Yellowstone Recap: Cattle Country

Man, this might be a tough season to get through, huh? I can deal with slow plot movement on the show, but it’s getting glacial. This episode is a little less dull than the mid-season premiere, but the timeline is jumping around for no apparent reason, and it still feels like Taylor Sheridan is struggling to fill space.

“The Apocalypse of Change” begins with an extended 20-minute segment in Texas, seemingly sometime shortly after Rip and his crew arrived there. The rattlesnake scene itself is pretty fun, finally presenting us with some of the real threats they’re facing down at the Four Sixes. (I’d say rattlesnakes weren’t as much of a problem in Montana, but remember when Rip threw one in Roarke’s face at the beginning of season four? Josh Holloway deserved better.) A snake crawling around inside Teeter’s bedroll is a pretty horrifying scenario. It’s also unclear why we’re seeing this right now, though — why not just stay in the present and make this a problem for the crew to deal with while Rip is gone?

The rest of this flashback story, if you can even call it that, depicts a cute little Texas date for Rip and a newly arrived Beth. They spend a couple of nights at a fancy suite in Amarillo, dancing at a speakeasy and drinking Sixes-brand vodka. This is a first for Rip, who had never even stepped outside Montana until this trip — as he tells Beth, he generally has no interest in travel, still feeling tied to the Dutton ranch even as the Duttons’ hold on it is slipping. It’s an interesting conversation, but it feels like this could have all happened last week. In retrospect, maybe that episode should’ve saved John’s assassination for the end.

When the episode abruptly jumps to the present, Rip is back at the ranch in Montana, chatting with Lloyd about their hopes to carefully hunt down and punish John’s murderers. (He must know Jamie was behind it if Beth does, though, right?) They’re also discussing the possibility that they’ll need to start looking for jobs elsewhere, an unimaginable idea to both of them. There’s something poignant there, in theory, and it would be nice to see more reflection like it in this final season. It’s hard to picture these two men anywhere other than the Dutton ranch — what would that look like?

Less interesting is the return (and then departure) of Summer, though I suppose it’s necessary to give us closure on her character. That’s not to say she won’t be back; I can never quite tell when a character is actually gone for good in this show, and I’m still anticipating a John Dutton funeral. But this episode invents a questionable-but-good-enough-I-guess reason to justify the end of her house arrest: She was always free to go, but John apparently neglected to tell her that.

On the drive to the barn, Summer tells Beth she learned a lot from John, that he helped her become a better person. And, afterward, when Rip drives her to the airport, she seems desperate for any bit of hope that this way of living can keep existing in some form. We’re supposed to be moved in this moment, because we can see how much this Portland-brained, liberal vegan, radical feminist activist has come to shift her way of thinking as a result of the heroic main character. Never mind that she just learned he essentially manipulated her into living and sleeping with him.

This was always my problem with Summer. The character was introduced just to learn from John, rather than to teach him anything or affect him in any deep way. Broadly speaking, shows should challenge their protagonists’ ways of thinking, and Yellowstone has always resisted that. It still uses its characters as mouthpieces too often.

The only plotline that really holds my attention these days is the central story of the season: Beth and Jamie’s war, which has ratcheted up even further since John died. In fact, I’m kind of wondering why neither of them has put a hit on the other yet, since both raised that possibility. Beth’s visit to Jamie’s office goes about the same as they always do, which means it’s pretty entertaining: She slaps him hard in the face three times, trying to force him to make eye contact. But Jamie is a weasel, as always, and he can’t even attempt to lie about his role in killing their father.

“Seeing me will be the last thing you ever do alive,” Beth tells him, and honestly, I believe her. In my ideal version of this story, Beth would get some comeuppance for the evil she’s done, too — as much as Jamie sucks, generally speaking, his constant meekness makes you want him to fight back, and I’d like to see him become more active in this battle instead of just doing whatever Sarah says while whimpering around his office.

Hearing the confirmation from Beth, Kayce gets in touch with an old friend to track down the company behind the hit. He’s keeping this side project secret from Monica for now, though she seems to know something’s up. But how far will Kayce be willing to go when it comes to Jamie? The two somehow haven’t even spoken since John’s death, which feels weird.

Jamie’s meeting with Ellis Steele and Sarah confirms his plans for the next few weeks: to reinstate the lease John negated as governor, subpoena John’s will, start the process to resume construction on Market Equities’ developments, and run for governor in a special election. It’s an ambitious and likely doomed goal, but Sarah is ever the Lady Macbeth, assuring him that he’s won. “The kingdom is yours,” she says, setting up a Shakespearean downfall for the man who has gotten away with far too much.

It’s a decent place to end the story, but it isn’t quite enough to overcome another disjointed episode. This show has always featured a strange mishmash of tones, but the ensemble is more spread out than ever now, and with Kevin Costner gone, there’s no longer an anchor. After a lethargic opening episode, this one doesn’t inspire a ton of hope for the final four.

The Last Roundup

• Carter Corner: Carter is sad about losing John, who became a role model for him the same way he did for a young Rip. Rip assures him that he’ll always have a home here — you know, as long as the Duttons still own the ranch.

• Beth gets pulled over for speeding by a female cop (gasp!), who passes along her thanks to Rip for all he does at the Four Sixes. I know that Taylor Sheridan cares a lot about reminding Americans of all the work that goes into producing their burgers, but the writing used to be a little subtler about that, didn’t it? Maybe not.

• Why include another scene with Tate repeatedly complaining about his parents’ displays of affection? That scene is almost identical to the one from last week. The scene of Kayce discussing John’s death with his son felt a little by-the-numbers, too, but it got the job done.

• The banter about the difference between saying retard and idiot is, well, idiotic. Last episode’s similar conversation really didn’t need a sequel.

• The hit on John was $50 million?

• Colby and Teeter reunion when?