“Yellowstone” just wouldn’t be the neo-Western series that fans have come to love without all of the internal family squabbling that helps to anchor viewers in the struggles of the Dutton family. Still, of the three Dutton children who are still among the living, Jamie (Wes Bentley) has always been treated the harshest by family patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner).
While Beth (Kelly Reilly) might have her own reasons for holding a grudge against Jamie in “Yellowstone,” why John has always treated Jamie differently than his other children remained a mystery for much of the series. However, the Season 3 reveal that Jamie is adopted helped to put a sad end to that line of questioning by showing just how flawed John’s parenting approach is, despite his good intentions.
On the r/YellowstonePN subreddit, fans of the series lamented how John has failed Jamie as a father. u/MushroomSufficient started things off by sharing their disappointment in how John treats Jamie. “Why is Jamie not really a Dutton because he was adopted?” the user wondered. “John legally adopted & raised him from infancy. And why was Jamie never told he was adopted? Is this why John’s always casting him out of the family? As an adoptive mom, this makes no sense.”
Jamie has always been kept at arm’s length by John
The user wasn’t alone with these criticisms either, as many fellow Redditors chimed in to point out how unfair John has been to Jamie on “Yellowstone.” u/Snowbold had several good points about how John has failed as a parent, but one stands out. “John pushed Jaime [sic] to do things he needed for the ranch but despised,” they wrote. “When Jaime was accepted into Harvard, he said to John, you don’t respect lawyers. Beth, again, had keen insight, ‘the more you become what he wants, the more he will hate you for it.'”
Jamie’s frustration is decidedly palpable at this point in “Yellowstone” as, despite doing everything his father has ever asked of him, he is the first to be blamed, shamed, reprimanded, or tossed aside the second that he fails to live up to John’s expectations.
Meanwhile, u/AmericanWanderlust suggested that there might be more to John’s shabby treatment of Jamie than just a lack of traditional familial ties. “Do you think it p***es John off that Jamie is smarter than either of his biological sons?” they wondered. “I bet that in his heart of hearts, that really gets to him.” While John and Jamie’s relationship remains troubled, fans can still hold out hope that the two will bury the hatchet one day.