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Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 4 Recap: What Happened?

November 28, 2022

Big players are starting to take sides Yellowstone. Episode 4 brings together what seem to be the main tensions for the rest of the season – the killing of the wolves in the park, the choice of Kayce, Market Equities’ flippant approach to ruining the Duttons, and, again, the hate. infinite Beth for Jamie – with Beth and John (and Rainwater?) on one side and Market Equities, the environmentalists, and maybe Kayce and Jamie on the other. But we will explain our reasons for the latter two.

What seemed to be the last episode as a driving force for the rest of the season – Beth’s assault on a California tourist – instead turns into a relative non-issue in Episode 4. The assault, however, creates a further rift between Beth and Jamie, which may prove fatal for someone and motivate John to seek outside help; there are only so many crises that a weary breeder/governor/father/man without whiskey can endure.

A few important points before diving into the action. Kayce’s vision. We guessed that last season’s ceremonious Kayce hallucination would be kept behind a boring plot curtain for the rest of this season, and we were right. As a reminder, Kayce saw two paths, one of which he must choose. Kayce’s summary of this choice: “the end of us.” This ending could involve the end of the Duttons or the end of his nuclear family. It has been speculated that Kayce will have to choose between her Dutton family and her own, a theory that seems to have received more credence in the past week.

Another point on all of this. Kayce’s loyalty struggle between John and Monica represented the original tension in Yellowstone Season 1; it was the main struggle of the series – the Duttons against outside forces trying to take their land. Kayce’s decision to marry and have a child with Monica, a woman from the reservation, threatened to tear the Dutton family apart. This tension was more or less eased in later seasons as more dramatic plot elements were introduced and the show’s writing sidelined both Monica and the Broken Rock Reservation storyline. .

The final two episodes suggest we’re finally coming full circle. But instead of fighting Rainwater and Broken Rock, perhaps John is headed for an alliance. Where that places Kayce, however, is unclear.

Here’s how the episode unfolded.

She looks like a Beth

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After spending the night in prison, Beth receives a visitor: Jamie. He outlines the seriousness of the assault charge, explaining that if the Californian woman chooses to press ahead with the charges, Beth could face real consequences — and, therefore, so does John. Later that morning, Jamie manages to convince the woman not to press charges. He explains that she could face charges herself, given that she started the fight, a process that would likely keep her in Montana. She decides she’d rather get the hell out of town. And she does.

Jamie’s reward for his legal trickery is an awkward-as-hell drive to the ranch with Beth, which ends in another assault. As soon as they enter, Beth notices a baby seat in the back and asks Jamie if he has a baby. Instead of, you know, lying — like he probably did with the woman in the county jail — he pushes his way into a confession, even saying the baby is a boy. Beth, whom Jamie had sterilized after an abortion, immediately becomes angry, attacking Jamie and promising to ruin him and his son. (*voice of John* jesus beth.) And so the tedious story of Beth Hates Jamie enters its busiest chapter. Beth decides to get out and hitchhike. Jamie almost pushes the balls to run over Beth with her car, but doesn’t. What show!

Good news for Market Equities and Sarah: Jamie now has a reason (as if he needed one more) to betray his family once again.

Horrible Terrible No Good Very Bad by John Dutton First week in the office

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Meanwhile, in Helena, John fires an entire room of his advisers, because they started a stupid meeting without him. Suddenly without advisers, John asks for advice. Montana authorities just told him that wolves from Yellowstone National Park were killed on his ranch. An NGO (representing all evil environmentalists) is likely to sue John for the murder. John is tired of this shit.

During lunch with Senator Perry, John explains how tired he is of this shit. Perry advises John to hire an environmental consultant so he can anticipate the coming storm. We can already see what’s next: Summer Higgins. And, indeed, John temporarily releases her from prison to serve as a counselor. She says she will not date him. John says it’s okay. Later that night, they immediately met.

New allies and new enemies

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Kayce and Monica bury their child at the ranch. John and Beth watch from afar. John scolds Beth for her volatility. Beth tells John that if she dies she wants to be cremated and scattered. It’s the kind of dialogue that’s expected to foreshadow death at the end of the season – and we’re starting to think that this season may mark the end of Beth Dutton. Given the seemingly unmotivated flashbacks of Episode 1. Given the complete lack of redemption in his pathological torture of Jamie. Given the approach of his most formidable enemy yet, Sarah. Everything seems to suggest that Beth is in trouble. That’s our guess, anyway.

After the funeral ceremony, John speaks with Rainwater, who asks John to come to the reservation and meet him. Although he hasn’t told John yet, Rainwater faces political pressure and may soon be eliminated.

It is an alliance that we had not anticipated, but which could prove to be decisive this season. John doesn’t know it yet, but Jamie is vulnerable to betrayal. Beth, he knows, is unstable. It lacks allies in its fight against land use planning. If he can protect Rainwater from political elimination, maybe he can find a new way to protect his own land.

Later, Jamie meets Sarah for lunch. Sarah explains Market Equities’ new strategy: block development until the next voting cycle, when John is likely to leave office. Of course, Sarah has another strategy and quickly seduces Jamie. The two meet in a bathroom. Beth, after following Jamie to the bar, follows the two into the bathroom and discreetly takes Sarah’s wallet, snapping a photo of her fake ID. She now knows who will be her main enemy.

Early the next morning, she meets Summer at the ranch. Another enemy. She decides to have a drink and the episode ends with Beth spectacularly sipping whiskey, the kind of thing a character does before they die. We call it now. Goodbye Beth.

Joshua St Clair is an editorial assistant at Men’s Health Magazine.