Jack Ori
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If this is your first rodeo regarding Yellowstone, the dark turn things took might have surprised you.
Yellowstone Season 1 Episode 2 firmly established the Duttons as anti-heroes, or at least morally gray heroes, as they protected Kayce from the fallout of the shooting.
[Note: This review was not written from the edited CBS version of the show but rather the full episode as it originally aired on Paramount Network.]
The governor wanted Jamie to deal with the discrepancies in the ME reports on Lee and Long’s deaths so that it didn’t appear anyone was covering things up.
But as the hour went on, John went to greater and greater lengths to do the opposite, making it clear there is no line he won’t cross to protect one of his own.
Questions about what lines to cross are a central theme of the series and one of the things that makes all five seasons and the various spinoffs worth watching.
In this case, the writers and actors did a masterful job; I found myself rooting for the Duttons to succeed in protecting Kayce from any potential repercussions.
There were no clear heroes during the conflict that led to the men’s deaths, so it’s easier to accept John’s reaction to the crisis.
As Jamie pointed out, this was self-defense, even if Lee didn’t pull the trigger himself. However, the number and placement of the bullets demonstrated excessive force, and the tribe would have been justified in viewing this as yet another case of a white man treating Indian lives as expendable.
Jamie: I’m gonna need some time. How long can you hold this report?
Governor’s Aide: A week, maybe.
Jamie: Okay. I’ll look into it.
Governor: Do it fast. This is the kind of ship that sinks everyone.
Jamie: That’s the only kind of ship I ever find myself on.
Yet Rainwater pushed for a conflict to get violence against the Indians featured on national news broadcasts. So his hands aren’t entirely clean either, and it’s debatable whether he also viewed his fallen tribe member as expendable.
In addition, the shooter was Kayce, who belongs to the Duttons but is married into the tribe. He was stuck in the middle throughout the conflict, and the Indians might have understood why he did what he did, though it’s hard to tell.
The tribal police were willing to cover for him after the mercy killing he performed, and they seemed to deal with his indiscretion their way by making him attend a ceremony and a philosophical discussion with Rainwater.
The tribe doesn’t completely trust Kayce but understands his divided loyalties. On the other hand, Kayce seemed tormented, especially knowing that the man he killed was Monica’s brother.
Monica keeps pushing for the truth, but does she already know, or at least suspect?
She’s aware her brother died under suspicious circumstances and that Kayce has shut her out ever since. She’s far from stupid, so how can she not have put the pieces together about what the issue is?
When Kayce goes to shoot the dying man, Monica insists on going with him, saying that wherever he goes, she does too. So, the chances are that their relationship can survive this, but the more Kayce distances himself from her, the more difficult it will be to repair what has been broken.
It’s somewhat of a couples trope; secrets and lies often drive wedges between otherwise perfect partners. But this is one of the strongest examples of this trope ever.
This mess is why Monica didn’t want John in their lives. She reluctantly lets him in for Tate’s sake, but everything falls apart immediately, and she undoubtedly is aware that John’s influence is to blame.
Of course, the conflict would have happened the same way even if Kayce wasn’t on speaking terms with John. He wasn’t going to betray the Indians regarding the cattle, nor would he let anyone get away with hurting Lee.
Kayce’s dilemma as a person with a foot on each side of the conflict is fascinating, and if this is your first go-around, rest assured that it gets even more interesting over time!
It’s also fun to re-experience the series if this isn’t your first time; seeds are planted in these early episodes that make a lot of sense when you know where these characters and relationships are going.
Beth and Rip’s relationship evolves throughout the series, but these early encounters are fun. Rip knows Beth’s idea of a good time—and he also knows when to try to rein her in and when to let her be.
Rip himself is a complex man.
We got both sides of him during the hour; he can be the perfect friend or more for Beth, but he can also be ruthless. He had no qualms about killing the rogue ME, who always got high yet refused to falsify the medical report to help the Duttons.
He’s also an eternal optimist, the only one who believes that Jimmy could be turned into a cowboy.
Both Jimmy and the horse needed to be broken in. It wasn’t much of a subplot, action-wise; it mainly consisted of Jimmy riding in circles while the horse tried and failed to throw him off.
But the horse as a metaphor for Jimmy himself was nothing short of brilliant!
John: That boy quit a long time ago. If he wasn’t strapped to the saddle, he’d be lying in the dirt.
Rip: We’ll make a cowboy out of him before sunset.
John: It’s just a favor. That’s all he will ever be.
Like the horse, Jimmy is wild — he’s gotten himself into a lot of trouble, was forced to accept the Yellowstone brand rather than go to prison, and wants to do what he wants to do.
There was very little hope that the horse would ever accept riders and equally little that Jimmy would adapt to life on the ranch. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, the horse and the cowboy were tamed by the end of the encounter.
Jimmy isn’t all the way there yet — he got into a stupid and unnecessary fight with the other cowboys at the bunkhouse because he didn’t want to take a cold shower and was only saved from a beatdown by his fresh brand — but he’s a lot further along than anyone expected.
Your turn, Yellowstone fanatics. Whether this is your first or your twentieth time through the series, we want your thoughts on this second episode!
Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button to sound off.
You can watch Yellowstone online first if you’d like a refresher.
Yellowstone has completed the first half of its fifth season, but an encore presentation of Season 1 airs on CBS on Sundays after 60 Minutes.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.