In Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 5 entitled “Watch ‘Em Ride Away,” John Dutton (Kevin Costner) escapes from the Capitol with his assistant Clara (Lilli Kay) to take part in the Yellowstone’s annual spring cattle branding. As Jamie (Wes Bentley) hangs back in his office to flirt with Market Equites’ corporate shark Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), the rest of the Duttons also head to the ranch. Kayce (Luke Grimes), Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Breckin Merrill) attend the branding for brief respite from their grief, and Beth (Kelly Reilly) goes to spend time with Rip (Cole Hauser) because what women wouldn’t?
Stuck (and miserable) at the Yellowstone on supervised release from prison, Summer Higgins (Piper Pearbo) is angry about her new accommodations and potential role in John’s team. A furious fight with Beth during a family dinner accelerates her adjustment to her new surroundings. The two women exchange punches in an overly long fight sequence, but the truce they arrive at after the confrontation seems to signal that Summer is starting to understand and accept the Duttons’ way of life.
From another cursed meal in the Great Room to Monica’s tender loving care for her grieving husband, here are 5 things to pay attention to in Episode 5.
DAN JENKINS, REMEMBER HIM?
Even before their fist fight, Beth did not bother to hide her intense dislike of Summer. Beth’s antipathy has a lot to do with unease over Summer’s sexual relationship with John Dutton, but that’s not the whole story. Most crucially, Summer, with her commitment to environmental activism, reminds Beth of other Dutton enemies with hidden agendas. Beth warns John: “It is no different than Dan Jenkins wanting a private club or Market Equities wanting their fucking airport. They want the land, Dad.”
Did the name Dan Jenkins ring a bell? It should. Played by Danny Huston, Dan Jenkins was one of the major antagonists from Seasons 1 and 2. The real estate developer sought to acquire the land around the Duttons’ ranch for a casino and hotel project. He was killed in the Season 2 finale by an assassin sent by the Beck brothers (remember them?!).
MONICA GIVES KACYE SOME ADVICE
Remember in Season 5 Episode 3 that Kayce decided to quit his job as Livestock Commissioner because he couldn’t “serve” both his family and the state of Montana. He told his father: “I choose [Monica] and I choose my son.” John reluctantly accepted his resignation in the next episode but urged him to continue in the position while he looked for a replacement.
In Episode 5, Monica decides to talk some sense into her grieving husband. She councils Kayce, saying: “Don’t quit your job. Your job isn’t why [our son] died. Buffalo isn’t why he died. He died because God needs him.” When Kayce expresses his worry that the job “could come between us,” Monica reassures him by saying: “Nothing’s coming between us, baby. Nothing can.” That’s good for Kayce (and fans) to hear!
NO FISHING TODAY, TATE
Kayce, Monica and Tate accept John’s invitation to come along on the spring branding for a change of scenery and some good old-fashioned family bonding. As John sees their truck pull up, he goes out to greet them. “Now this makes me happy,” John smiles and asks Tate, “you ready to go cowboy?” “Think we could sneak in some fishing?” Tate asks hopefully. “Not this trip, grandson,” John says ruefully.
Fans will remember that fishing has been John and Tate’s bonding activity, but it hasn’t always been linked to tranquil times. In Season 1, Tate gets swept downstream in the river on a fishing trip, and John has to race to save him. In Season 3, John takes Tate fishing once again to help him deal with his PSTD after getting kidnapped at the end of Season 2.
THE DINING ROOM TABLE IS CURSED
As soon as John called Beth, Rip and Carter (Finn Little) in to eat their supper in the Great room with Kayce, Monica, Tate, Clara, and Summer, it was clear that all hell was about to break loose. “For once this family’s gonna eat together,” John grunts as he goes out to get them. “You’re gonna be nice, but if you can’t say something nice, you won’t say anything at all,” he tells Beth. As Beth slugs down a big vodka before leaving the living room, both John and Rip know he has made a mistake.
Fans will remember Beth’s legendary freak-out in Season 4, Episode 8 when her bad behavior at the dinner table sends her spiraling into the living room. “It’s the stifling, oppressive false fucking fantasy of a family that just doesn’t exist. It never fucking existed,” she rants as Rip listens patiently. His good, practical advice? “If you don’t like the room, then eat in a different room.” John should have heeded Rip’s solution and Beth’s wishes.
A FAMILIAR SPEECH
At the start of the branding roundup at the end of the episode, John Dutton exhorts the cowboys: “We’ll ride up along Mount Chrism and push ’em down to Lewis creek, hold ’em in the meadow overnight. If we’re lucky, we’ll get them all in one drive. No way to get a camp up there so it’s empty stomachs and cold backs for a couple days. Yeehaw.” Did that speech sound familiar? Well, it should!
It was almost same speech that the young John Dutton (Josh Lucas) delivered before he rode out with the young Rip (Kyle Red Silverstein) and Rowdy (Kai Caster) in an earlier flashback: “We’re gonna trod out to Mount Chrism. We’ll set camp there and drive ’em down to Lewis creek. They’re gonna want to double back on you. Just keep moving south and we’ll hold them in the meadow and push ‘em down into the river.” That the current John Dutton echoes his younger self as the annual cattle branding ritual begins is a testament to the comforting rhythms of life on the Yellowstone. No wonder the Duttons fight so tenaciously to keep the ranch as it is.