As the Yellowstone series progresses through its fifth and final season, it continues to evolve the fallout from the season-defining supposed suicidal death of Gov. John Dutton (formerly played by Kevin Costner). In a flashback sequence of scenes, we see the hours immediately preceding the death firsthand, including how the hit (made to look like suicide) on the formidable Dutton family patriarch may have been carried out.
The episode opens on move-in day for the Kayce Duttons as the youngest Dutton heir and his immediate family unload a horse trailer full of furniture to outfit their newly renovated home on the Dutton Ranch east camp. As they settle in to what they had to hoped to be a new start, peace is cut short when Kayce awakes in the night in a cold sweat, filled with a dark premonition.
Cut to Beth Dutton in a familiar scene, herself, behind the wheel of her favorite Bentley racing down the roadway. As she Rosetta Stones her way to learning Italian for some reason not yet readily apparent, she, too, is overcome with an immediate and profound sense of dread. Something is just not right in the Dutton universe. Little do the brother and sister know, a single shot echoing out into the night from the Governor’s Mansion in Helena, carries the answer.
In the aftermath of their father’s death, the Dutton heirs begin shuffling their chess pieces to uncover what they can about how he truly met his demise.
Kayce, who is often the more reserved and nonchalant Dutton, seems to have found his inner wolf in this moment and proceeds to take the investigation of his father’s death into his own hands. Throwing the weight of his office as Land Commissioner around, the youngest Dutton asks to review the coroner’s report and demands a re-examine of his father’s body to look for signs of a struggle.
When Kayce later updates his sister that the re-exam did, indeed, indicate their father’s suicide may have been staged, Beth
demands to be the one to avenge. Now five years in, the show has never shied away from exploring the darker aspects of its characters, with questionable moral dilemmas and irreverent roads to resolution. So, you know immediately that when the blue in Beth’s eyes turn to gray ice, there will be no line she will not cross to bring this all to an end.
And, speaking of ice, Jamie finds himself skating on thin sheets when the emotionally fragile state attorney general receives an advanced call that the medical examiner would be changing the governor’s cause of death. To add fuel to the fire, the incoming governor unexpectedly freezes out the estranged Dutton in a public show of power. Without warning, the new governor asks Jamie to recuse himself on both the investigation into his father’s death and the state’s dealings to continue building the airport project on the Yellowstone’s land, in front of the entire Montana State Assembly. Take this as sign, Jamie, you’re about to be thrown under the proverbial bus.
Across town, Sarah Atwood (Jenna Malone), is having her own vomit-inducing moment. As the no-nonsense corporate exec about to score one for the not-so-good-guys, Sarah is forced to come to grips with the implications of a new investigation into the governor’s death as a homicide and her role to bring it to fruition. When she attempts to cover her tracks on ordering the hit on John Dutton, the cracks begin to show in her and Jamie’s “situationship” when the two confront each other for what later proves to be their last time. Take this as a sign to stay til the end.
Despite the characters and storylines that have come and gone over the years, what has remained key for the show is how it expertly intertwines the themes of family loyalty, power struggles, and the conflict between land preservation and development. For this episode, in particular, the latter is brought back to the forefront in a quiet but unexpectedly profound porch conversation between Beth and Chief Thomas Rainwater (portrayed Gil Bingham). In one of the rare moments the two share screen time, the characters’ poignant talk delves into the legacy of the land and what it would have taken to preserve it in its pristine state.
Steeped in tradition and burdened by the weight of her family’s legacy, Beth knows that given their latest fight to hold on, in the face of the impending airport development, she cannot truly preserve the ranch, only prolong the collapse of its 142-year history. In a beautiful soliloquy and another unexpected opportunity to witness Beth Dutton’s softer side, she whispers that the love of the land is what ultimately took away all those who fought to preserve it…as it is.
As the show moves to wrap up the captivating story of the Duttons in the final episodes of the series, gone is the primary focus on the workings of Yellowstone, as a ranch, complete with the breathtaking cinematography of the Montana landscape and true-to-life ranching, as we know it, in the American west. Rip and crew are no where to be found in these scenes, as the action has been stripped away to allow Taylor Sheridan’s intricate storytelling and complex characters to return to the forefront — all meant to reel us back in and have us firmly seated for what is sure to be an explosive denouement for one of the most compelling dramas in television history.
With just three more episodes left, “Yellowstone” is streaming now on Paramount+. Catch every single episode for a marathon rewatch on Thanksgiving Day.
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