“Yellowstone” just wouldn’t be “Yellowstone” without the long-standing grudges and feuds that have become staples of the neo-Western subgenre. Of course, no rivalry in the Paramount+ hit series is as long-standing or as bitter as that between Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and her adopted brother, Jamie (Wes Bentley). While the subject has been deeply explored throughout the series thus far, as we head into what is likely their final showdown in Season 5, Part 2, some fans could probably use a refresher.
When a teenage Beth got pregnant with Rip Wheeler’s (Cole Hauser) baby in a “Yellowstone” flashback, she appealed to Jamie to help her get an abortion in secret. With this in mind, Jamie took Beth to an indigenous women’s health center and signed off on the procedure, knowing that it involved Beth getting a hysterectomy and no longer being able to have kids.
This is the central reason why Beth has so much disdain for Jamie, despite how much effort he’s put in to try and prove himself to the family. However, there are definitely other events that have occurred between the two Dutton siblings that have driven the wedge between them even deeper.
Jamie and Beth have a long and complicated history on Yellowstone
Longtime fans of “Yellowstone” may recall that Beth and her father, John (Kevin Costner), commonly speak about Jamie as being an outsider and consider him untrustworthy of their family legacy, even in Season 1 of the series. There are myriad reasons for this, but much of the pair’s disdain for Jamie seems to come from his job as a lawyer (John hates lawyers, despite advising Jamie to become one) and his status as an adopted child.
Interestingly, there’s a mirrored moment between the two where Jamie stops his sister from shooting herself with a gun during an argument. Meanwhile, when Jamie is at his lowest, Beth encourages him to end his life, showing absolutely nothing but joy at the prospect of her adopted brother’s potential demise.
Of course, things have only gotten nastier between the duo on “Yellowstone” since then. Notably, Jamie considered running Beth over with his car after she threatened to take his child away and came close to doing so. Still, it’s their final moments together in the mid-season finale for Season 5 that have set them on the warpath for good.
Death seems to be the inevitable end for the two Duttons
For the better part of Season 5, Beth has been blackmailing Jamie with the knowledge that he killed his biological father, Garrett Randall (Will Patton), something he only did on her orders. This threat served to keep Jamie under her thumb for a time, but as Jamie himself eventually pointed out, their father had also dumped bodies in the same location, and thus, she couldn’t report him to authorities without also implicating John, Rip, and others. As Beth struck Jamie with a rock in her rage, Jamie laughed in her face, showing he’s no longer afraid of his sister.
Given the series’ propensity for bloodshed and the arc of its Shakespearean rancher drama, there’s some serious potential that this feud will result in the death of one or both of the Dutton siblings. With the show set to conclude with Season 5, there’s likely going to be a few more graves dug before Taylor Sheridan is through with this iteration of the story, and “Yellowstone” fans might have to face a future where Beth, Jamie, or both wind up dead by the end of the show.
How outsiders to the feud, like Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Monica (Kelsey Asbille), will respond to these events will likely have a massive impact on how this volatile “Yellowstone” relationship finally concludes. However, this is Sheridan’s story, so viewers should be careful not to expect a quick and clean resolution.