One common criticism of Yellowstone has been that the show often mishandles some of its main characters. For five seasons now, we’ve watched Luke Grimes and Kelsey Asbille meander about as Kayce and Monica Dutton, still unsure of their place in their family and in the world. While Kayce’s lack of direction helped drive his character arc in the first season, leading to some marital conflict in the second, the duo never fully moved past their misgivings with the Dutton Ranch or figured out their next steps. Even now, as the show ramps up into its final batch of episodes, these two wrestle with making any real lasting decisions, and it’s gotten old.
‘Yellowstone’ Has Never Known What to Do With Kayce and Monica
As characters, Kayce and Monica have more going for them than they’re given credit for. While audiences love Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) for their distinct potency of personality, they’re mostly one-trick ponies who don’t really change much throughout Yellowstone’s run. Sure, there are some minor developments here and there, but as far as character development is concerned, Kayce and Monica were always the Duttons with the most potential. Over time, they learned to forgive John Dutton (Kevin Costner) for his initial reservations (and demands) concerning their relationship, and even named their second child after him. But aside from throwing them into more tragedy — either by killing one son or kidnapping another — Taylor Sheridan has struggled to give these folks much more to do.
It feels as if every season, Kayce and Monica are once again moving, once again asking what their place is on the Dutton Ranch, and once again wondering if they’re “going to make it.” As much as we hated when these two were separated, and when Monica had a fling back in Season 2, it gave these two something to work towards. Now that they have their new home on the outskirts of Dutton land, they can begin again anew, but isn’t that what they’re always doing? They seem to be always rebuilding from something, but we never get to see a finished product.
From Monica’s time teaching at the local university to helping Chief Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) catch a killer who had been abducting women from the Broken Rock Indian Reservation, she’s had plenty of false starts. And let’s not fail to mention Kayce’s own career struggles. He’s done everything from running the Dutton Ranch to becoming t he Livestock Commissioner, but as he tells Tate (Brecken Merrill) in “The Apocalype of Change,” he’s been relatively directionless his whole adult life. Kayce doesn’t know what he wants to do, he doesn’t know where he’s going next, and while that might be relatable to the everyday individual, it’s stale drama for a show that prides itself on being so dramatic. Thankfully, Kayce is finally getting some interesting material now that John is dead, but it being so close to the end, it feels like it’s almost too late. Make no mistake, there are truly great characters within Kayce and Monica; they just need better opportunities to display their best traits.
Kayce and Monica Could Be the Bridge Between Two Peoples on ‘Yellowstone’
It’s been alluded to on Yellowstone before that the marriage between Kayce and Monica — and their son, Tate, in particular — could be the bridge between the two warring peoples of Montana. Together, Kayce, a stand-in for the Americans who fought and died to settle these lands, and Monica, representing the Native peoples who were here long before, could help both the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and the people of Broken Rock survive, thrive, and live as one. The very first episode of the show, “Daybreak,” centers around a border dispute between the Dutton Ranch and Broken Rock, where both Kayce and Monica’s brothers are killed. How poetic would it be if Sheridan used this tragedy as the foundation for a larger peace between peoples?
In fact, at the end of the prequel miniseries 1883, it was prophesied by Chief Spotted Eagle (Graham Greene) that his people would come and reclaim the land in seven generations. James Dutton (Tim McGraw) agrees with Spotted Eagle’s words, which leaves the Yellowstone’s fate up for discussion. Now that the series seems to be setting up Beth and Rip’s move to Texas, Jamie’s (Wes Bentley) death at his sister’s hands, and the Dutton Ranch’s end, it’s entirely possible that Kayce and Monica could fulfill this long-awaited prophecy, and that their son could be a true bridge between peoples. If that’s how Yellowstone decides to end, it might make up for all the wandering these two have done over the years, especially if they actually do settle where they’re at.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 airs Sundays on Paramount Network. Previous seasons can be streamed on Peacock.