Beth and Jamie have many secrets in Yellowstone, and they have slowly been building to poison the relationship between the two siblings.
The Dutton family is never at peace in Yellowstone. With John Dutton (Kevin Costner), Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), and Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) constantly at odds, they work in tandem to boost their family’s prestige while always arguing among themselves. As the owners of the largest ranch in Montana, they also happen to keep numerous secrets that could otherwise damage their family’s reputation.
While their secrets often leak, there are some that the family has kept close to their chests. They use every secret against each other and generally plot on how best to use every piece of intelligence against their own relatives. Beth and Jamie are the epitome of that philosophy, as both often scheme against the other to gain ground in the race to become more powerful.
Beth and Jamie Keep Many Secrets in Yellowstone
The entire concept of Yellowstone is that it revolves around a family desperately trying to survive as wealthy leaders in Montana. Every Yellowstone spinoff builds off of its connection to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and the various communities that surround it. The original show involves constant backstabbing, political intrigue, and an insatiable greed for power. While Jamie and Beth are not particularly like their father, John Dutton, they still share some of his innate need for control and influence.
As a result, both siblings have cultivated numerous secrets throughout the show. Their personal relationships — including Jamie’s son and the extent of Beth’s relationship with Rip — have been relegated to a state of secrecy. To make matters worse, both are always working to uncover the other’s secrets to gain control over their rival sibling. While they do have some secrets that they have kept to themselves, Jamie and Beth generally know everything about the other’s various lies and cover-ups.
Jamie Ensured That Beth Would Be Forcibly Sterilized
The biggest reason for the rivalry between Jamie and Beth is that Jamie had Beth sterilized when she was just a teenager. After Rip impregnated Beth, she was desperate to find a way to safely abort the baby without revealing the truth to her father. After all, the Duttons commit horrible actions regularly. John has already proven that he could force his relatives out of the household if they refused abortions — as he did with Kayce — and Beth was desperate for a way to resolve her pregnancy to avoid facing his reaction. If she didn’t, John very well could have killed Rip.
Beth confided to Jamie about her pregnancy. He immediately searched for a safe place to abort the child. He believed that the Broken Rock reservation had the only abortion clinic that would never recognize Beth’s identity, so he took her there. While it seemed like the behavior of a brother who wanted nothing better than to protect his sister, he was actually keeping a massive secret from her: The Broken Rock clinic demanded that she be sterilized. Beth was devastated when she learned about his duplicity. Because Jamie took her bodily autonomy from her, Beth has never been able to forgive him.
Beth Knows That Jamie Killed His Biological Father
Beth is not the only relative who has been hurt by Jamie’s actions over the years. After all, Jamie killed his biological father, Garrett Randall. Jamie was adopted by the Duttons after Garrett murdered his wife in a fit of rage. Garrett was sentenced to a 30-year prison term, meaning that he could not see his own son for decades. When he finally became acquainted with Jamie, it created a crisis of confidence for the younger man. Garrett spent his entire time on the show working to poison Jamie against the Duttons, which eventually drove Jamie to choose between his biological father and his adopted family.
Jamie murdered his own father and buried his body at the train station, where the Dutton family often buries their enemies. The decision was meant to help Jamie reconcile his life as a Dutton, but his plan quickly backfired. Beth discovered his secret and had photographic evidence of him burying Garrett. Driven by a desire to control her brother, Beth declared that Jamie would be the Dutton family slave. The blackmail meant that he could never disobey her orders, or else she would leak the pictures to the police, and he would be imprisoned for the rest of his life.
The Dutton family’s secrets are generally terrible, but Jamie murdering his father is an especially heinous one. The secret is so terrible that Jamie agrees to be Beth’s slave — though he would eventually turn against his sister. He spent much of the first half of Yellowstone season 5 obeying her every directive. All the while, he raged over the control that she maintained over his life. It eventually came to a boiling point, as he finally turned against the Duttons in Yellowstone season 5, episode 8.
Beth and Jamie Hate Each Other
The secrets have been more than enough to fuel a harsh rivalry between the siblings, who are now determined to go to war with one another. In Yellowstone season 5, episode 4, Beth outright threatens to murder Jamie’s son, stating, “I’m going to rob you a fatherhood… he is as good as gone.” The threat was made shortly after learning that Jamie had a son in the first place, and it is hardly the reaction of a loving sister. She is terrified of the threat that Jamie poses to their family, and her continued disdain for him ultimately roots back to his behavior at the Broken Rock abortion clinic.
After all the years of conflict, Jamie nurses a similar hatred for his adoptive sister. He has been planning to lead an impeachment inquiry against John Dutton, which puts him at odds with his own family. In all likelihood, he hopes to replace Jon, which means that he will likely never find a place in the family’s ranks again. Yellowstone season 5, episode 8 saw Jamie finally take a stand against her, proving that her blustering threat was secretly nothing but a bluff. If she ever makes a move against him, he can expose the Dutton family’s many crimes. Considering the brutal actions that all of Yellowstone’s characters are known for, the threat can destroy the family.
Decades of turmoil have caused a deep-seated hatred that will be difficult for Beth and Jamie to resolve. Beth is planning to outright murder her brother, and Jamie is also planning to take the offensive against her. With so many secrets contributing to their animosity, it may be impossible for them to ever find an even ground to stand on. The future of Yellowstone will depend on Jamie and Beth’s plans, and neither is interested in backing down. The end of Yellowstone season 5 will undoubtedly be a bittersweet conclusion, and it will step entirely from the bitter relationship between once-loving siblings.