It’s safe to say a majority of “Yellowstone” fans love John Dutton (Kevin Costner). The man works hard, cares for his family, stands up for his personal ideals, doesn’t falter in the face of adversity, and remains loyal to those who are loyal to him. Yet, even viewers who adamantly support a majority of his beliefs will admit he … sometimes makes really dumb decisions.
Look, Dutton cares about Yellowstone Ranch and his family — probably in that order — and does his best to keep both safe. On occasion, though, he has reacted poorly, even irrationally, to certain situations, and seems to harbor enough grudges to pack a large barn. All of this would be fine, except John’s actions often lead to dire consequences that affect those closest to him, most especially his family. While John always seems to come out victorious, the road to the top is paved with the bones of many who suffered as a result of his ineptitude. That said, we cobbled together a list of what we feel are John Dutton’s worst decisions on “Yellowstone” thus far, ranked from dumb to really dumb.
Allows Kayce and Monica to Live Off the Ranch
In Season 4, John unwisely allows Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille) to move to a house off-site to mend their marriage. From a Kayce/Monica standpoint, this is the right play. The couple can hang out with Tate (Brecken Merrill), reunite as a family, and hopefully steer clear of further problems caused by the Duttons. From John’s perspective, though, letting Kayce — perhaps his closest ally outside of Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) — leave his side during such a dangerous time is foolhardy. John has to know the powerful influence Monica has on his son. What good does it do him to let the pair go off on their own?
Before long, Kayce will start looking at the ranch again like an outsider, and see his father for who he truly is. Again, this is great for Kayce, but as stans of John Dutton we fear all this does is further isolate the man and make him more vulnerable to his enemies.
Nearly Kicks Beth Out
In a head-scratching move, John nearly severs his most important alliance in the name of … love? Midway through Season 4, John begins seeing animal rights activist Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo), a random fling if there ever was one. Beth doesn’t take too kindly to her father’s new mistress and decides to get rid of Summer by involving her in a scheme designed to help the ranch. Unfortunately, said scheme lands Summer in jail. John is surprisingly infuriated with his daughter, claiming the Duttons don’t harm innocent people. (The many men he ordered to be “dropped off at the train station” might disagree.) He actually tells Beth, his most loyal ally, to pack her things and get off the ranch.
Okay, we’re willing to buy that John was heated. Maybe he didn’t mean to say what he said, but for someone who is willing to kill in order to keep his land, you’d think John would show a little restraint when it comes to punishing people in his inner circle. Particularly Beth, who has remained as devout a daughter as he could hope for.
Competes Against Jamie for Governor
John’s handling of his adopted son Jamie (Wes Bentley) has been problematic, to say the least. In Season 4, however, John might have taken things a little too far when he decided to run for Governor in order to keep Jamie from doing so. What’s more, he and Beth invite Jamie down to a press conference, and the young man assumes they are there on his behalf. As Jamie makes his way to the podium he’s shocked to hear his father’s name called, and even more stunned to realize John is now his opponent.
Does anyone think this is the right move? John thinks that Jamie can’t be trusted with power and aims to block his every move. The problem is, at some point John’s constant provocations will eventually lead Jamie to do something truly awful. He’s already proven capable of murder. Now that he has zero attachment to the Dutton family, what’s to keep him from spilling their secrets? Or using his considerable resources to strike back? We certainly don’t agree with all of Jamie’s actions, but this is the type of enemy John would do best to monitor at close range.