John, Beth, and Kayce Dutton’s lives were left in jeopardy at the end of ‘Yellowstone’ season 3, and the season 4 premiere revealed who made it out alive. Not everyone on this show lived to see another day.
The Yellowstone season 4 premiere picks up right in the middle of the action. Rip races to find a dying John Dutton on the side of the road. Meanwhile, Kayce tells Monica to head to the bunkhouse immediately with Tate. Kayce is in the midst of a shootout in his office. When he gets outside, the police finally show up to help.
Rip calls Kayce and tells him that John doesn’t have a lot of time. He doesn’t even have an hour. Kayce sends a CareFlight helicopter for John. Rip says to be on the lookout for a blue-toned van. The man who shot John is in that van. Kayce and the police proceed on the hunt to find this van, while Rip takes care of John.
It doesn’t take long for Kayce to find the blue-toned van. Kayce refuses to let this guy get away. He crashes his truck into the van, and a shootout ensues. Kayce ends up getting hit during the fight. He collapses on the side of the road, but it looks like the bulletproof vest saves him.
Beth Is Alive
Over at Beth’s office, she manages to stumble out alive. She’s covered in blood and her clothes are torn to shreds. Some of her clothes have been burned off her body, and she can’t hear a thing. Beth doesn’t race to find an ambulance. She asks someone for a cigarette and smokes it as her body smolders. Only Beth Dutton.
Monica and Tate are on their way out of the house when a man attacks Monica. She fights back like hell. However, the attacker begins to get the better of her, but Tate shoots him before the attacker can shoot Monica. The look on Monica’s face is pure horror as she realizes what Tate has done. She grabs the gun and heads out with Tate. Lloyd tells them to get to the bunkhouse right away.
The CareFlight arrives right in the nick of time. Rip drives right into the field to make sure John gets to the hospital as quickly as possible. When Monica and Tate arrive at the bunkhouse, everything is in disarray. Mia is crying over Jimmy, who is lying lifeless on the ground.
When Rip arrives back at the ranch, Lloyd is standing guard. There’s something burning in the distance. Lloyd tells Rip that he doesn’t have the heart to tell him what’s burning, but Rip finds out soon enough. It’s his house with Beth.
A Look At ‘1883’
The show flashes back to 1893 to when James Dutton, played by Tim McGraw, lived on the ranch land. While out with his two sons, they spot Indians. James doesn’t immediately trust the Indians, but he wants to hear what they have to say. The Indian leader has a favor to ask. His father was born here, and this is where his father would like to rest. James and the Indian leader come to an agreement. They make a deal to live in peace on this land. We’ll see this play out in the Yellowstone prequel series 1883.
Back in the present day, a good amount of time has passed since the attack. John is now in the hospital. When Beth shows up, John wants to know what happened and who they lost. “Define lose, daddy,” she says. The doctor urges John to get back in his hospital bed. He has a blood clot that could kill him if he doesn’t.
While outside the hospital, Beth comes across a young boy who is waiting on news about his dad. He’s only 15. Beth accompanies the kid to his dad’s hospital room. His father has no brain activity. Beth helps the kid say goodbye to his dad. At first, the kid doesn’t know what to say. Soon, the words come to him. “F**k you. F**k you for leaving me in this place with nothing and nobody,” the kid says. That makes Beth crack a smile. She likes his style.
At a casino, a drunk man brags to the blackjack dealer that he planned the attack on the Duttons. This guy, whose name is Joseph Spears, doesn’t realize he’s being recorded. Mo is watching and listening to everything. Mo grabs the guy and begins interrogating him. He tells Rainwater what Joseph has been saying about the Dutton hit. “We need to know who is trying to take his land because they’re coming after ours next,” Rainwater says.
When Joseph doesn’t give up all the information he clearly knows, Mo decides to use more extreme measures. While on his horse, Mo drags a tied-up Joseph behind him. He continues to interrogate Joseph. Mo warns that they’re going to go after his family if he doesn’t start talking.
John leaves the hospital and spots Jimmy in physical therapy at the same hospital. When John arrives back at Yellowstone, he gets the royal treatment. However, he doesn’t react well to his nurse, who doesn’t want him doing anything. As soon as he’s home, John is back up and outside. Beth tells John that the cabin is gone. Kayce walks up in full camo. He’s been hunting. John complains that no one will tell him what happened. “I don’t have the heart,” Kayce says. John heads down to the bunkhouse to thank them for fighting back and protecting his family and this land.
Beth Vows To Kill Jamie
Beth decides to pay Jamie a little visit. Almost as soon as she walks through the door, she throws a rat trap on him. She is furious that he never visited or called over the last two months. He says he called every day. He just didn’t call her. Beth is convinced that Jamie is behind the attack, and she wants revenge. “I’m going to kill you, but when I do it I’m not going to farm it out like you, you f**king coward. I’m gonna do it myself,” she warns. The thing is, Jamie doesn’t ever really deny her claims.
The Duttons decide to make some moves in the wake of this attack. Rip pays Roarke a little visit while he’s fishing. He has a cooler with a rattlesnake inside. He tosses the rattlesnake at Roarke, and the snake bites him in the face. Rip watches Roarke die. “Good riddance,” Rip says as Roarke takes his final breaths.
Episode 2 begins with John heading out on horseback even though he’s definitely not supposed to be riding. Kayce spots him in the distance and goes after him. He finds his dad in a hot spring and decides to join him. They discuss the attack. John says that Beth thinks Jamie’s behind it, but Kayce disagrees. Kayce doesn’t think Jamie hired the militia to do this. “Killers don’t seek their victims’ approval,” Kayce says about Jamie.
John and Kayce know what needs to be done. They have to take out the militia. John tells Kayce to go to Jamie for the search warrants. That’s how they’ll know what side he really stands on.
Jamie Stands On His Own
Meanwhile, Jamie is spending some quality time with his biological dad and looking to buy a massive amount of land. Garrett tells his son that it’s time to stop living in John’s shadow, and that’s all it takes. Jamie tells the realtor that he’s buying the land for himself, not Yellowstone.
When relics are found during major construction, this puts Caroline, played by Jacki Weaver, in a complicated position. The investigation into the relics could delay construction for a long time. She knows Rainwater will file a lawsuit, but she’s going to try and negotiate with him. She heads to the construction site to try and strike a deal.
Caroline’s proposal is to rescind the cease and desist order, so Rainwater will be free to resume building his casino. She says that she’ll fund the building of the casino for him if he agrees to make it an exclusive 5-star resort. In exchange, he has to agree to stop the hold on building on this land. Rainwater thinks this deal is too good to be true.
John is thinking about the future and the Yellowstone legacy after the attacks. He brings Travis Wheatley back to the ranch. “When people think of horses, I want them to think of Yellowstone,” John says. Travis urges John to let him build a team. The money will come rolling in soon after that. Kayce warns John that they don’t have the money for this. John says they can’t afford not to do this.
Meanwhile, Beth meets up with Bob. She is furious with him and says she burned for him. She even shows him one of her scars. He’s called the meeting to take about her severance package, specifically the NDA and the non-compete clause. Beth pushes Bob to retire before she takes “everything you f**king have.” Bob tells her not to pick a fight with the bigger bear. After all, he does own the land near Yellowstone. Beth reminds him that he “co-owns” that land.
Beth & Rip Start A Family
Carter, the kid Beth met at the hospital, winds up at the ranch. He told the police that he knew Beth after he was caught robbing a store. If the police take the kid, he’ll just wind up in foster care. Beth can’t just let this kid fade away.
When Rip returns home later, Beth is waiting for him with a beer. She’s made Hamburger Helper with tuna and mentions “the kid” likes it. Rip has no idea who she’s talking about. “I think he might be our kid, baby,” she says. Rip storms inside and asks Carter who he is. Rip tells Carter to get out of the house. Rip is conflicted about what to do with this kid. Even when Carter gets smart with him (and he does that a lot), Rip isn’t going to just throw the kid away.
Rip brings the kid to sleep in the basement. The next morning, Rip wakes Carter up to take him into town. Carter continues to give Rip lip, so much so that Rip kicks him out of the truck. As he drives away, he keeps glancing back at the kid. Rip turns around to go back to Carter. He tells Carter that the world “doesn’t give people like you chances” so he needs to stop asking for them. He tells Carter to ask him for a job. Rip brings Carter to the ranch and says he’s the new stall cleaner.
Jimmy is released from the hospital and is taken back to Yellowstone. John crosses paths with him right away. “You broke your word to me, Jimmy,” John says. Jimmy tells John that he can still be useful on the ranch, but John knows that’s not true. John isn’t going to kick Jimmy out because of his past relationship with his grandfather. John has called in one last favor to “make a man” out of Jimmy. Jimmy is going with Travis to help build his horse team.
Rip has a few words of advice for Carter. The most important thing he says is to never act like you deserve any of this because no one deserves this life. Rip brings Carter home, and this time Beth has actually made Hamburger Helper. They eat as a family. The next morning, Carter is the first person at the barn, except for John. Carter thinks he’s messed up, but John says he doesn’t count. They share a very sweet moment before John heads out. “You are the first one here. That’s a good sign,” John tells Carter.