At the start of Taylor Sheridan’s modern Western, “Yellowstone,” tempers are already flaring. Cattle-ranching patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner) becomes at odds with his estranged in-laws when his cattle wander onto Broken Rock Reservation land. His son Kayce’s (Luke Grimes) brother-in-law, Robert Long (Jeremiah Bitsui), becomes one of the main figures fighting to keep the cattle from returning to the Duttons.
It all comes to a head in a shootout between Broken Rock and the Montana Livestock Association. Robert kills Lee Dutton (David Annable), Kayce’s brother and livestock agent, leading Kayce to shoot and kill Robert. This puts Kayce in a bit of a bind, as he is married to Robert’s sister Monica (Kelsey Asbille). After years in the service, Kayce acts without a second thought to protect his doomed sibling. But in the same instance, he takes away the life of his wife’s brother. It may be the end for Robert, but it is just the beginning of Kayce’s ever-mounting problems.
Robert’s death has profound ramifications
The Duttons don’t do anything by half-measures, especially pertaining to their property. For John, the fight over the cattle is a case of personal pride as well as protecting his livelihood. But for the area’s indigenous people, this is about years of generational trauma and wanting to reclaim the land stolen from them. And for Kayce, it represents his internal struggle between his allegiance to the people of the Broken Rock Reservation and his own family.
Monica, meanwhile, understands that Kayce isn’t telling the whole truth about what happened that night and it tears their marriage apart. With Kayce unable to confess to her that he killed her brother, their relationship starts to suffer. She already has some strong opinions about her father-in-law because of the way he has treated his son. Burning Kayce with a hot poker is only one offense on a long list that has turned Monica against John.
Kayce and Monica struggle for a while with these secrets, until Kayce is forced to return to ranch life with no other way to support his family. This essentially confirms Monica’s worst fears, even as she has to go along with it. The only way to protect them now is to join the Yellowstone compound despite how much the Duttons have done to hurt her own family. This dynamic continues to have repercussions for Kayce and Monica’s marriage, even going into the final season of the series — and it all starts with the deaths of Lee Dutton and Robert Long.