Rewatching Yellowstone Made Me Realize How Much I Missed Rip Vs. Kayce, And The Latest Ep Refueled My Biggest Spinoff Hope

Such big changes from then to now.

Considering it’s been nearly ten full months since Yellowstone entered its unexpected hiatus, without any concrete idea when the remaining Season 5 episodes will release, it’s not too difficult to start forgetting some of the details that played out early on in the fifth season. By that logic, I’m kind of surprised I remember anything that happened in Season 1, since that first pre-pandemic chapter in the Duttons’ family saga feels like it arrived on TV eons ago. Thankfully, CBS is letting audiences reconnect with those episodes Sunday nights on CBS, and the latest re-airing of Ep. 106, “The Remembering,” fittingly reminded me how much I loved the imbalanced rivalry between Cole Hauser’s Rip and Luke Grimes’ Kayce, and also made me recall the spinoff hope I was clinging to during that stretch.

All Hail Rip Wheeler Vs. Kayce Dutton

At this point in Yellowstone’s run, Rip is obviously still a badass, but his relationships with nearly everyone else in Paradise Valley are far more agreeable now than they were in the Season 1 days, partially due to him being so smitten on a daily basis by Kelly Reilly’s Beth. The nonsense-averse ranch leader has never had an issue with flipping his behavior switch from “cordial” to “let’s fuck some shit up,” but rewatching the first batch of eps has made me re-appreciate how he handled his manufactured rivalry with the least motivated Dutton offspring.

In many ways, Kayce hasn’t really changed all that much from how he entered the picture when Yellowstone began, in that he’s not 100% invested in any particular path to the future, he’s not 100% invested in his marital relationship with Monica, but is completely invested in the safety and well being of son Tate. (Who is yet to go through PTSD-forming horrors and traumas.) But he’s obviously on a far more stable path now than he would have been had Rip not metaphorically whipped him into shape early on.

And “The Remembering” delivered one of the peak sequences from the Rip vs. Kayce mini-saga, as the two squared off for a bit of fisticuffs in the immediate aftermath of a bear nearly mauling Grimes’ mostly defenseless character. Their brawl didn’t last long, with Rip landing the winning blow before piling on insult to injury, calling Kayce the biggest threat to the family’s future, and giving him the paperwork reminders that he’d murdered Monica’s brother.

For all that Rip can often come across as a mean-spirited father figure who’d rather talk with his belt than his emotions, his focused intent to keep the ranch out of muddy and bloody waters has been unwavering from the start, and that loyalty remains one of the character’s richest aspects. It was a side of the process that Kayce hadn’t allowed himself to buy in to at the time, and it’s not like he learned his lesson here immediately without getting Rip riled up again. So I’m looking forward to reliving more from the Rip vs. Kayce story as Season 1 comes to a close.

I Need A New Spinoff About Evelyn Dutton

With multiple upcoming Yellowstone projects still set to expand this universe in the future — from the second season of 1923 to the 6666 ranch spinoff to the direct continuation series with Matthew McConaughey attached — Taylor Sheridan has set up the kind of epic, multi-generational saga that could spark untold numbers of future offshoots that are still glints in the real-world cowboy’s eyes. And it was actually Episode 106 that sparked my first desire for a specific throwback spinoff as tied to the tense conversation between Beth and John over his cancer scare, and her opinions about his dating life.

Whenever Beth noted that her standard for John’s love life was “my mother,” he let his muted rage rise up as he uttered one of the harshest lines the character has delivered yet, at least from a parental perspective:

And don’t you ever mention your mother to me again. You forfeited that right a long time ago.

While Yellowstone has connected some of the dots regarding Evelyn Dutton’s fate — specifically the matriarch’s tragic death-by-horse-trample, which Kayce witnessed in full — I would still love to see this universe devote more narrative time to fleshing out her specific impact on her four children and John, while also revealing personal details that are completely unrelated to the world she married into.

Gretchen Mol winningly portrayed Evelyn for a pair of Season 1 appearances, with the second yet to re-air on CBS, and I would adore seeing the actress living in the role for a longer stretch, even if it was limited to just six or eight episodes. Anything that clues viewers in on how vital she was to the earliest years of John’s ranch-running duties. And if that means we’d get to see more of Josh Lucas’ more youthful patriarch, as well as more from a younger iteration of Lee Dutton, that makes it all the more exciting.

With Kevin Costner exiting his role of John Dutton with Season 5’s conclusion, I can’t think of any better way to keep the character on TV without the Oscar-winning actor than by setting up an Evelyn-geared spinoff. So even if it doesn’t happen until after 1933, 1943, 1953, 1963 and others are produced, I’ll still be eagerly waiting.

Taylor Sheridan’s co-created universe has drawn in millions of totally new viewers with its strike-inspired broadcast run on CBS, so the anticipation for the flagship western’s final stretch is higher than ever. But those who don’t want to wait weeks between censored eps can stream the whole shebang with a Peacock subscription. Otherwise, tune in every Sunday night after 60 Minutes for the rest of Yellowstone’s first season, with exact times differing on occasion due to NFL games.

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