Two years is far too long of a wait for a season’s second half, but Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 is finally closing in on its premiere date. The hit western drama returns Sunday, November 10 on Paramount Network (and CBS for the first episode), and hopefully the series will take the questions about John Dutton’s fate to the train station in Episode 1.
Since it’s been so long since Yellowstone Season 5 Part 1, here’s a refresher on the most important developments from those eight episodes.
John Dutton was elected governor of Montana.
And he did not like the job. Kevin Costner‘s character has been fighting against government decisions throughout the show’s entirety. At the end of Season 4, it became more prudent for the Duttons to run the state’s government themselves and protect Montana locals from wealthy businesspeople who wanted to make the land a tourist destination. He won the election in the Season 5 premiere, and John’s vow to protect Montana’s land from outside forces temporarily aligned him with Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), the leader of the local Native American reservation and his series-long rival.
John’s predecessor, Lynelle Perry (Wendy Moniz), became a senator for the state. The U.S. president wanted to install two natural gas pipelines under the state that would potentially contaminate the reservation’s drinking water. John being governor also caused chaos for longtime government employees, as he had no interest in following tradition or adhering to the usual government red tape. He staffed his team how he wanted and begrudged the day-to-day of his position, but he remained committed to prioritizing his family’s land.
John also helped his former fling, imprisoned environmental activist Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo), get out of prison and complete her sentence under house arrest at his home. Summer and Beth (Kelly Reilly) fought all season long, with their conflict coming to a climax in a mutual beat down near the end of the season. The men let them duke it out, and each of them walked away oddly respecting each other a little bit more.
Beth and Rip and Kayce and Monica’s family lives evolved.
The show’s central couple got married in Season 4 and were in their own version of domestic bliss in Season 5. Rip (Cole Hauser) still doesn’t know the real reason why Beth can’t have children, but he knows that she can’t. They took in teen runaway Carter (Finn Little) as their own kid. Rip wasn’t open to this at first, but Carter grew on him.
With Kayce (Luke Grimes) clearly uninterested in running the family business, Beth and Rip became the heirs apparent of the ranch — a position they’re better suited for than anyone else in the family because the ranch and the Dutton legacy are that couple’s true top priority. Kayce and Monica’s (Kelsey Asbille) relationship with the family and its land is the best it’s ever been at this point, but that’s due in part to their healthy distance from it in their own home away from the ranch’s borders. Kayce was also enjoying his position as a livestock officer.
Tragedy struck the young family again when the very pregnant Monica and their son Tate (Brecken Merrill) were in a bad car accident that made Monica lose the baby. John helped Monica through the healing process by sharing his own personal struggles with losing his baby brother years prior (see the scene above).
Jamie went from being controlled by Beth to reigniting their rivalry.
Beth made a brilliant move at the beginning of the season that placed the 28,000 acres of Montana land Market Equities was seeking to take over in a conservation easement. This was done through Beth selling her controlling interest in the Schwartz & Meyer fund under the condition that she would keep the real estate in their possession.
This created a completely legal block of the land that Market Equities couldn’t work around, making Beth the “rattlesnake” that screwed them over. After making this deal, Beth was arrested for getting into a bar fight during the celebrations (it’s not wise to flirt with Rip right in front of Beth).
Unbeknownst to him, Jamie (Wes Bentley) got into bed with one of the big guns from Market Equities sent in specifically to bring down Beth and the Duttons. Dawn Olivieri‘s Sarah Atwood, a lawyer, got herself involved with Jamie to find an in with a family that she could manipulate.
Their relationship continued all season and will likely stretch into the next. Sarah has become Jamie’s best ally in his mission to take down his family, a goal that had fizzled out at the season’s start. Jamie was defeated and letting sister Beth control his actions through blackmail. She knew the truth about Jamie murdering his biological father Garrett Randall (Will Patton), an act carried out in Season 4. Beth used this to keep Jamie under her thumb.
Jamie declared war on his adopted father and sister by initiating an impeachment inquiry against John through his office as attorney general, citing the reason for impeachment as John abusing his office for personal gain. In his announcement, Jamie said that his father wrongly reserved land and blocked the construction of an airport that would’ve benefitted the state. The impeachment’s results were left open-ended, but it seems likely that John could be ousted.
The season ended with Beth and John agreeing it was time to take Jamie to the train station. Who will come out of the premiere alive? Given Costner’s exit from the series, it seems that Jamie may kill his dad before his dad and sister can kill him in this Dutton civil war.
Yellowstone, Season 5 Part 2 Premiere, Sunday, November 10, 8/7c, Paramount Network, 10/9c, CBS