Yellowstone 's Piper Perabo teases what John Dutton and Summer Higgins' relationship means for the future
In the latest episode of Yellowstone, Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo) finally began to understand what it means to be a Dutton.
This season of Yellowstone showed us a side of Summer that hadn't been seen before. Now on house arrest at the Dutton Ranch, she has no choice but to live life out alongside the Dutton clan. The new dynamic has led to some rather interesting moments — from Summer's huge fight with Beth (Kelly Reilly) to her heart-to-heart chat with Monica (Kelsey Asbille).
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The highlight of the season (so far) might be Perabo and Reilly's giant fight in the front lawn. Speaking to EW, Perabo explained that at the end of season 4 she didn't know how or when her character Summer would return, but one thing was clear she would be back to go head-to-head with Reilly's Beth Dutton.
"I knew it was coming," she notes, "last Christmas I was talking to Taylor [Sheriden] and I asked 'Am I coming back or did I stay in prison?' And he was like 'All I know is I want a big fight with you and Beth outside on the lawn. I was like 'Okay, how big?' And he was like 'Big.' That's all I knew. I didn't know anything else," says Perabo.
She continues, "Kelly [Reilly] and I worked on it for a long time because we wanted to do it ourselves. That was so fun. Some girls like dressing up like princesses. I like learning fight scenes, so I had so much fun and Kelly was so game."
But — Beth and Summer exchanging a couple of punches to the face doesn't mean everything is fine or on good terms. "Beth is never all good with anybody, even John and Rip - they can get on her bad side. So of course Summer is going to get on her bad side."
Things are about to get even worse now that John and Summer have put their relationship on full display with that kiss at the fair. "I can't imagine that that's not going to cause something. It's not going to go great if I'm in her dad's face. Really I just need to keep one eye at all times on Beth, to make sure another fight doesn't start," says Perabo.
With that kiss in the latest episode, does that mean Summer will finally accept the title of "Environmental Advisor?"
"I think that Summer is sort of putting up with the title to make John feel okay with having her prison sentence commuted to his house. She's sort of 'Sure. Sure. I'm your Environmental Advisor.' I think I accept it more for John than I care about the title, but going forward - especially with what Jamie (Wes Bentley) has planned - John's position in government is not going to be on sure footing. So everybody who is engaged in that part of his life has to really get in line," teases Perabo.
In addition to the PDA-filled fair scene Summer states that she "understands who they are and why they do what they do." A lot of that can attributed the conversations and interactions on the ranch that she has had these last two episodes. "What's cool about Summer is that it's not that she's changing who she is, but she's broadening who she is. She still believes what she believes in when she got to the ranch, but she looked down upon this way of life that she didn't really understand and she was really judging it without experiencing it. So this time on the ranch is sort of opening her eyes to a whole other way of being," says Perabo.
"I think that Summer is kind of a lonely person. Summer never talks about family and friends. She never calls anyone. When she gets out of prison the only one there is John. She's kind of a loner. Kelsey [Asbille]'s character is the first person that Summer at least tries to befriend, but obviously she is going through a lot herself, so it's interesting to kind of see. Their belief systems are more similar, than say to Beth, so it's cool that Summer gets to branch out into the family."
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