‘Yellowstone’ Star Gil Birmingham Says Season 4 Brings Both ‘Violence’ and ‘Healing’
Yellowstone's hotly-anticipated Season 4 is set to launch, and according to actor Gil Birmingham, the upcoming episodes will highlight "two sides of the coin" when it comes to his character, Thomas Rainwater.
Rainwater is the head of the Broken Rock Indian Reservation that borders the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch on Yellowstone, and that position puts him inherently at odds with the Duttons, whose ranch stands on former indigenous lands.
Rainwater is at the center of a number of fan theories going into Season 4, as Season 3 ended with John Dutton (Kevin Costner), Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) all coming under concerted attacks from unknown forces. Many fans point to Rainwater as having the means and motive for the attacks — a scenario Birmingham says would "be an interesting development, to see how he would justify that."
"Things are really in a pressure cooker; a lot of forces are coming together," Birmingham states. "The violent way generally isn't the indigenous way, but when you're dealing the contemporary forces of business and corporations and a Western way of thinking — the old, lawless Western way of thinking — then how do you survive?"
The actor says his character arc will be broad in Season 4.
"There's some violence that's gonna be inflicted, but there's some healing ceremonies that we're gonna hopefully be able to share with the television community in a way that's respectful and authentic," Birmingham says. "Without giving too much of it away, I'd like to try to help people understand a little bit more of the culture of indigenous people, because the more they understand, the more they can open their hearts to it."
Yellowstone's enormous ratings have inspired multiple upcoming spinoffs. Yellowstone: 666 has been announced, but few facts are yet available. Fans of country music will be especially interested in1883, which stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as James and Margaret Dutton, John Dutton's great-grandparents.
1883 follows the early Dutton clan as they head West on a rigorous wagon train journey from Texas to Montana, where they will end up establishing the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. The show also stars Sam Elliott, and Billy Bob Thornton will appear in a guest role.
1883 is set to premiere on Dec. 19, while Yellowstone Season 4 will air on the Paramount Network and Paramount+ beginning Nov. 7. Subscribe to the streaming service to make sure you don't miss out.