Minor errors are not uncommon in TV shows, even in major productions like “Yellowstone.” More often than not these small mistakes go undetected, but once you notice them, they become hard to unsee. One such continuity error exists between Season 3 and Season 4 of the hit drama series, as one IMDb user has pointed out. “In the end of season 3 Jimmy takes his wrist guard off and throws it on the ground before he gets on the bucking horse,” a comment left under the show’s “goofs” section states. “Then when he is found on the ground in the season 4 opener, he is laying there and has the wrist guard on his wrist again.”
If you go back and watch the moments in question, Jimmy (Jefferson White) does indeed take his wrist guard off in his final Season 3 scene. The horse bucks him off, and he lies motionless on the ground with his fate being left up in the air until the Season 4 premiere, in which the guard has miraculously reappeared. Of course, most people didn’t notice this, given all the chaos that transpired after Jimmy’s accident: “Yellowstone” Season 3 ends with a massive coordinated attack on the Dutton family, so pretty much everyone’s fate is left wide open as the credits roll. Season 4 opens with the aftermath, and most of the attention is on the Duttons. But there is a moment where Mia (Eden Brolin) finds Jimmy on the ground, and his wrist guard is clearly visible.
Jimmy getting back on the horse is what’s important in that scene
Jimmy falls off a horse twice in “Yellowstone” Season 3. The first instance really shakes him up, and he questions whether he wants to remain in the rodeo circuit. Him getting on the horse in the Season 3 finale shows that he’s going to do what he loves, even if it’s dangerous and even if John Dutton (Kevin Costner) told him to give it up. As such, it’s a big emotional moment, so Jimmy discarding the wrist guard is easy to overlook. Jefferson White discussed his big Season 3 finale moment in an installment of “Stories from the Bunkhouse,” bringing up why Jimmy getting on the horse was vital for his character arc.
“I think he was doing it for himself,” White said. “He’s always getting buffeted around by these powerful other forces.” In Season 4, Episode 1, he comes around in a hospital and knows he has some intense physical therapy in front of him. When he sees John getting wheeled out, it brings him back to reality with a bump. “Jimmy’s trying so hard to even just have hope. That moment when he sees John Dutton, the world outside of that physical therapy room comes crashing back into the picture,” White added. For a brief moment, Jimmy got to be his own man, and that’s what’s important. Given all the emotion in those two episodes, Jimmy’s magically-reappearing wrist guard is a minor distraction.