For those who missed it, the return of Jimmy Hurdstram on “Yellowstone” left many fans divided, with some saying it’s too soon and completely unwarranted. But for fellow cast member Jennifer Landon — aka Teeter — there’s a much more morbid reason for wanting to think twice about Jefferson White’s character moving forward.
Last season, Jimmy left his job as a ranch hand for Kevin Costner’s John Dutton and went down to Texas for some cowboy schooling at the historic 6666 Ranch in Cranfills Gap. A spin-off series, titled “6666,” is in the works, and will focus on Jimmy’s arrival. After leaving Montana and heading down south, many fans actually thought that was it for Jimmy and his time on “Yellowstone.” The character was on the creative back-burner — that is, until Episode 8.
“Good to see my guy Jimmy back on Yellowstone!” wrote Twitter user @jp_padia. “Just when [it] couldn’t get any worse, time to bring Jimmy back,” said @MatthewWVogt. When it comes to Landon’s feelings towards Jimmy, there’s actually something that many fans may not have noticed over the years. But she certainly has, and it’s part of why Landon thinks it could be Jimmy who’s the true villain of “Yellowstone.”
Multiple deaths can been linked back to Jimmy, says Jennifer Landon
According to the “Animal Kingdom” and “Banshee” actor, Jefferson White’s Jimmy can be linked to at least seven deaths throughout the span of “Yellowstone,” which has Jennifer Landon thinking twice about their characters sharing scenes in the future. “When I was searching the internet for all the people who had died on ‘Yellowstone,’ because I forgot, I was surprised that an inordinate amount had to do with you,” Landon told White on a recent episode of “The Official Yellowstone Podcast,” which they both host. “Maybe Jimmy’s the villain, because there were like seven deaths related to you. More than any other character.”
White tried offering up an explanation for the deaths, saying that his character wasn’t actually the one doing any of the dirty work. “Jimmy is perhaps haunted by violence, haunted by tragedies,” White told Landon, noting how the drug addict-turned-ranch hand has “had a very hard life.”
He said in an interview with Den of Geek back in November 2022, “We find [Jimmy] living a life that he chose, you know, maybe for the first time, which I think is a real, really incredible gift.” As for what will happen to the character in the second half of the season, White says it’ll be “interesting” to see where Jimmy goes from here. “I think Jimmy has been a follower his entire life … and now for the first time, he’s made some decisions about what he wants, and he’s going to have to live with the consequences of that.”
Yellowstone Fans Are Divided Over Jimmy’s Season 5 Return
As Paramount’s neo-Western-soap “Yellowstone” continues to ride rough-shod over its time-slot competition (per The Hollywood Reporter), fans were treated to the reappearance of former-meth-cook-turned-ranch-hand Jimmy Hurdstram (Jefferson White) in the Season 5 mid-season finale.
With a backstory on the series showing Jimmy as a thief and drug dealer owing some big debts to some bad people, Jimmy was basically given the choice of working at the ranch or being seriously mistreated by his unpleasant creditors. Once onboarded at the ranch, he decided to cowboy up and be a bareback bronc rider. Eventually getting badly injured in this pursuit, he’s told in no uncertain terms by ranch patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner) that he needs to quit the rodeo circuit. After ignoring this directive, however, Jimmy mounts up once more and is again injured.
As a result, in Season 4 he’s sent off to the 6666 Ranch in Texas to learn how to be a true cowpoke and not get beat up by unruly horses. With his re-emergence as the show heads into its mid-season hiatus, White’s character is getting mixed reviews from long-time “Yellowstone” fans.
Fans are of two minds concerning Jimmy in Yellowstone Season 5
As noted, Jimmy Hurdstram was last seen in the previous season of “Yellowstone” when he left the Montana ranch for a stint of cowboy schooling in Texas. Around this time he also hooked up with his new fiancée Emily, played by Kathryn Kelly. Fans of the show had a variety of thoughts about Jimmy being back.
Summing up the sentiments of numerous “Yellowstone” viewers on Twitter, series’ fan @MoSoSweetSmiles declared succinctly: “Jimmy!!!!!! #YellowstoneTV.” Posting on the show’s subreddit, however, a number of other viewers diverged from the pro-Jimmy faction on Twitter. One Reddit user, u/_wonder_girl_, for instance, felt the entire episode was a let-down and Jimmy’s scenes didn’t help, saying, “All in all, this episode was very lack luster. The episode could have cut down on Jimmy and the flashback scenes.”
Redditor u/Green-Independent951 seemed to think Jimmy’s Texas-centric storyline needs to level up, saying “I hope the return of Jimmy means he will end up working with the YS crew when they’re in Texas. I can’t handle his boring a** arc in TX for another season.” And for Redditor u/Earl Lipshitz, an interlude involving Jimmy and a foot massage was less than welcome, as they complained: “Oh and the Jimmy foot scene. So cringeworthy.” But with the recent announcement that the show won’t return again until summer, fans will just have to wait and see if Jimmy, adored or abjured, finds his way into more “Yellowstone” episodes as Season 5 plays out.