When Yellowstone returned for Season Five, it promised a new terrain for the Dutton family at the capitol—battling government officials, setting new rules, and ruling Montana from the state's highest office. This week? Well, John Dutton spends his morning reflecting. Gotta plan ahead, I guess. He lets his family underbosses deal with his business, a surprising loosening of the reigns that results in a mostly Kevin Costner-less episode. Maybe his children are finally learning to put the ranch first and selfish desires behind them.
During last week's two-episode premiere, we saw a flashback scene that depicted a younger John Dutton (Josh Lucas) terrorizing a guy for accidentally poisoning his livestock's water supply. It seemed a bit random, which is why my head tilted when the moment showed up in this week's "previously on Yellowstone" segment. Turns out, wolves threatened his business back then as well—and the ranching community is absolutely livid. The livestock association believes that the big bad wolf is only a fairytale, but Dutton warns that the legend is "coming true."
The past situation parallels the one that Rip Wheeler and his cowboys are facing in the present, as they try to avoid felony punishment for accidentally killing an endangered species. John may be able to provide his expertise, but he's kept out of the situation on account of his legislative duties. As Cole Hauser, the actor who plays Rip, told EW earlier this week, "There's a lot more on Rip's shoulders this year when it comes to running the ranch and not having John around to bounce ideas off... So in that way, it's a pretty cool relationship that's different than what we've seen in the past."
Later in the episode, Beth wakes up early one morning and everyone asks what she's doing up and about at cowboy hour. None of their business! She's out to do what I call "Beth work"—finding new ways to make someone else's life a living hell. Beth travels to Schwartz & Meyer's offices in Salt Lake City (her old stomping grounds!) and gets a surprisingly warm welcome. "Mountain air suits you," an employee remarks. Beth, of course, immediately descends upon him like a vulture. "This isn't mountain air," she replies. "This is city air. Mountain air is about seven hours north." Dang, don't let Beth smell New York subways if she thinks Salt Lake stinks. After the micro-roast, she explains some complicated real estate idea that is somehow going to make them a boatload of money. Great. "I assume you're going to be issuing a press release?" Rob asks her. "You bet your f*cking ass I am," Beth says. It's the most excited I've ever seen someone who's about to issue a press release.
If that wasn't enough, Market Equities pays Jamie a visit and threatens to sue the family for the decision to cancel their lease. After the meeting, Sarah Atwood stays behind and compliments Jamie, buttering him up by telling him he's sophisticated and smart. "Business moves faster than government," she explains, "and when it has to wait, it's just too expensive." Sarah invites Jamie to dinner to find a "soft landing" between the two parties, but instead, he just sits and listens to her without saying anything. Jamie would look like a total weirdo in this situation if we weren't supposed to be on his side for once. After Beth's power play in Salt Lake, Market Equities's New York headquarters recalls Dutton enemy Caroline Warner and drops the lawsuit. The evil hedge fund has suffered a heavy defeat... but the war continues.
On a lighter note, it's Lloyd's birthday this week! Is he 70 years old? Is he 100? Wrong! He's only 58.
Meanwhile, Kayce and Monica plan how to bury the baby they lost in her carwreck. "Death is a private thing," Thomas Rainwater tells them—even though he and his bodyguard, Mo, have both become involved. Well, Kayce believes that something bad happens every time he goes out to be Livestock Commissioner, so he's thinking of giving it up. He's blind to the fact that it's not the badge that is the problem, but the way his family does business around Montana. "Did a lot of good with that badge," Mo tells him, but Kayce says that it's not his intended path. His wolf vision from last season foretold that he would have to choose, so he's choosing family. Mo suggests that his father could appoint him as an investigator to the Montana Department of Justice, but he has no idea what that job would entail. (And neither do I.) "We haven't had a state investigator here in decades," Mo explains. It's either something the town doesn't need at all, or a post that would immediately start causing problems, because people have been working with no oversight for too long. Good luck, Kayce!
On his way back, Thomas Rainwater finds younger members of the reservation protesting outside of his casino. Angela Blue Thunder is waiting for him at a bar inside, and the politics of this situation are simply all over the place. "He complains about jobs and income as he blocks the doors to jobs and income," Thomas says about the protest. Later, Angela chides that white folk have the freedoms to drink and "choose their own doctors and banks." Ah yes, everyone is always talking about the amazing freedoms of the American healthcare system. Moving on!
On a lighter note, it's Lloyd's birthday this week! Is he 70 years old? Is he 100? Wrong! He's only 58. Rip tells us. 58?! Kevin Costner is 67 years old and he looks younger than Lloyd. I just hope his birthday occurring this season doesn't mean that his death will, too. Well... at poker night in the bunk house, Lloyd draws Wild Bill Hickok's legendary "Dead man's hand," consisting of two black aces and black eights. Legend has it that the real-life Wild West folk hero died while playing a game with that exact hand. Beth changes the mood and takes all the cowboys to a bar, buying them all whiskey shots. Yee-haw! Everything's going well until a fight breaks out between Beth and a random girl who was hitting on Rip, forcing a big ol' bar brawl. Rip wants to take Beth home, but the new sheriff arrests her because "she hit that girl on the head with a bottle, that's aggravated assault." He must not know that crime is basically legal in Yellowstone for the Dutton family.
It's a peculiar place to leave this week's episode, but maybe this new sheriff is a bigger problem than we—or the Duttons—had anticipated. One hedge fund down, one uncooperative lawman to go.
