Yahoo Movies What happened on ‘Yellowstone’? Beth’s legal trouble, and Jamie falls for a classic trap
Be warned: We can’t discuss the episode without, you know, saying what happened in it. So, if you haven’t watched it, go do that before reading this. Or accept that sometimes, spoilage is part of life.
Nicole Russell, opinion writer: It took a few episodes, but this is the Yellowstone we’ve come to know and love. It is laden with drama from beginning to end. Episode four starts with a hand grenade and ends with fireworks. When it opens, we’re sulking in jail with Beth — it’s her world, after all, and we’re just living in it — and it immediately becomes clear: She’s not sorry she bashed a woman eyeing husband Rip over the head with a bottle. She tells Jamie, coincidentally the attorney general of Montana, that he better get her off the hook.
We cut to John Dutton, our reluctant governor, who decides to hop in on a meeting of his own advisers. He doesn’t like anything they’re saying, so he fires all of them, saving Montana taxpayers money, he says. It’s a bold strategy, Cotton, and the spur of the moment decision comes across as cutthroat.
But for those of us who know politics, it did raise the question: Does John Dutton know what he’s doing, or doesn’t he? He needs to decide, and he can’t really have it both ways, playing both ignorant and know-it-all at once.
Ryan J. Rusak, opinion editor: The word I put at the top of my notes for this episode was “grim.” Serious stuff all the way through, and you can feel tension building that will unspool over the next several episodes. It’s good drama, but it was kind of a tough watch at the end of a lovely holiday weekend.
We’ve promised not to dwell on the politics stuff, but again, some of it is just stupid. John’s been governor for a week and just found out he has policy advisers? Never mind that he hasn’t met them. Uh, he would have had a policy team during the campaign, and many of the members would have joined his administration.
It doesn’t really matter, but it’s an unforced error.
JOHN DUTTON GETS GOOD ADVICE
Nicole: The funeral for Monica and Kayce’s baby boy begins and Rip gathers the cowboys to help dig the grave. As touching as this is, so far the Monica and Kayce storyline is significantly more sad and a bit jarring. More on this later.
John goes to lunch with his former fling, ex-governor/now-senator Lynelle Perry, and she gives him some solid advice about Beth’s assault charge: “If it doesn’t go away, you just ignore it.” Here’s where John gets the idea, we’ll see him utilize later, that he can pardon someone early in his career, though she doesn’t advise it.
After maneuvering to get Beth out of jail with a lesser charge, Jamie is stuck taking her home. Beth glances around the car and notices a baby car seat. THAT’S RIGHT: JAMIE IS A FATHER and somehow nobody has discussed this yet, several episodes into season five. I thought for a moment Beth would soften and look at Jamie differently, but she freaked out! She starts slapping and punching him in the face while he’s driving and nearly causes a wreck.
Worse, she threatens to take Jamie’s son from him, to take fatherhood from him, because he’s the one who drove her to an abortion clinic when she was a teenager, and the experience made her sterile. For the first time, I really see a sociopathic side to Beth, and I don’t like her in this moment at all.
Ryan: Beth seems headed for a breakdown. Even for her, some of this behavior is insane. But I also can’t believe what Jamie does. For the attorney general to intercede in a local case involving his sister — that’s an impeachable offense. Montana has become a real banana republic under the Dutton empire.
Nicole: Totally agree with this observation and if I may steal a line from Taylor Swift, it is getting exhausting rooting for the Duttons, the heroes of Montana one day, the anti-heroes of Montana the next. You find yourself cheering, but in real life, you’d be aghast if your governor was doing this stuff.
Ryan: I liked the straight talk Lynelle delivered to John. If he pivots and applies his smarts and cunning to politics, it’ll be fun to watch.
Kinda weird that Beth is just learning about Jamie’s kid. She’s a blackmail expert, so you’d think she would learn everything about him.
JOHN AND SUMMER, JAMIE AND SARAH
Nicole: After Beth catches a ride home, the next scene is Beth and John peering in on the baby’s funeral. John shows a very sweet side when he offers comfort to Monica telling her that her son lived a perfect life because he knew her love. Cue the mom-tears.
For a few minutes, we watch as the Yellowstone cowboys brand cattle with some other rancher friends and we’re reminded of one of the many themes of Yellowstone: The simplicity, beauty, and purity of ranch life as juxtaposed with the messiness of everything else.
To illustrate that point perfectly, the next scene is John pardoning his environmentalist friend, Summer Higgins, which goes against the advice he just received and any common sense. Still, she returns to the ranch with him, hardly grateful to be out of jail.
Finally, the episode ends with a stunner: Jamie has drinks with Sarah Atwood, opposing counsel in a lawsuit against the state and they end up having sex in a public restroom. As if that isn’t enough drama for this moment, Beth — who now hates Jamie more than ever — sneaks into the bathroom and takes a photo of the driver’s license of the woman he’s with (her purse is there on the floor). Now we know she’s going to have more ammo than ever. Whew!
Ryan: So Jamie is a Harvard law graduate and a youngish attorney general but he’s dumb enough to fall for Sarah’s seduction? (This is where Nicole will want to say something about men being men, I’m sure.)
Nicole: Jamie fell for the oldest trick in the book! Ply the subject with alcohol, show some lady parts, and off we go! For a moment, Jamie was a stereotype.
Ryan: John’s talk with Monica was incredible. Just touching, heartbreaking and powerful. This show manages to say a lot about family, and not all of it is conflict.
The ending seemed to tease a big ol’ fire as Beth sips vodka pre-dawn on the porch (like you do), so yet another threat could be brewing for the Duttons.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS ABOUT EPISODE 4
Ryan:
I couldn’t quite make it out, but the guy who gave Beth a ride after her fight with Jamie had a hat on that read “Cedar Creek, Texas,” with a drawing of an old pickup. Anyone know what that was for?
This is probably petty of me, but I’ve been distracted all season by Kayce’s nasty cowboy hat. I mean, it’s filthy. No big deal until this episode, where he wore it to his son’s funeral? C’mon. (Nicole’s retort: Too distracted by Kayce’s cute face to notice his hat, Ryan! Sheesh!)
The branding montage featured an excellent song I don’t think I’d heard. It’s “The Good I’ll Do,” by Zach Bryan. Check it out.
Did we know Beth’s full name was Bethany? Always figured Elizabeth, but maybe I missed something.
No noticeable whiskey pours this episode, but Beth’s vodka of choice for that morning slug was Tito’s, a venerable Texas brand.
Line of the night: Jamie springs Beth from jail but doesn’t want to drive her. She asks: “How do you want me to get home, Jamie? Huh? Hike my skirt up on the on-ramp?” Jamie replies: “Doubt it’d be the first time.”
Nicole:
We’re one week into the governorship, which would be January, correct? So how in the world is there no snow in Montana? And how is Beth wearing a slip dress? She looks freezing. She does have a great figure, though.
I wondered about the symbolism at baby John’s funeral and why Kayce never tries to combine any of his traditions with Monica’s? It was his baby, too.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more charming pitch for rosé in my life. Do we really believe Jamie’s never had it? Also, do people usually start at a table with rosé and move to a bar for whiskey? I’ve never seen that in my life, either.
I thought the Rip and Beth storyline seemed a bit disjointed: For all Rip knows, Beth is still in jail. Yet he doesn’t seem to worry about her at all or act surprised when she’s home. And for the deep love they share, she doesn’t tell him what she found out about Jamie? Weird.
Line of the night comes from Beth, of course: “I got into a bar fight in Bozeman. Montana Board of Tourism should put that on a ***** T-shirt.” You can guarantee there’s gonna be one for sale on Amazon on Monday.
