After Roake Morris (played by Josh Holloway) succumbed to a poisonous snake bite in season four, some Yellowstone viewers noticed a factual error with his death. Throughout season three, he had been a major thorn for the Dutton family, as Roake was looking to cash in on John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) highly desired Montana ranch.
He had even hired John’s former ranch hand Wade Morrow (Boots Southerland) and his son, Clint (Brent Walker) to cause legal trouble for the family. However, after losing contact with the father and son duo, Roake was paid a visit by John’s right-hand man and occasional henchman, Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser).
While Rip ensured his death looked accidental, fans exposed a major error with how long the death took. During the season four premiere, Rip approached Roake with a cooler in hand while he was fly-fishing.
As he had no prior knowledge of Rip, the henchman asked Roake if the cooler belonged to him which he denied but Rip persisted, shook it around, and left it in close range. He then opened the cooler to Roake revealing a rattlesnake inside, which bit him in the face.
The rancher quickly died as a result of the poisonous venom, with Rip standing over him to ensure he was dead. While many were pleased to see the back of Roarke, others were left distracted by the inaccuracy and took to imbd.com with complaints.
A knowledgeable viewer recalled: “Roarke is subsequently bitten by the snake high on the left cheek, less than an inch below his left eye. “Roarke then runs about 50 yards up the hill in a panic before he falls while clutching his chest, gasping, and foaming at the mouth,” noting: “His death takes about 45 seconds.”
“While rattlesnakes are venomous and occasionally poisonous, their bites are rarely fatal.” The fan continued: “When they are, it generally takes six to 48 hours to kill the victim, as the venom kills by shutting down the body’s organs and acting as an anticoagulant.
“All of this takes some time to affect the human body, it is not immediate even if injected directly into an artery, death takes hours.
“However, the facial and labial arteries in the cheek that could rapidly transport the venom don’t extend that far out on the face, thus making Roarke’s rapid death even more unbelievable.”