‘Yellowstone’ Reveals Who Attacked the Duttons — But We Still Don’t Know Who It Is [Spoiler Alert]
Sunday night's (Nov. 14) episode of Yellowstone finally answered the central question the season opener left hanging, which is, who attacked the Duttons? But while the man purportedly behind the attacks has been revealed, the third episode of Season 4 still leaves viewers with more questions than answers.
As with the Season 4 premiere on Nov. 7, Episode 3 opens hot, as the Duttons pursue justice against the militia members who carried out the coordinated attacks on the family. As is customary with the Duttons, some of their revenge is carried out legally through channels — at least, sort of — while other parts of it are served up frontier-style in an opening sequence that starts to live up the season's tagline, "Every.Body.Pays."
John Dutton (Kevin Costner) meets Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) in the middle of nowhere for a clandestine meeting at which Rainwater hands over the man previously overheard drunkenly bragging in the casino about his role in organizing the attacks, who confirms the identity of who was behind them.
So after all of the fevered speculation about who was behind the attacks over the summer, which fan theory was right? Was it Jamie's (Wes Bentley) biological father? Or, as Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) believes, Jamie himself? Was it Market Equities? Was it Malcolm Beck?
Well ... actually, it was none of the above. The man in the photo presented to John Dutton is someone he does not know, leaving him (and viewers) with no clear motive for the attacks that threatened the lives of many of the family members.
Elsewhere in the episode, it's revealed that the attacks at the house that put Tate (Brecken Merrill) in the position of having to kill one of the attackers to defend his mom, Monica (Kelsey Asbille) have left both of them with terrible trauma. He's been hiding under the bed in terror, while she has been holed up with him, not leaving the room. Monica blames Kayce (Luke Grimes) for pressuring her to return to the ranch with Tate, saying, "This place is evil." A confrontation ensues in which she says, "I hate you," leaving their already fragile marriage hanging in the balance.
Kayce is also beginning to unravel in his job as Livestock Commissioner, taking a shocking step to deal with a problem one of his backers has with a neighbor over right of way, while Beth finds out that Rip's (Cole Hauser) predictions that their new charge, Carter (Finn Little), will be difficult to manage are absolutely correct when a shopping trip goes horribly off the rails, making her question her choice to take him in at the ranch.
But there's still hope for Carter, as Rip sees something of his younger self in him despite his doubts. "There's a man in there somewhere," he assures Beth, saying that he'll take the lead on dealing with Carter henceforth. "Sometimes it just takes another man to find it."
Episode 3 also bids goodbye to Jimmy (Jefferson White), who leaves the ranch for another ranch in Texas after breaking his word to John Dutton. Jimmy loses the one thing he still had going for him before he goes, leaving him in a place where he has no choice but to make a fresh start.
The episode ends on a surprising note that finds John Dutton taking out his own trash for once, taking the man from the casino out to the usual spot where the Duttons' problems end up. Unable to bring himself to simply shoot him in cold blood, he offers him the chance at an Old West-style gunfight before ultimately sending him to his end in the canyon.
The episode ends with a tribute to the late John Prine and his song, "Caravan of Fools," in yet another tie-in between Yellowstone and country music.
Who is the man in the photo, and what did the Duttons ever do to him? Will Monica leave again, and take Tate with her? What will become of Carter? Will Jimmy ever return to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch? Those are the questions that fans will carry into Episode 4 of Yellowstone's fourth season, which is set to air on Sunday, Nov. 21 on the Paramount Network.
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