And just like that, Yellowstone Season 4 is a wrap. We got to the season finale with the start of the new year. Here's a recap of what went down and what we can expect in Season 5. Spoilers ahead!
Jimmy Says Goodbye
Our most love-able, dorkable bunkhouse boy is saying farewell. Jimmy really started a new life for himself down in Texas at the Four Sixes ranch. Not only did he learn to become a better cowboy, with superior roping skills to match, but he found an honest woman to boot.
We see him traipse back into the bunkhouse as if he never left. He's back in town to deliver the million dollar stud to the Yellowstone. But that's not the only thing that came with him.
He announces Emily to the room, not knowing that Mia (his barrel racer ex girlfriend) was going to be there. But Emily's more than just a girlfriend. She's now his fiance. The girls take a few swings at each other before the rest of the bunkhouse pull them apart.
Jimmy steps outside to deliver the bad news. She told him that it would be the end of them if he kept his word to John Dutton and went to Texas. So he took her at her word. And she's mad at him for it. Women, eh?
Jimmy stays in town for the next few days and gets to show off all his new cowboy-ing skills to the rest of the bunkhouse--who are pretty impressed. Especially Rip who was never sure he could make a cowboy out of Jimmy. John is impressed and satisfied with the change in Jimmy and relinquishes him of all Yellowstone duties and obligations.
But most proud of them all is Lloyd, with whom he shares the most heartfelt goodbye.
Kayce Uncovers Old Wounds
We're back to Kayce and his odd relationship the lone wolf that stalks his property. Last we left off, the Native Americans performed a ritual and sent him off on his own to discover the meaning behind the wolf.
We see Kayce sleeping alone in the wilderness, cold and hallucinating. He sees his dead brother, Lee, Avery, the wolf, and a mysterious Native American woman.
He has flashbacks to his deployment in Afghanistan where his team was ambushed and died amid rapid gunfire.
He also stands at the edge of a cliff, presented with two paths before him from which he must choose. But we don't have a lot of in sight into what he sees. All we know is that he goes back home to Monica and tells her, "I see the end of us". That doesn't bode well for the recently-pregnant Monica.
Protest Aftermath
Caroline, head of Market Equities, is not happy with Beth for her back-stabbing. She storms into Beth's office not just to berate her, but to give her the sharp-tongued, threatening talking-to that Beth would more than likely deliver to one of her enemies as well. Needless to say, she's fired.
Summer Higgins is still under arrest for battery and assault at the protest. John uses his connections to talk to the judge to get a lighter sentence.
At her court hearing, he advises her to switch her plea to guilty in trade for a better sentence. She does, but the judge goes back on his word. Instead, he gives her nearly 40 years in prison, trying to make an example out of her.
John visits the judge again after the hearing and pleads again for Summer's sentence. The two old men discuss the inevitable changing of the times, and how they're trying to build a better world for their grandchildren. The judge agrees to a shorter sentence.
The Dutton Family
Here we are at the meat and potatoes of the story. I would say Beth is really the star of this episode, as so much revolves around her and everything she's still trying to do to save the ranch.
Initially, she was still stinging from her father's disappointment from last episode. She prepares to pack her bags and leave but Rip plays the relationship card. Instead, she goes and apologize to her father for not fighting fair. With that out of the way, she gets to work again.
She goes to Walker (previous inmate) for prison advice. She wants to know the best way to visit someone in prison, and how to sneak in a weapon. I think we all know who she wants to visit.
Next thing we know, Terrell Riggins has a conjugal set up with her. Dressed in an outfit that would really only ever belong on a prostitute, she gets Riggins' attention. She reveals her identity as one of the targets of the attack Riggins orchestrated. But Riggins reveals that Jamie had previously paid him a visit as well, which only serves to add more fuel to Jamie's funeral pyre.
So now Beth pays Jamie a visit. With the usual threat to kill him out of the way, she provides him three different options. Either Rip can kill his father (the real orchestrator behind the Dutton attack), Rip can kill Jamie, or Jamie can kill his father himself.
Jamie opts for option 3, further cementing his choice to side with the Duttons. But as someone who seems to break down and cry a lot, I'm not really sure he understands that he doesn't quite fit in with the rest of them.
But Beth laid a trap. She knew Jamie would bring the body to the "train station" secret spot in and is already there to snap photo evidence of him disposing of the body. She has him in her pocket now and Jamie has no other options.
On a much more positive, happy note though, Beth kidnaps a priest to have him marry her and Rip--in her prostitute dress. It's exactly the kind of spontaneous, no frills wedding Beth could have ever hoped for.
We end with John and Carter riding off into the Montana mountains.
What's Next?
Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Jimmy this season, but that doesn't mean there still won't be the usual bunkhouse boy fun on the Yellowstone. I'm sure we can still expect Rip to be running his tight ship and the rest of the cowboys giving us some good laughs.
However, we do know there's trouble ahead for one of the Dutton children. Kayce seems to see doom and gloom in his future with Monica, who recently found out she is pregnant. But we're not sure how. My guess is that he rejoins his father in their escapades to save the ranch, which will further put a rift between him and his wife as it has done in the past. In the end, I think we can expect Kayce to make a decision.
There was less of a land threat than I thought there was going to be in this season. In the past three seasons, we've seen physical land grabs and lots of fast-paced happenings with land development. But all the Market Equities airport, tourist destination, casino stuff seemed to be at a standstill. I think we can see some bigger moves happen next season. With the protest out of the way, they'll start breaking ground. And can the Duttons actually stop it?
We'll see more power moves from Beth as she works against not only Market Equities, but also Jamie in his political office. Let's not forget that we still have John running for governor. And Beth fights dirty so we can probably expect lots of delightful things coming from her for a political campaign.
No official release date has been announced for next season so we'll just have to wait!
