‘Yellowstone’ Star Kelly Reilly Teases Beth Dutton’s Season 4 Storyline Won’t Be ‘Wrapped up Nicely’
We've been seeing a softer, somewhat more domesticated side of Beth Dutton on Yellowstone over the course of the last couple of seasons, but that doesn't mean she's about to go all June Cleaver on us. In an interview to promote the show's current Season 4, actor Kelly Reilly tells Taste of Country that Beth, her longtime love Rip (Cole Hauser) and the new character of Carter (Finn Little) will have a long way to go before they sort out their budding relationship.
Season 3 saw Beth and Rip living together in more-or-less domestic bliss after an incredibly difficult story arc in Season 2, but that was all ripped away in the closing minutes of the season as the Duttons came under concerted attack that left Beth, Kayce (Luke Grimes) and John (Kevin Costner) all at mortal risk. Season 4 opens with them all surviving, but Beth and John have both suffered life-changing injuries, and the cabin John gave Rip, which has served as his and Beth's love nest, has been burned to the ground by the unknown forces that attacked the family.
Beth and Rip regroup by moving into the foreman's cabin on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, and they're soon joined by Carter, a troubled young boy Beth met while his father was dying from drugs in the same hospital where she was visiting hers. She decides to take him in and show him how to be a man on the ranch, and while the Season 4 opener ends with an emerging level of understanding between the unlikely parental figures and their equally unlikely new houseguest, Reilly says there will be no easy transition into being one big happy family.
"Do they become parents? I don't know," she muses of Rip and Beth. "We don't know what's to come, but it's certainly not going to be wrapped in a nice, beautiful domestic fantasy, because it's [series creator] Taylor Sheridan. There is a brutal reality in that, and you'll see some things kind of happen as the story goes on with them."
"I think Rip and Beth would make great parents," Reilly observes. "Carter is another opportunity to see if she can open her heart to that or not, and you see in the season what she's struggling with, because it's all about the internal struggle for me, as far as playing her; what demons she's fighting in herself to make her behave the way she does and make the decisions she makes."
Reilly relishes the dichotomy between Beth's tougher and softer sides, something she says Taylor Sheridan "plays with" that makes the character much richer for her to portray.
"She's a fighter. She's a killer. She destroys things for a living," Reilly adds. "So to see her love something ... and you see her love Rip, and you see her love her father, and her love is such devotional. It's so intense and powerful, the same way her vengeance is. So her capacity for love, and her capacity to mother from that place would be an extraordinary thing to see. We're not gonna get it wrapped up nicely, though. It will probably take some bends in the road."
Yellowstone's enormous ratings have inspired multiple upcoming spinoffs. Yellowstone: 6666 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.
Yellowstone Season 4 airs on Sundays on the Paramount Network, while 1883 is set to premiere on Dec. 19 via Paramount+. Subscribe to the streaming service to make sure you don't miss out.