The Yellowstone franchise is rapidly becoming one of the biggest television universes of all time. Created by Taylor Sheridan, the flagship series ended in late 2024 with a fifth season that explored the final fates of several key members of the Dutton family. However, their stories continue in upcoming spinoffs, proving the enduring popularity of the Yellowstone franchise even after the original show’s last episode.
The morality of the Dutton family is a central theme in Yellowstone. Though they are considered the heroes of the series, they don’t always save the day via conventional methods. Oftentimes, viewers are equally shocked by the Duttons’ actions as they are by those of the villains. The morally grey outlook of the Dutton family could lead many to even view them as villains themselves. However, to get to the heart of the family’s morality, viewers must delve deeper into one of John Dutton’s most iconic moments from the series.
What “Learn to Be Meaner Than Evil” Really Means
John Dutton Has an Interesting View on Life
In Yellowstone Season 3, the Duttons continue their fight to protect the ranch from those who would take it, pave over the land, and sell it to the highest bidder. Along the way, they encounter ruthless businessmen, corrupt officials, and murderous mercenaries, any one of whom could have been the end for the Duttons. In the penultimate episode of the season, “Meaner Than Evil,” Kayce comes to his father, troubled by seeing his own family sinking into the same moral depths of their enemies. Just a few hours earlier, the Dutton clan and their ranchers had killed their villainous neighbor, Wade Morrow, and his son, hanging them and then dumping their bodies at the infamous “Train Station.” Seeing this, Kayce wonders if he and his family can really still consider themselves the good guys. To his credit, John hears out his son’s concerns before giving him a surprisingly eloquent, if morally ambiguous, response: “You can’t reason with evil, son. Evil wants what it wants, and it won’t stop until it’s won or you kill it. The only way to kill it is to be meaner than evil. That’ll be your last lesson, son: be meaner than evil and still love your family and enjoy a sunrise.”
John’s response to Kayce gets to the heart of his philosophy on life. Under his command, the Duttons are willing to do terrible things for what they deem to be right. They don’t necessarily consider their actions “good,” but they see themselves as fighting an evil so profound it excuses their morally ambiguous deeds. In John’s mind, the only way to justify his actions is to ensure that he remains true to his family and the natural world around him. To him, the greatest evil of all is unchecked progress. In later seasons, John even labels himself the “opposite of progress.” At every turn, he vows to stand in the way of those who wish to steamroll over the natural world to replace it with soulless concrete and industry. John views this as an evil great enough to justify many of his sinful deeds, including administering lethal justice to his enemies. Near the end of his life, John sought to pass this philosophy on to his son, hoping that Kayce would be able to do terrible things to protect his family and the ranch that they fought so hard to protect.
How John’s Iconic Line Shapes Kayce’s Storyline
Kayce Grapples With His Father’s Advice in Yellowstone
The last two seasons of Yellowstone see Kayce learning to follow in John Dutton’s footsteps as he prepares to take over the ranch. Kayce struggles with the philosophy that his father imparted to him in Season 3, wondering if he really can be “meaner than evil.” Throughout the series, audiences see snapshots of Kayce as he embraces this side of himself. When pushed far enough, Kayce is certainly capable of killing evil. This is, after all, the same man who tried to lynch Dan Jenkins back in Season 1. Furthermore, when John is assassinated in Season 5, Kayce stops at nothing to get revenge on those responsible. He is even willing to brutally beat one of the men responsible in front of his young child as she pleads with him not to hurt her father. Kayce has a dark side that matches and, at times, even exceeds that of his father. However, Kayce’s destiny isn’t to be “meaner than evil.”
For Kayce, the last bit of John’s advice is what rings true in the end. While John believed that he had to be “meaner than evil,” Kayce eventually found that loving his family and enjoying a sunrise is more important. John knew that the greatest struggle of all was to be both a man who could kill evil and still love his family. However, he never realized that these two things are mutually exclusive. His love for his family was solely tied to how loyal they were to him. Despite anything he might have said to the contrary, John’s obsession with defending the ranch and halting progress on the land held him back from giving everything he had to his children. He spent so long in service to his ancestors and their land that he forgot to be the father he needed to be for his sons and daughters. When Kayce finally realizes that he must choose between his duty to the ranch and his love for his family, he chooses the latter in a heartbeat. Kayce decides to love his family and enjoy a sunrise over defeating evil. This leads perfectly into Kayce’s new Yellowstone spinoff, which can follow the youngest of the Dutton kids as he learns to live with the decision he made, ultimately learning that it was the right one.
John’s “Meaner Than Evil” Line Is an Homage to Old Westerns
Yellowstone Pays Tribute to the Classic Westerns That Inspired It
While the ultimate lesson of John Dutton’s iconic quote is that the Yellowstone protagonist is ultimately wrong in his view on moral ambiguity, it also has another layer to it. Taylor Sheridan was heavily inspired by the Westerns of 20th-century cinema when crafting Yellowstone. The series resembles these old Westerns in many ways, including in its representation of hardened heroes. The cowboys, ranch hands, and sheriffs who made up the heroes of Westerns all had to be “meaner than evil” to fight the villains that emerge in each film. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and many others of their ilk all rose to fame playing these morally ambiguous heroes who fought for a greater good, even if they had to commit a few dark deeds along the way. The Duttons certainly fall into this archetype, though the later generations of the family eventually find their way back to the light.
John Dutton most closely resembles the tough Western heroes of early cinema. Unlike most of these heroes, however, John dies in the end, having made very little difference in his fight. His resolve to be “meaner than evil” not only failed to protect his ranch but also broke his family apart without repair. In the end, Sheridan warns of the perils that come with following this path, as those who strive to destroy evil often embrace it themselves.