, we dedicated a full sixty seconds of dialogue to Teeter calling the other ranch hands gay, just for Rip to tell her to shut up. That’s called #allyship.
- The pipeline under Broken Ranch feels like such an afterthought at this point. There are so many storylines to wrap up in six episodes.
- That speech Sarah gave to Jamie, where she says “he abandoned you, emotionally and financially, yet you still succeeded” feels awfully pointed.