Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 4 Review: Horses In Heaven
Carissa Pavlica
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Well, Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 4 was just jam-packed with all kinds of goodies.
John is finally getting the lay of the land at the capitol while his youngest son lays John's namesake to rest on the ranch.
But the most crucial development finds the tension between Beth and Jamie reaching a critical level.
Taking a role in public office is much like having a child. You have no idea what you're in for or how to do the job until you actually have to do it.
John has entire panels of people he's never met working on his behalf. Well, he DID have entire panels of people working on his behalf. He's got about 1.6 million dollars of salary and expenses less today than he did yesterday.
It's something we never experience in entertainment, let alone in life. Nobody shares the secrets of holding office, but incumbent officials need to acclimate to people they don't know and with whom they might even disagree.
Here's my best advice about this job. Good governors initiate action, and bad governors spend all their time reacting. There are plenty of things to clean up besides an airport.
Lynelle
Maybe people with a little more experience hit the ground running, but John isn't that guy. Lynelle tried telling him what to expect during Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 1, but he needed those lessons long before the swearing-in ceremony for them to be effective.
I'm not always a fan of politics infiltrating my entertainment, but Yellowstone takes the common sense approach.
I loved what he said about the educators' meeting only being worthwhile if the educators were present, but Lynelle later revealed that the students would have had a chance to meet the Governor for the first time, and that experience can be inspirational for them as it was for her.
My favorite political note came from Stanley and the sage grouse argument. They weren't actually hoping to protect the grouse but to stop oil and gas exploration for their green agenda. Ol' Stan lost his job when John pointed out that even green energy requires culling the grouse to make way for it.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to save the sage grouse, but it shouldn't be tied to one side of a political argument to do it. Either save them or don't.
Lynelle: You're the only man I know who would actually pout over winning the election that he entered.
John: I'm not pouting. Sulking maybe, but not pouting.
Lynelle: You know, this is as much your legacy as that ranch.
It was a harsh lesson for some, but it opened the door for John to appoint people who might share his same approach. And it even opened that door for someone who doesn't.
For those of us wondering when John would address Summer's situation, we now have our answer.
Lynelle was a fountain of information at their lunch, and although she advised against pardoning someone so early in his term, she noted that there was nothing saying he couldn't.
Of course, he was talking about Beth should the need arise. That would have really put a fly in the ointment of his office. But he remembered Summer when he realized he needed an environmental advisor to help him with everyday fish and game issues and to navigate his way out of the wolf disaster.
Here's the problem with Summer. She's a little too much like Beth. It took them all of 30 seconds to fan the flames of their former disagreement, again in the kitchen and with Summer in John's shirt, no less.
Summer: Just so you know, I just went a year without sex, which is the longest since the first time I had it, and I'm still not fucking you.
John: Oh my God. Our relationship will be purely professional.
If they weren't so diametrically opposed when it comes to John Dutton, they might find they have a lot in common. They sure don't view the same issues with importance, but how they tackle problems and their cracking wit are pretty on the nose.
Even if I kind of think it's icky that John could be attracted to someone so similar to his daughter, daughters forever used to look for someone just like their dad to marry. John wouldn't have raised Beth like he did if he didn't find women like her attractive.
Not that it really matters, especially since Beth has bigger fish to fry.
Of all the different scenarios we've considered as to how Beth would find out about Jamie's baby (his namesake, Jamie, Jr.), giving her a ride home after a stay in the pokey wasn't it.
The day started fine. Beth demanded he get her out by painting the gal she assaulted in a negative light.
Jamie had his fun with Beth behind bars and did an excellent job crushing the Californian's spirit. He was right, too. You can't poke the hornets' nest and then cry about it when you get stung. Going home was always going to be her best option.
Beth almost didn't see the baby seat. She was preoccupied, after all. But when she did, wow.
God gave you a boy? You have my womb cut out of me, and God gave you a boy?!
Beth
Kelly Reilly did an excellent job capturing the pain of that moment. Beth's face fell even as the anger welled up inside of her. For a minute, she was that little girl again who went to her big brother for help, only for her life to be changed forever.
It led to as close to an honest conversation about that day as the two will ever have, with Jamie admitting taking her to that clinic was the greatest regret of his life.
Now, though, having a child is Jamie's biggest mistake. Beth could have lived with Jamie in the world if he hadn't brought another child into the world, another Jamie. But she can't live with things as they are now.
Jamie: Taking you to that clinic is the greatest regret of my life!
Beth: Of all the awful shit that you have done in your 45 years on this planet, Jamie, that is, that is really saying something. What did you name him?
Jamie: He's named after me.
Beth: Of course he is. Just what the world fucking needs is another fucking you!
Jamie: Beth. Dad doesn't know about this. Nobody knows about this.
Beth: Don't worry about me tellin' him. I'm gonna take him from you. I'm gonna rob you of fatherhood, Jamie. You don't deserve it, and he deserves better than you. Next time you see him, you can kiss him goodbye because he's as good as gone.
Beth's goal is to strip Jamie of fatherhood. She won't harm the baby, so how will she accomplish that? Beth probably has no idea how she'll do it, but we know her well enough to know that if she says she'll do it, it will happen.
This will, of course, further drive Jamie into Sarah's clutches. Beth is already onto him and investigating Sarah (or whoever she really is). Sarah has cast the net of supporting Jamie as John's replacement in the Governor's office, and with Beth on his tail, he'll look to Sarah and whatever her power partners have to offer as a way out.
Jamie need only look at how perfectly Beth sunk Market Equities to know how well he'll fare against her. But as unconfident as he is, he's full of bravado, and he'll take the bait and hope for the best. Now, it just seems like a waiting game.
Something hit me during the funeral for Kayce and Monica's baby. Dutton women don't fare well in this world.
Elsa's life was tragically cut short before she ever saw her family's legacy. Evelyn suffered a similar fate. Monica has had plenty of pain from being welcomed into the Dutton family. Is Beth, too, going to have her life cut short?
Beth: I don't think they want us here.
John: Even if they don't want us, they need to know we care enough to stay.
Beth: Make me a promise. Don't ever let them do that to me. Turn me to ashes and throw me to the wind. It's all the care I want.
That short conversation seemed like a premonition. A warning, at least, that John will say goodbye to his daughter before he's left this earth.
Like Elsa, Beth plays too close to the sun. She's always up for a fight and often finds herself targeted. She was beaten up and raped, saved in the nick of time. She was sent a package bomb that nearly took her life. She's always under fire. How long will that last?
There's always a fire in the distance. "Horses in Heaven" atually ended that way. Tragedy follows the Duttons, and every day brings another challenge for them to endure and triumph over.
Now that the Yellowstone is a Native American burial ground, the ranch may be saved. But what of the Duttons themselves? I'm sure the United States of America wouldn't think twice about kicking them off the ranch and annexing the land as part of the park. After all, the wolves have already staked a claim.
For all the sadness that permeated the hour, there was also a great show of solidarity and humanity from the cowboys.
They acted as Montana's helping hands, assisting another ranch with their calf branding and helping to bury little John and John's horse for him to ride in heaven.
Cowboy honor and commitment are outstanding. They understand that we cannot walk through the world alone, and their efforts remind us of what it means to be loved and supported.
They are a family, and helping other families is second nature.
If you watch Yellowstone online, you know some of the best moments of this series come from the writers' efforts to portray the cowboy experience accurately. There are many farfetched storylines, but when it comes to the cowboy way, we're treated to something that most of us will never see, let alone experience.
This season is barreling right along. Next week marks the midway point of Yellowstone Season 5, which means the pressure is on for some of these storylines to take off in a big way.
Don't be shy! Please share your thoughts below in the comments. You've come all this way. Let your opinion be heard!
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
