In Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 7 entitled “The Dream Is Not Me,” the feel-good vibes of the spring gathering are over. When stray buffalo from the National Park bring a nasty case of brucellosis on to the Duttons’ ranch, John Dutton (Kevin Costner) is forced to lease land where his herd can graze through the winter. When Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) learns how much this hiccup is going to cost the Yellowstone, she looks for a new revenue source to prevent the family from declaring bankruptcy. Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) contemplates being away from the ranch and his wife for possibly a year with the traveling herd and recruits a few of the Bunkhouse boys to come with him, including the love-struck Ryan (Ian Bohen). After hearing that Ryan is going away for a while, country singer Abby (Lainey Wilson) ends their burgeoning relationship.
In town, Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and Mo Brings Plenty (Mo Brings Plenty) learn some unsettling news that has the power to change the Broken Rock reservation forever. Elsewhere, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) creates an even deeper rift between Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) and his estranged father. First, she tells assures Jamie that his continued quest to modernize and evolve the Yellowstone is right and John’s out of date ways are wrong. Second, when John puts the Yellowstone in a conservation easement—a move that allows Market Equities to sue Montana for a bad faith negotiation that will most likely bankrupt the state—Sarah suggests that it could be an “impeachable offense.” Jamie agrees with her and prepares to go in front of the state assembly to ask for a vote to impeach. John better sleep with one eye open.
From Beth’s hunt for revenue to the return of one of the series’ longest running jokes, here are 5 things to pay attention to in Episode 7.
THE TRAIN STATION
In a memorable start to the episode, a flashback has the young Rip badly beating Rowdy (Kai Caster) in a fair fight for taunting him about his relationship with Beth. Rip confesses what he did to John—even after Rowdy gave him the good advice to lie and tell John he got bucked off his horse. When John and Lloyd ride back with Rip to get Rowdy medical attention, they find that he has died of his injuries. As John figures out what to do, Lloyd pipes up: “Rowdy ain’t got no family. He’s just a drifter. We could drop him off at the train station.”
Everyone knows that the mention of the “train station,” is code for the Duttons having dumped the body of someone who has wronged them on the mountainous Montana-Wyoming border. When Walker asks Lloyd in Season 3, Episode 9 why they dump the bodies there, Lloyd tells him: “Because no one lives within a hundred miles. It’s a county with no people, no sheriff, and no 12 jurors of your peers.” Over the course of the series, we’ve seen a few trips to the train station (remember Fred Myers?) and we’ll likely see more before the show’s conclusion.
BETH OPENS UP TO MONICA
After giving Summer (Piper Pearbo), Abby and barrel racer Laramie (Hassie Harrison) a hard time for their walks-of-shame the morning after the spring gathering, Beth softens when she sees Monica (Kelsey Asbille) approach the campfire where they are sitting. Beth stops her rant in Monica’s presence, explaining: “Those cowgirls give as good as they get and that patchouli scented know-it-all, she needs it. You don’t need it.” “I don’t need to be treated differently because I lost a child,” Monica responds. “Yeah, you do,” Beth says simply.
Shockingly, Beth opens up to Monica. Now, she doesn’t go so far as to tell Monica about the abortion and subsequent sterilization she suffered as a teen, but she alludes to the experience and trauma that was first revealed in Season 3, Episode 5. “I know how you feel because I felt it and I feel it every day. So when I say I am sorry Monica, I really mean it,” Beth tells her. Monica thanks her and promises to keep this information to herself. That’s what sisters are for.
THOMAS HAD A FEELING ABOUT A PIPELINE
When Senator Lynelle Perry (Wendy Moniz) calls Thomas and Mo to her office, she gives the men of the Broken Rock Reservation some bad news. “The Department of Interior has approved two pipelines in Central Montana… and the proposed pathway is through the Reservation,” advises Lynelle gravely. When she shows them a map of the project, Rainwater points out, “the pipeline runs beneath the reservoir…our drinking water.” After Lynelle explains that the location was chosen because it will generate the “least legal resistance.” She tells them, “I do not support this and I will declare my opposition.”
As Mo and Thomas plan their counter attack with a press conference, it should be noted that Thomas knew something wasn’t right when the President of the United States came to the Broken Rock reservation to endorse Angela Blue Thunder’s candidate for Chairman in the last episode. As Angela gloated about her coup, Thomas reminded her: “Obama visited Standing Rock two years before he tried to run a pipeline through it.” Turns out, the current sitting President had a much faster timeline.
WE’RE GOING BACK TO THE 6666
When Beth learns that it will take 1.4 million *a month* to keep the Yellowstone’s herd down south for the winter, she springs into action to find an alternative revenue source. Tired of the ranch not making any money, she surfs the web until she finds the 6666 ranch’s website. You remember the 6666, don’t you? It’s the ranch where Jimmy (Jefferson White) spent the majority of Season 4 and now works full-time, with John’s blessing, of course. Well, they’ve figured out how to make money off their cattle: selling their meat online.
When Beth learns that they sold 8 million pounds of beef in a year through their website, she sees an opportunity. Beth goes to John with the possibility, John is skeptical and dismissive. Beth states firmly: “Daddy, you are a rancher, and I am a businessman. I have spent my career making 50, 100 million dollar deals for others. Now, I’m going to make one for you.” We believe her.
NO ONE UNDERSTANDS TEETER
With so many different storylines being juggled this season, some of our favorite characters have fallen to the wayside. So it was nice to spend some time with Teeter (Jen Landon), everyone’s favorite mush-mouthed, foul-mouthed, and surprisingly tender-hearted ranch hand. First, we see our girl bond with John’s assistant Clara Brewer (Lilly Kay) and his “environmental advisor” Summer as they brand a calf together. When Teeter screams out something unintelligible, Clara asks “Did you say ‘gun powder?’” Annoyed, Teeter enunciates for the first time ever, “Girl power, man! You speak fuckin’ English?” Clara is stunned, much like the rest of us were when we first met Tweeter.
Later at the fair, Teeter asks her man Colby (Demin Richards) to win her a “bar” at one of the game booths. Everyone is confused at first, but it becomes clear that she means the bright pink “bear.” Both incidents bring a much-needed levity to the episode and are reminiscent of Teeter’s introduction in Season 3, Episode 2. Rip can’t understand a word she says, but takes a chance on her as the Yellowstone’s newest ranch hand. Now the impossibility of understanding what Teeter says has become a long-running joke in the series.