Paramount Network’s Yellowstone returned last Sunday with the first new episode in nearly two years, and it had fans quite confused.
As many expected, Kevin Costner’s John Dutton was killed off in the opening moments of the episode, first revealed to be a suicide, which brought the wrath of
Yellowstone fans online.
However, later in the episode it was revealed that Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), the new girlfriend of Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) enlisted the services of a company that specializes in making homicides look like something else entirely.
Sunday’s new episode featured a strange flashback to before John’s death, which had fans quite confused on social media.
They also lavished praise on Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler’s (Cole Hauser) relationship as well.
The episode began with Rip Wheeler and some of the Yellowstone cowboys down at the 6666 Ranch in Texas, before the death of John Dutton.
Then, just minutes later, they inexplicably jumped back to the present with Beth and Rip back home at the ranch in Montana, which fan’s weren’t too pleased about.
@StilsonGreene said, ‘This is very frustrating storytelling by @Yellowstone’ on X Sunday evening.
@colbyfootbalfan said, ‘These time jumps in Yellowstone this season are so f***ing confusing. I don’t give a s**t about Texas.’
@AdeleSellsNJ said, ‘Is anybody else lost on Yellowstone? Last week Rip was heading home and tonight she went to Montana?! It’s disconnected. Did I miss something?!’
@Kelli_A2 added, ‘What happened to Yellowstone? It’s all over the place,’ while @taha19611983 said, ‘That was confusing right?’
@YoungTide1998 said, ‘So did anyone else notice that Rip and Beth managed to somehow end up back in Montana when in the previous scene they were both in a hotel in Texas? Please don’t be another GOT and start not making sense at the end. We love this show!!’
@richardaurora said, ‘This season of Yellowstone is completely lost. They should have just shut it down when Costner bailed.’
@PCSoonersFan said, ‘I’m not a fan of this bouncing around timeline s**t with Yellowstone tonight.’
@jonward51 said, ‘I guess Yellowstone is doing flashbacks?’
Other fans showered praise on Beth and Rip’s unique relationship, after the episode began before John Dutton’s death, showing Beth making a surprise visit to Texas, revealing she put an Airtag in his wallet and tracked him down.
@SandraTrollinger said, ‘Beth using an Airtag in Rip’s wallet is awesome. Points for digital “branding” and kidnapping her husband.’
@njramen added, ‘I love Beth and Rip’s shorthand, they both have a lot of baggage and trauma (who would want them but each other?) but the writers always did a good job of showing them stronger together than apart.’
@sunshine0nme shared an image of Rip and Beth adding, ‘Find you a man that looks at you the way Rip looks at Beth.’
@sunshine0nme added a picture of of Rip and Beth dancing, adding, ‘Love seeing Beth and Rip happy.’
@BroGod4Life added, ‘Rip can’t trust them even after what happened last night he’s not leaving them just for Beth to get some action but give them a chance let’s see how that goes.’
The episode also showed Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) getting confronted by his sister Beth, who ultimately confirmed for herself that Jamie was involved in their father’s murder.
She slapped him several times but he refused to look her in the eye, as she told him in no uncertain terms that she would kill him.
‘Seeing me will be the last thing you ever do alive. I swear to God, Jamie… I will be the last thing on this planet your rotten f***ing eyes will ever see. And I will be smiling,’ Beth said to her brother.
Beth immediately called her brother Kayce (Luke Grimes), confirming Jamie was involved in their father’s death, but Kayce insisted he couldn’t have done it alone.
He called an old Navy SEAL buddy and asked who was doing ‘black work’ these days and he says he’ll make some calls and start digging around.
Jamie also revealed that he will start proceedings to negate the land trustee restrictions on the ranch, and insists his family could not afford to keep the ranch or to fight for it either.
Kayce also had a heart-to-heart talk with his son Tate about whether or not he would want to take over the Yellowstone Dutton ranch some day.
Tate said he didn’t want to run the ranch because it’s what ‘killed’ his grandfather, but he always thought he would work on the ranch when he grows up.
Forgotten by many – including Beth – in all of this was Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo), who was told she was supposed to spend the rest of her prison sentence on house arrest at the ranch.
Beth informed her that she was never on house arrest and that her father actually secured her release, but never told Summer.
Rip drops her off at the airport as she admits feeling sad that she’ll never get to see life on the ranch again.
Yellowstone continues the second part of its final season with a new episode Sunday, November 24 at 8 PM ET on Paramount Network.