Tentative alliances are formed. John continues to hate his job, and the tension between Beth and Summer comes to blows. Spoilers ahead for season 5, episode 5!
Beth’s teenage years continue to haunt her through memories, as her dreams take her back to the past once more. She remembers heading down to the barn to see the cowboys off on a trip for a week, and one of the young bunkhouse cowboys gets cocky and asks her for a kiss in front of John and Rip. His confidence seems to turn Beth off, as she bypasses him to tell Rip to be careful. John watches on as the two talk, perhaps more aware of their relationship than Beth knew at the time.
“Do you ever think about us?” Beth asks Rip before he heads out for the day. In his wisdom, he tells Beth he thinks about today and tomorrow, but doesn’t give much thought to yesterday as it eats everybody. Beth’s guilt over not telling Rip about the abortion is a black cloud over her head that will remain until she finally sets that secret free. The only problem is it doesn’t seem to be coming out any time soon.
A wildfire burns in the hills, and it surprises me to see John and Rip act so nonchalant about it. It’s time for Yellowstone branding (the stock, not the people – we haven’t seen a new person branded this season. Yet.) and John is only too happy to disappear into the hills out of cell service range with the cowboys instead of firing more people from his office. Rip has the branding operation running smoothly, with 2 crews and a cattle drive planned to bring all the stock in with help from day workers. I feel it’ll be good to have more ranch scenes coming up instead of city drama.
Speaking of city drama, Beth sits on the porch waiting for John. At first, he ducks her newest “hairy hippy” insult for Summer and heads inside to speak to Clara. John’s tired PA is just *thrilled* to learn John is cancelling his whole schedule and heading out on horseback for a few days. I don’t know why she hasn’t quit yet, and I find it very interesting that Clara shares a last name with Beth’s bar brawl opponent Hailey Brewer. Taylor Sheridan is known for reusing similar names across his shows, but this definitely feels suspicious. Could Clara be a Market Equities spy?
John’s latest and greatest idea is to make a party out of the branding operation. Invite the news crews, the general public, some musicians, throw a whole party. It seems out of character for John to actually want the general public on his ranch, but I guess he wants to show the world what the Yellowstone ranch is really about. Clara is just happy to see John actually excited about an event, and informs him he could get through two weeks of meetings in one afternoon by having everyone in one place. Everybody wins!
Having put out one fire, John steps outside to a still-smouldering Beth. She reminds her father that Summer is not his friend and having her stay at the ranch is a liability. As much as Beth is saying this simply because she hates Summer, she is right. Summer hates the ranch and everything it stands for, and would make a prime mole for Market Equities. I’m as frustrated as Beth is that John can’t see it’s a huge mistake to let Summer not only back into their lives, but into their house permanently. He defends his decision to Beth by explaining he needs Summer’s point of view, as she understands the people who run the activists groups to protect the wolves, the bison, the forests. Beth rightfully points out Summer IS the one who runs groups like these, and she will screw them over in the end.
In the barn, John invites Summer on the cattle drive and she declines in true Summer fashion (doesn’t want to ride a horse broken into submission, doesn’t want to harass cattle, mutilate their bodies by branding them etc) and once Beth realizes she would be alone on the ranch with Summer, she heads to Rip to ask to come with him on the Spring Gathering (cattle drive) instead. With her hatred of Summer outweighing her hatred of riding horses, we’re set to see cowgirl Beth.
Beth can be childish at times, and I feel that stems from being afraid to ask those she loves for what she really wants – love from her mother, protection from her father. Both let her down when she was younger, and she hasn’t quite processed it and moved on. Rip points out they’re spending two days on horseback – no tents, no bathrooms, just sleeping out under the sky. Beth thinks he doesn’t want her to come, and gets defensive. He gently explains he’s just surprised to see her showing an interest in being dirty and cold and being told what to do given she hates ALL of those things, and the two playfully joke around and share a kiss. Rip truly is the Beth-whisperer, I love their scenes together.
With Kayce will distraught over baby John, Monica tells him his father called to invite them to the branding. A couple of days on horseback could be just what Kayce needs right now, as he tells Monica he’s worried about her, his life and his place in the world. Monica seems to be coping better now, and tells Kayce that quitting his job is not the answer. As he goes to gather his horses for the branding, he seems to cheer up a little. As does John when Kayce, Monica and Tate pull up to the ranch. Clara asks John if Kayce is his youngest son (he is) but John replies that Kayce is his only son. Ouch.
Meanwhile, in town: Sarah shows up to Jamie’s office unannounced after their classy encounter in the Deerfield Club shower the night before. Jamie straight-up tells her it was unprofessional, and if she did it to affect the lawsuit – an attempt to force Jamie to recuse himself from representing to State, perhaps – then it was all for nothing, as the State brings in outside counsel for litigation. Sarah continues her quest to seduce Jamie yet again, as she’s clearly going to do her best to tempt him into turning on the Duttons.
John forces Beth, Rip and Carter to join the rest of the family + Summer and Clara in the main dining room. In what might now be the funniest dinner table scene in Yellowstone, it goes about as well as anyone would expect. “I’m gonna regret the shit out of this,” John tells Rip and Carter as they follow Beth into the dining room. He’s not wrong. Beth watches on as Summer is distraught to find several plates of meat placed in front of her and lectures the whole table and poor Gator, who shot, killed and cooked the meal. “The bird of peace??” had me laughing so much I had to rewatch the scene.
Beth finally has enough of Summer’s dinner theatrics (a taste of her own medicine, in a way) and suggests the two go for a “walk” in which everyone except Summer realises Beth is about to beat the shit out of her on the front lawn, redneck style. This is the third episode in a row that Beth has gotten in a fight so perhaps two days on horseback will do her some good too, as she clearly has a lot of anger built up. As Beth and Summer roll around on the lawn wrestling, punching and kicking, Summer tells Beth that she knows jiu-jitsu and Beth responds by punching her in the face and reminding her she grew up with brothers. Sometimes, Yellowstone is a comedy.
The rest of the family eats dinner in peace while the two women slug it out. It’s ironic that not even five minutes ago, Beth told Carter not to curse at the dinner table in an attempt to teach him manners. Rip, worried his wife is about to commit murder on their front lawn, comes outside to ensure they don’t kill each other. He points out how stupid they both look and attempts to talk sense into them. “Is this the kind of manners you want to teach that boy?” He asks Beth, referring to Carter – who has the good sense to stay at the table and eat his dinner. Rip goes full southern mama on Summer, pointing out there are starving children in the world and if she doesn’t like the food, she simply doesn’t have to eat it.
Rip is once again the voice of reason and the two women look suitably embarrassed for a moment, before he asks Beth if she’s had enough. “Not even close,” is the response, so Rip plays referee and tells the two women to “end it with a little bit of dignity instead of rolling around on the ground like a bunch of fucking nine year olds.” Beth and Summer square up, with Beth quickly taking the opportunity to land the first punch. They trade blows back and forth until both have blood pouring from their faces. Finally, Summer bursts into tears and concedes the fight to Beth. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fight quite like this in television. “This is my fucking house,” Beth reminds her, as all three walk into the house and sit back down at the dinner table. Love her or hate her, this was one hell of a scene for Beth.
John and Rip have an after-dinner drink after dealing with the shenanigans of Beth and Summer. “You know, the first Duttons to settle this valley? Fighting was all they knew,” John says, a hat-tip to the upcoming “1923" spin off. The two talk about the differences between those times and the present, and John comments that he thought Beth would calm down as she got older. But she’s only gotten wilder. John respects her for it, in a way: “What it must feel like to be that free.” He then tells Rip he has one child he misses (Lee) one he pities (Kayce) and one he regrets (Jamie) But Beth? He envies her. Loved this scene, and I’d like to see more like it in future between father and son in-law.
The bunkhouse are up early, preparing to head out on the Gathering. Everyone in the main house is up early too, silently having breakfast in the dining room. Beth sports a black eye and Summer some facial injuries from the night before, but their days of trading blows – verbal or physical – seem to be over, for now. The big smile from Rip as Beth mounts her horse is so sweet, I love seeing him so excited to share this experience with her.
Summer approaches Beth to ask how long they’ll be gone, and Beth suggests Summer takes a couple of days to look around the ranch and realise why the family are so protective of the beautiful land. After a short speech and a “yeehaw” from John, everyone heads out as the sun begins to rise behind the hills. A sweet ending to a tumultuous episode.
I like that we got more Beth and Rip scenes this episode, as I felt one was missing last week where she got home from jail. We never saw the two discuss Beth’s stint in lockup, or her run-in with Jamie and how she got home. The promo for episode six shows the two riding together, so perhaps it will come up during their time out on the land. Can’t wait!
