John’s table is getting smaller and smaller, but he’s not alone.
Yellowstone Season 1 Episode 9 wrapped up the season without resolving any of the problems that haunt the head of the Dutton family before he walked away by himself. What a powerful image to end the hour!
[This review is based on the unedited version of the episode on streaming services, so if you watched on CBS, there might have been minor differences.]
Things certainly looked bleak for John as the season came to a close.
Between his cancer returning, the political tide turning against him, and Jamie deserting him when he needs an attorney most, it seemed like he was as backed up against a wall as Jamie was when John accosted him earlier in the hour.
Rip: How much time do you have left?John: Don’t know.Rip: What does the doctor say?John: I’m done with doctors.Rip: I’m sorry to hear that, sir.John: John.Rip: I’m sorry to hear that, John.
But John isn’t the type to give up and go gently into the good night, despite what that final shot might have suggested. He’s determined to stay alive for as long as it takes to crush his enemies, and since Yellowstone goes on for four more seasons, we know he will.
All of John’s talk about his impending death made me wonder whether the series will end with him losing his battle with cancer. Since Kevin Costner wants to move on, that seems like the most logical way to handle the end of Yellowstone Season 5.
If so, the seeds were brilliantly planted as far back as this episode.
John’s insistence that he’s not going anywhere, Beth’s grief, and his fear that none of his kids will save the ranch once he’s gone echo throughout the entire series.
It’s not entirely true when John says he has no one left.
Beth may be uncontrollable, but she’s loyal — and Rip is more like the son John wished he had than John’s real sons are.
Rip has killed for John before and will break the law in all sorts of ways to help John. John knows it; asking Rip to call him by his first name was a poignant display of his awareness of their relationship.
What was with the sheriff trying to get Rip in trouble?
Rip deserves to be arrested for plenty of things, but killing the bear and failing to save the tourists aren’t among them.
Rip: I was standing right there.Donnie: I didn’t find any casings, because I don’t believe him about where he was standing.
Donnie didn’t do a great job of covering his tracks. Even his statement that he didn’t find anything BECAUSE he didn’t believe Rip suggested he was hiding the evidence, and he was stupid enough to have it on him.
His hatred for Rip and seemingly for John was so great that it was surprising he didn’t press charges against Kayce for beating up the drifter. That also suggests that his problem with Rip is personal — which wealthy idiot ordered that?
The only thing that’s clear is that Donnie is allowing the Dan Jenkinses of the world to influence him.
Karma will catch up with him eventually, but it’ll take a while.
Right now, he’s a thorn in John’s side with conflicted loyalties who should leave Rip alone.
Kacye’s homecoming came so late in the hour that I almost forgot about his altercation with the drifter. But he returned to the ranch just in time to help Rip choke the life out of Jenkins’ plans — literally.
Kayce’s decision to kill Jenkins seemed impulsive, but Rip didn’t do anything to stop it; he could have snapped at Jimmy to hurry up and cut Jenkins down before it was too late or done it himself. He didn’t, so he approved of the plan, even if it was spontaneous.
This won’t be the end of the problems, though.
Jenkins may be gone, but Rainwater won’t stop trying to retake the land that was once his ancestors’, and the war will continue to have devastating results.
The battle between the indigenous people and the Duttons is one of Yellowstone’s most vital subplots, and killing Jenkins will likely escalate the conflict, even if it buys John some time. And now that Kayce has killed Jenkins, he’s squarely on the Dutton side of the conflict.
This wasn’t self-defense, like when he killed Monica’s brother. This was an act of war.
When Monica asked herself what she had done by kicking Kayce out and taking Tate to the reservation, she didn’t know about Kayce’s involvement with Jenkins’ death. But ironically, she pushed Kayce back toward the ranch and toward the kind of behavior that disgusts her.
Kayce also met Avery for the first time, which was interesting considering her Yellowstone Season 4 arc.
Without giving too much away for first-time viewers, I was impressed by the seeds planted in that thirty-second scene.
It’s the kind of thing you don’t remember later on, but it makes it clear that the writers planned far ahead when writing these early episodes.
As for Jamie, I’d like to believe he’s really free of his father, but he’s still too weak and spineless to pull it off. His anger at John taking away his things and his hesitation about telling Sarah what she wants to know suggests he is lying to himself.
It’s a shame. If Jamie had the backbone to go his own way no matter what John thought, he’d earn viewers’ respect.
But he comes across as weak, desperate for approval, and like a teenager rebelling against his father instead of a man going after what he wants.
Jamie didn’t deserve John beating him up or threatening him because he chose his career over what John wanted. But this rebellion is a blip that will come back to bite him if he changes his mind.
I don’t know why he was surprised that Beth demanded his credit cards and truck keys.
John treated him as an employee, not a son, and when an employee leaves a business, they have to give back the things that belong to that business.
Your turn, Yellowstone fanatics.
Whether this is your first go-around or your fiftieth, we want to hear your thoughts about the season finale. Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!
You can watch Yellowstone online on TV Fanatic anytime you’d like.
CBS will broadcast Yellowstone Season 2 starting on October 29; check out our Yellowstone Season 2 reviews if you’d like to chat about these episodes.
Yellowstone is halfway through its fifth and final season, but CBS is rebroadcasting older episodes on Sundays after 60 Minutes.
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Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.
