Taylor Sheridan must avoid making Beth and Rip’s spinoff show into Yellowstone season 6, not just because of the potential legal battle over the rights to stream the series. Mere days before the Yellowstone season 5 finale, a report confirmed Beth and Rip’s Yellowstone spinoff would continue the lovebirds’ stories after Yellowstone’s ending. While Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser keeping their Yellowstone characters alive was an exciting prospect, the announcement triggered the potential for legal battles between the companies that stream Yellowstone and its spinoff shows since Beth and Rip’s show could look a lot like Yellowstone season 6.
The legal battles will insist that Beth and Rip’s Yellowstone spinoff distinguish itself from the flagship series, and we’ll get into that next. Still, legal battles aside, Reilly and Hauser’s characters deserve a show that distinguishes itself from the Kevin Costner-led series. While Beth’s story indelibly connects to John Dutton III, Kayce, and all the other Yellowstone season 5 characters, Beth and Rip’s substantial Yellowstone backstories and enigmatic personalities have the chops to stand on their own, so Sheridan ought to give the characters a story that’s independent of the Dutton family’s struggles.
Beth & Rip’s Potential Legal Issue With Being Yellowstone Season 6 Explained
Beth And Rip’s Spinoff Could Encounter Legal Hurdles
The Deadline report that confirmed Beth and Rip’s Yellowstone spinoff insinuated that it was favorable for Paramount Network’s parent, Paramount Global, to produce a new series instead of Yellowstone season 6 because an offshoot would bring the continuation of Yellowstone into the company’s ecosystem. Paramount has a deal with Peacock’s parent company, NBCUniversal, giving Peacock exclusive streaming rights to the franchise’s flagship. In other words, Peacock can stream Kevin Costner’s series, but Paramount+ can’t. Therefore, continuing Beth and Rip’s story outside the flagship allows Paramount Network and Paramount+ to air and stream the show exclusively.
A report from Puck claimed the choice to produce Rip and Beth’s spinoff versus Yellowstone could trigger a legal battle with Peacock. As the Beth and Rip Yellowstone spinoff takes shape, it must distinguish itself from a potential Yellowstone season 6 to avoid legal battles, proving that the spinoff was more than just a way to skirt the networks’ existing deal. The deal predates Paramount+, which has the rights to stream Sheridan’s other series, such as prequels 1883 and 1923, and everything the screenwriter produces thereafter. Sheridan has a deal with Paramount+ to create content for the platform until 2028.
Beth & Rip’s Story Deserves To Be More Than Just Yellowstone Season 6
Beth And Rip’s Story Warrants A Strong Identity
While the legal battle marks Yellowstone’s Beth and Rip spinoff encountering its first big problem, it isn’t bad news for the series. Other reasons exist that Hauser and Reilly’s series should distinguish itself from the flagship rather than just becoming a continuation of Yellowstone with them at the center instead of Costner. Beth and Rip have rich backstories in Yellowstone, potentially more than any other characters, including John Dutton. Flashbacks in the original series extensively paint Beth and Rip’s adolescence, emboldening the characters’ strong personalities in the present. The continuation of Beth and Rip’s story deserves the same distinguished treatment.
Beth, Carter, and Rip’s story didn’t need to continue, but now that it will, the Dutton-Wheelers need a fresh narrative that honors the family’s independent journey.
Furthermore, Beth and Rip’s story must prove it warrants a continuation. While Beth and Rip’s spinoff announcement cheapened the Yellowstone season finale, the couple had a sweet ending that neatly wrapped up their story. Sheridan could have just left Beth and Rip’s story where it was, allowing fans to spin their own conclusions about how the couple would navigate the brutal winters in Dillon, Montana, with their adopted son, Carter. In other words, Beth, Carter, and Rip’s story didn’t need to continue, but now that it will, the Dutton-Wheelers need a fresh narrative that honors the family’s independent journey.
How Beth & Rip’s Spinoff Can Avoid Being Yellowstone Season 6
Beth And Rip Must Avoid Existing Dutton Drama
There are significant ties between Beth and Rip’s story and a potential Yellowstone season 6. The Deadline report suggested that Beth and Rip’s spinoff will include the Yellowstone moniker in the title and some of the flagship’s main characters in the cast. With such blatant connections to the main show, the series must make decisive creative choices that distinguish Beth and Rip’s story from the Montana dynasty saga thus far. The flagship’s ultimate episode set up Beth and Rip to differentiate themselves successfully, despite the Yellowstone finale ruling out an interesting Beth and Rip story in Texas.
Despite staying in Montana, Beth and Rip’s distance from the heirloom Yellowstone Dutton Ranch will give their story an entirely new backdrop. As Beth and Rip relinquish stewardship of the ranch, they will face altogether different hurdles. The spinoff should focus more on Beth and Rip’s past and future rather than continuing to hash the Dutton family’s issues with their land legacy, which Yellowstone fleshed out as Beth and Rip are concerned. If the flagship continues with Yellowstone season 6, Beth and Rip’s story might be free of legal hurdles, but it should distinguish itself from Yellowstone regardless.