The saying may be that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but hell truly hath no fury like Yellowstone’s Beth Dutton. Played by actress Kelly Reilly, Beth Dutton has become one of television’s most formidable and famous characters. She drinks like a sailor, out-swears any man in any room, and throws a mean right hook — all while wearing a sundress. In Yellowstone, she is the force to be reckoned with, and is just as unruly as the rivers and wildlife that roam free among ranch feuds, familial drama, and politics. Alongside her father’s right-hand man, Rip Wheeler (played by Cole Hauser), their romance saga is one for the books, and the most commanding part of the entire series.
Now headed into part two of its fifth and final season, Yellowstone has been under the spotlight for months now, with lots of backstage drama. The series was originally created by Western maestro Taylor Sheridan, and Kevin Costner has been his muse for five seasons as the show’s even-keeled patriarch John Dutton. But, when Costner suddenly departed the series heading into shooting the final episodes of Season 5, he announced he would not return for the end, instead putting all his focus into his Horizon: An American Saga film series and apparently leaving the rest of the Dutton family to finish dirty dealings on their own. But Yellowstone has been left in more than capable hands with Reilly’s Beth Dutton. With the flagship series reportedly ending, it’s high time that Beth gets her own show where she calls the shots — alongside her ride-or-die, Rip, of course.
Beth Dutton Is the Heart and Soul of ‘Yellowstone’
While fans may be mourning the loss of Costner, it’s not as big of a loss as it seems — because without Beth Dutton, there would be no Yellowstone. No one character has been through as much as Beth, and there is ample opportunity to explore her life, trauma, and wounds through a spin-off or a Season 6 centered around her character. From day one, Beth has been second-in-command to her father, John, and now all the cards are aligning for her to get her own story. She has long represented the grit and survival that the family has gone through, dating back to the original Duttons who wound up on the land in Montana in the prequel series, 1883. As a business titan herself, a spin-off could offer the perfect opportunity to allow her to get the full working girl-treatment.
Many of Beth’s greatest monologues come in office rooms in business meetings mostly populated by men, where she both verbally eviscerates them and gets the job done. Her many fantastic scenes with her former boss, Bob, played by Michael Nouri, could have the time to grow and manifest into something greater if she got her own show. Reilly makes a meal out of her character’s wordy speeches; the insults she hurls like swords are part of what has made her and her performance so iconic. Her world is a cutthroat jungle of business tycoons and crooks looking to amass as much power and land as possible, and a potential spin-off could be an opportunity for Beth to occasionally leave the Yellowstone Ranch, traveling elsewhere in the country as she works.
Yellowstone has already boasted fantastic villains that Beth has faced off with, including Josh Holloway as the sleazy Roarke Carter and the terrifying Jacki Weaver as businesswoman Caroline Warner. In the series’ later seasons, Reilly and Weaver have exceptional chemistry as two snakes slithering in the grass trying to get what they want. Weaver’s most chilling monologue, courtesy of Sheridan, sums up exactly what makes Beth so great and so terrifying:
“When people come here, they expect their opponents to be a bunch of rednecks. People of the land, I guess you could say. They don’t expect you. They don’t expect a fight. That’s why you have been such an effective nuisance for so long.”
A ‘Yellowstone’ Spin-Off Could Focus on Beth and Rip’s Marital Life
Besides, who doesn’t want more of Beth and Rip? Their greatest hits could cover several vinyls, and there’s so much room for them to grow. One of the most heartwarming moments of Yellowstone comes in the Season 4 finale, when Beth and Rip finally tie the knot. Beth’s spontaneity is part of what makes her so exciting and endearing. Proposing marriage to Rip at the Yellowstone, right in front of her father no less, became a fan-favorite scene and a major victory for every viewer who hoped Beth and Rip would seal the deal. From there, Beth and Rip have had charming moments of marriage throughout Season 5, setting up the perfect start to a series dedicated primarily to their relationship.
While the start of Yellowstone Season 5 has been shaky at times, with waning material, all of Beth and Rip’s scenes remained strong. In fact, they’ve only gotten better as the show has aged. Everything feels fresh for them because they’ve entered a new terrain as husband and wife. Rip is the most crucial character in Beth’s storyline, and we only really get to know her when she lets her guard down with him. Who could forget the scene when he cooks her breakfast in his home and removes her hand from her mouth when she tries to hide her chewing? It’s the smallest detail, but a big, touching moment nevertheless. With Rip, Beth can’t hide anything. A spin-off would be rich with similar moments like that and really lean into their romance, which is what so many fans love about the show.
A Beth and Rip ‘Yellowstone’ Spin-Off Could Dive Deeper into Their Past
As Yellowstone continued throughout Season 1, Sheridan had the genius idea of incorporating flashbacks to when the Duttons were children on the ranch and raised by their widowed father John, played by Josh Lucas in the flashbacks. Actors Kylie Rogers and Kyle Red Silverstein play young Beth and Rip, and the flagship series has created a charming, but also heartbreaking backstory for the two star-crossed lovers, who came from opposite sides of the track but fell in love nonetheless. Both Rogers and Silverstein are an example of fantastic casting, as they share uncanny physical similarities with Reilly and Hauser.
Beth’s backstory revealed that she had an abortion as a teenager when she got pregnant with Rip’s baby. When she sought refuge from her older brother Jamie, he knowingly took her to a women’s healthcare facility where they not only performed the abortion but removed her uterus. It’s one of the saddest storylines in the series, and a defining moment in Beth’s life. Should the show continue to explore Beth’s recovery and journey to becoming the headstrong woman she’s now become through flashbacks, it would be in capable hands with Rogers. And though she is the best Dutton, we can’t let Beth get all the glory. More of Rip’s backstory could also be explored if he was elevated to a leading character, including the dark reason for why he landed at the Yellowstone in the first place.
Ultimately, Beth is still the obvious heir to the Yellowstone, which would allow her to run the business side of things, while her husband runs day-to-day operations. It’s a fantastic formula for another season or new show, and could keep the integrity of Yellowstone’s core themes as a Western alive. No one knows the terrain like Rip, and viewers could still get all the bunkhouse action, cow wranglings, and ranch wars they desire. Season 5 Part 2 of Yellowstone will premiere in November, and after that, it may be curtains for the ranch. With the original series ending, a brand-new beginning could start with Beth and Rip’s newlywed life, and be the perfect sequel to a franchise that has only made prequels up to this point.