While Lloyd's life has been momentarily spared, it wouldn't be at all surprising if we are looking at the end run for Jamie Dutton.
Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 6 had some fierce moments but also some drawn-out moments that didn't offer much to the overall story.
Does every episode need to be excellent? When you're dealing with ten-episode seasons, the answer is undoubtedly yes.
Yellowstone has always been a plot-driven show. Sure, characters suffer from deep wounds that also drive their behavior, but the plot often mechanically demands that behavior be explored rather than offering more nuanced introspection to the characters being manipulated.
Almost all of the recent stories are plodding through this process, and it's unsatisfying.
As we've done through the last several Yellowstone reviews, this starts with Jimmy and the 6666 story.
First of all, I had no idea that Taylor Sheridan had purchased the ranch, which makes this whole divergence rather disturbing.
Instead of giving any care about the storytelling for his signature show, he's flagrantly promoting his ranch. What else can you call it? Watching Jimmy do what he should have been interested in doing three years ago -- learning to rope and doing real cowboying -- is just a bore.
I'd always considered myself a Jimmy fan, but now I realize that without other members of the ranch to interact with, he's flat. Even when he's getting a clue, he doesn't radiate like other characters from the Duttons to wranglers like Lloyd and Walker.
That leads directly to the combative nature of Lloyd and Walker's relationship in the bunkhouse. The story just didn't make any sense. If their feud were anchored in something sensical, I'd get it. But Lloyd has had a bad attitude toward Walker since he first arrived on the scene, for better or worse.
It turns out that it was for worse, in the end.
John: Let's pretend that's Walker sittin' over there. What would you do to him?
Rip: You know what I'd do, sir.
John: If Walker's such a problem, what's he still doin' here? You've enforced the rules of this ranch for 30 years, Lloyd. For you to be the one to break 'em what do you think that says to everybody else? It's your last chance, but if you blow it, Lloyd. You understand?
Lloyd: Yes, sir.
- Permalink: It's your last chance, but if you blow it, Lloyd. You understand?
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There's no fighting on the ranch, but Lloyd circumvented all of that to stab Walker. Over his prison stint and a skanky girl. After decades on the ranch, that's what brings down Lloyd? It's a stretch I'm not willing to take.
The only way this can be explained is that the feud was counter to the otherwise sage and loyal man Lloyd is for the Yellowstone just to titillate.
It's been a highly unpleasant journey for the worst reasons. We all hate Laramie. Nobody wanted her with Lloyd, and shacking up with Walker was the only alternative if she was going to be around.
Thankfully, she's been kicked to the curb. Mia left of her own accord. And Teeter gets the short end of the stick. If nothing else, their story is over.
Even the way the fight started felt off. Suddenly, a normally sullen Walker is standing up and squawking like an ass to taunt Lloyd? I guess he could have just had enough of Lloyd's teenage behavior, but both characters were penned differently than we've come to know them.
John: I'll finish it. He's your friend, Rip. Can't ask ya to do that.
Rip: They'll hate you. Sir, they'll hate you for doin' it. It's my job. I'll do it.
Lloyd and his broken hand ultimately helped Walker up off the ground after the melee, so please, oh please, let that be the last of it.
And Lloyd better not hold a grudge against Rip for the actions he took, either. He stood back a little too long since John was ready to get into the ring with Lloyd, and what it did to our poor Rip really hurt.
This is for your protection, Lloyd. This is to protect you from yourself.
Rip
Rip also used the event as a learning moment for Carter, who had grown to be friends with Lloyd. Seeing a mentor suffer through that should teach him the appropriate lesson.
Boy, get over here. The only painless way to learn this lesson is to watch it.
Rip
Carter's reaction was great, though. He knows who is in charge, and if he had his wish, he'd grow to follow in John's footsteps, not Rip's.
It's hard to blame him, and he already seems more suited to taking over the ranch in some capacity than Tate.
That leads us directly to another odd story that seems to have reached its peak.
Kayce and Monica found a house that felt like home, and it even came with a companion for Tate. So, just like that, they're a happy family again.
They've even turned the tide from annoyance into playful banter.
Kayce: Why can't you sleep?
Monica: Because I'm thinkin' about your little bitch in the tank top.
- Permalink: Because I'm thinkin' about your little bitch in the tank top.
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Does it mean anything that Avery arrived on the scene just as the other women were kicked out of the bunkhouse? Or was she just introduced to make Monica seem less downtrodden?
Monica's jealousy was the most palatable she's been since she took down a rapist during Yellowstone Season 3. She needs something to do. Then again, they've just moved away, so Kayce can hang at the ranch as much as possible, and we don't even have to deal with Monica and Tate anymore.
That seems like a win.
What? Did you say there is yet another story on the table just to force interaction? Why, yes, yes, there is.
John slept with Summer. We saw it coming, but why did it come? What happened to Wendy Moniz's governor? I don't recall them calling off their on-again-off-again tete-a-tete. They made sense.
I'm pretty sure that John slept with Summer just so Beth could come into Summer's orbit and get a chance to be the mouthy daughter we all know and love.
But since I don't have any buy-in to Summer, let alone John and Summer, even that breakfast banter was bland. Beth is best when she's got a point for her rage and vulgarity. It was wasted on Summer.
What Beth did with Jamie was much better, and what should spell the end of her erstwhile brother.
Beth: Did you ever hear the phrase, "Every time somethin' good is trying to happen, somethin' bad tries to stop it"?
Jamie: I've heard it.
Beth: I'm somethin' bad.
- Permalink: I'm somethin' bad.
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I've had a love-hate relationship with Jamie. He's misunderstood and lost, a little too fragile to be a member of the Dutton family.
Jamie: I'd miss my brother.
Garrett: He's not your brother.
Jamie: In my heart, he's my brother.
Garrett: In your imagination. You barely know him! You miss what you thought you were, that's all. You'll miss that whether you're alive or not.
Jamie can and will do the right thing with Kayce by his side. The farther away from his brother that he is in spirit and proximity, the less likely he is to carry forth good intentions.
When he attempted to confront Garrett, Garrett was so annoyingly smug and calm that I'm surprised I didn't physically manifest inside of that scene to slap him silly.
Jamie: What about right or wrong?
Garrett: There's no such thing. There's no such thing as right or wrong. There's no such thing as fear or moral. Those are words men invented to scare and shame other men to take back what they've stolen. John Dutton used you, just like he used all his children to scare and shame others so nobody takes back what he stole. You know that's true. I have no agenda but giving you back the family you never had and the legacy he robbed from you. Did I try to kill him? You're damned right I did, and I'll keep tryin' till I get it right. That's how much I love you.
I probably would have run into a few of you who wished to do the same.
As Jamie leaned on his brother's good spirit to ward off Garrett, Garrett saw his son's weakness and walked right into it and exploited it perfectly.
Here's the problem for Jamie. The cat has already been let out of the bag about Garrett's involvement. Jamie pulled records, he confronted and offered immunity to an inmate. Those actions will not go unheeded.
So when Beth gets wind of it (and she will be the first), she will keep her word to Jamie and bring the wrath of everything she's been carrying against him to fruition.
Jamie: You're going to ruin everything, aren't you?
Beth: Everything, you miserable mother fucker.
- Permalink: Everything, you miserable mother fucker.
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After walking tearfully into Garrett's hug, it doesn't seem likely that he will tear himself away from the man and turn him in. So, Beth will make him pay.
And she's right to do so even if she's partly to blame. Had she not put the fear of God into Jamie and ignored his idiocy more than played into her hatred of him, he might not have been run off and landed squarely before a murderer.
But, here we are, and Jamie cannot live if he covers up what Garrett did. He just can't.
It's too bad that Beth and Rip have yet to tie the knot because that vendetta threatens to sour their happy ending. Who wants to have revenge on their mind as they start fresh?
Rip: We're lookin' for something, but you won't tell me what. What is it? Hm?
Beth: The place where you make me your wife.
- Permalink: The place where you make me your wife.
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And beginning her new life without the baggage of their past lives is imperative for her. As she playfully asked Rip to go for a ride, he knew she was up to something, but he had no idea the true nature of her request.
I'm looking forward to their wedding. I hope it's a beautiful and stress-free affair. For it to be that, Jamie needs to have been dealt with and Garrett back behind bars or six feet under next to his son.
Of course, even then, there will be more enemies afoot to terrorize the Duttons. There are always others lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce.
Hopefully, they'll wait just long enough that our favorite couple can start their marriage without associating their nuptials with unexpected darkness.
What about you? You often have much different viewpoints than I share in my reviews. Please share them below.
If you missed it, you can watch Yellowstone online, and don't forget to come back later in the week for another Yellowstone Round Table!
