'Yellowstone' S4, E9: I Don't Like This Foreshadowing One Bit, Mr. Sheridan
Damn you, Taylor Sheridan. Damn you and your narrative foreshadowing. Do we not have enough to worry about around the holidays? What with a new Covid variant plus finding the right present for Weird Uncle Jim? Now you've added the possibility that this season of Yellowstone could end with Rip getting the axe??? You are a scoundrel.
Before everyone throws up the panic alarm and finds me in the comments section and Twitter, let me explain: it's that first scene. Coming off of last week's explosive episode, Beth is pissed at her father for being in that diner shootout. Of course he wasn't alone, but when Rip mentions that she's not mad that he was there, she said, "I never worry about you. I know nothing's happening to you." Oh Beth. You know better! No one is safe.
But there's more to discuss than my anxiety-filled reflections on Rip. With only one episode remaining in the season, Yellowstone has teed up its big finish, and things aren't looking great for Rip, Beth, or that hippy Summer Higgins.
The Jimmy / Carter Update
For some reason, John has taken quite a liking to Carter. Maybe it's because he raised his own version of Carter already. He takes Carter out riding for the first time and explains some of the intimate ins and outs of the Yellowstone ranch, plus the American Indians who once ruled the land they're on.
John has a thing for adopting sons along the way. It's the reason we have Rip and in some ways, it's the reason Jimmy is down in Texas. But after a season away, Jimmy has graduated from 6666. After developing a relationship with Emily, he takes off a week for the rodeo, or so he thinks. Turns out, he's slated to return to Montana, which he learns once the event wraps. He tells Emily he can't break his word to John, but I'm not so certain that this is the last of Texas that Jimmy will see. He asks her to wait for him and you know what? I'm rooting for these kids.
Hell Hath No Fury
Following that diner shootout, Beth is over John being a renegade. How can we tell? She goes so far to launch a coffee cup at his head. But it leads her to open up about the pain she went through watching her dad heal at the beginning of the season, and while it's quite an outburst, it's nice to see Beth being so human. Even with her pleading (and dropping her shirt to reveal her scarred back), John tells her that he won't stop. Then she asks him why she hasn't dealt with Jamie—the person who is responsible for her attack. But when John reveals it was a man named Riggins (hired by Garrett, aka, Jamie's dad) and that he's in jail or dead (no he's not), Beth loses it and takes off on her own.
Later, when John runs into Garrett at another diner (these guys have got to stay out of diners), he explains that he's raised Jamie to be a man and that he needs to stay out of the way, otherwise that could be his last meal.
The Other Brothers
Speaking of Jamie! Christina remains one of the dumbest people alive. Following the news coverage of the diner shooting, John is hailed as a hero. Christina sees it as an opportunity for Jamie's campaign though: he can be the face of progress for Montana. Get his message out and introduce the state to his real father. Jamie informs her that his father is a murderer—he murdered Jamie's mom—so no, he's not going on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, as Jamie's story unfolds, Kayce dives deeper into the world of the Broken Rock Reservation. After being visited by a wolf for a third time, elders explain that it's likely his spirit animal. Eventually, Kayce agrees to go on a days-long pilgrimage atop a mountain in the nude so that he may become one with the land and tribe.
Is There Life in Jail?
Somehow, Summer Higgins is being brought up on two felony charges for assaulting an officer and they're trying to give her life in jail. And in the midst of having an existential breakdown about it in front of John (let's not gloss over the line, You're the last person I will have fucked for three decades), she reveals that this was all Beth's idea. John promises her that he won't let this go.
When John gets home, he brings Beth into the dining room for a dinner she "won't enjoy." He tells her that Summer isn't an enemy and what Beth did to Summer is wrong, but Beth doesn't care, even with John explaining it to her. It all comes to a head with John telling Beth how much she's disappointed him and damn if it doesn't cut her to the core.
Beth heads to the bunkhouse where Rip and Carter are, but instead, she is intercepted by Walker. Broken and hurt, she asks Walker to sing her a sad song, and he sneaks outside to sing while the rest of the bunkhouse plays poker and Beth breaks down in a wailing sob.
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