Oh, Baby! ‘Yellowstone’ Drops Stunning Twist That Changes Everything [Spoiler Alert]
Yellowstone delivered yet another late-episode, game-changing plot twist during Episode 5 of Season 4 on Sunday night (Nov. 28), and while it throws a wrench into one of the most important plotlines of the season, viewers get the impression a long-simmering confrontation is still on the horizon.
The central question of Season 4 has been, who was behind the attacks on the Dutton family at the end of Season 3? And the last several episodes have begun to answer that question, introducing the character of Riggins, the man who engaged the militia that carried out the attacks. At the end of Episode 4, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) finds out to his shock that Riggins' former cellmate in prison is Jamie's own biological father, Garrett Randall (Will Patton), with whom he has only recently reconnected after finding out that John Dutton (Kevin Costner) is not his biological father.
Episode 5 finds Jamie questioning Riggins, but in a surprise twist, he offers him full immunity from prosecution if he will cooperate and provide evidence against whoever hired him to coordinate the attacks. Showing him Garret Randall's picture, Jamie asks him point-blank if he is the man behind the attacks, and while the audience does not see his response, Jamie certainly appears to be in a dark place when he heads back to his newly purchased ranch to confront his biological father.
But before he can, Yellowstone drops a stunner with the return of Christina (Katherine Cunningham), Jamie's former assistant and estranged girlfriend. She was pregnant with his child the last time we saw her, when she gave Jamie an ultimatum to get away from John Dutton's influence and become his own man or lose her and access to their child.
"You did it," she tells Jamie, cradling a baby boy in her arms. "You got away from him ... you did everything you said you would do. Now I keep my word. Meet your son."
A happy family reunion ensues that appears to include Garrett Randall ... but let's not forget that one of the trailers that preceded Season 4 showed Jamie confronting his birth father, pointing a gun at him while demanding he account for his actions, while Randall delivered a remorseless speech that seemed close to a confession.
Elsewhere in Episode 5, Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) accepts a job she's been offered at Market Equities, a company she intends to destroy from the inside out as a way of consolidating power for the Dutton family. In the meantime, the new gig puts her in the position to mete out sweet revenge that she's been looking forward to.
Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Monica (Kelsey Asbille) have taken Tate (Brecken Merrill) and settled in with her father, and Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) is beginning the process of helping the boy heal from the trauma he experienced in the opening minutes of Season 4, when he shot and killed one of the attackers at the Dutton Ranch in order to save his mother's life. In a foreshadowing of a possible new life beyond the Dutton Ranch, they are beginning to look for a house to purchase.
There's also continuing tension between Lloyd (Forrie Smith) and Rip (Cole Hauser) after Rip taught him a difficult lesson in Episode 4. Lloyd's hatred toward Walker (Ryan Bingham) appears to be ratcheting up even more as he tells Rip that he "ought to be dead" ... and the way he looks as he sees Walker in a romantic encounter with Laramie (Hassie Harrison), he might just try to bring about that outcome himself.
Episode 5 also shows Jimmy (Jefferson White) beginning to settle a bit more into his life at the 6666 ranch in Texas, where it's clear that he still has a lot to learn if he wants to live up to his promises to John Dutton. Carter (Finn Little) also slowly begins to possibly find his place in the life of the Dutton ranch, where he gets some valuable advice from John Dutton and finds a new friend in Lloyd.
Yellowstone also introduces a new character in Episode 5 as viewers meet Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo), who has organized a protest that quickly escalates into a guns-drawn confrontation when Kayce and his men arrive on the scene. She and the women she leads are there protesting "the existence of a state-sponsored police force that protects industrialized animal farming and the mass murder of millions of animals every year," as she tells John Dutton — who responds with a brutally realistic observation that shines a light on some holes in her own thinking. He decides to press charges, then pays her bail in exchange for her accompanying him to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, and as they drive along and talk, it begins to appear that there is more overlap in their positions and views of the world than she might have previously believed.
Episode 5 leaves fans with a series of questions. Will Summer become an ally of the Duttons? How will Beth's role at Market Equities impact the family? Will Kayce, Monica and Tate ever return to the ranch? Where do Lloyd and Carter figure into the future of the ranch, if they even do? And most importantly, will Jamie be forced to make a hard choice between his birth father and the man who raised him ... and if he does so, how will it impact his standing with his own son?
Tune in to Yellowstone every Sunday night at 8PM ET on the Paramount Network to keep track of the latest, and stay tuned to Taste of Country as we provide week-to-week coverage of Yellowstone and the first season of the upcoming prequel 1883, including episode analysis, news on the shows, cast interviews and more.
As part of our comprehensive coverage, check out the new Dutton Rules podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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