In Yellowstone's underwhelming season finale, the Duttons re-join forces—whether they like it or not
Ultimately, this fourth season felt like one long reset, returning the show to something pretty close to its old status quo.

At the end of Yellowstone’s third season, the situation didn’t look great for the Duttons. One or more of their many enemies had orchestrated a multi-pronged shooting and bombing attack, delivering what were meant to be killing blows to John, Kayce, and Beth. Even if they survived, where would they stand? Beth was on the outs with her bosses at Schwartz & Meyer. Kayce had been winning respect as Livestock Commissioner, but was losing his connection with his wife and son. And thanks to the perpetually (and justifiably) embittered Jamie’s cooperation with the predatory venture capitalists at Market Equities, John seemed certain to lose a big chunk of the Yellowstone spread to the state, which would then sell it off to resort property developers.
But because this is Yellowstone—where the Duttons rarely suffer any lasting consequences—it didn’t take long for nearly all of last year’s cliffhangers to resolve in the family’s favor. No Dutton died. Kayce decided to renew his bond with Monica and Tate by heading back into her home territory, among Montana’s Indigenous community. Jamie used government resources to keep his adoptive family safe, and also confided in Kayce that he was trying to save as much of the Yellowstone ranch as he could.
And Beth? Well, Beth—as always—has had the weirdest arc since last year’s finale. After Rip tossed a poisonous snake at her biggest Market Equities rival, Roarke (you are missed, Josh Holloway), she implausibly got hired by the company’s big boss, Caroline (you are welcome anytime, Jacki Weaver), who allowed Beth to get revenge against the Schwartz & Meyer honchos. Meanwhile, she sort of adopted an orphaned ragamuffin named Carter and she sort of convinced her dad to avoid complete annihilation by agreeing to open up the Yellowstone just a little bit to outsiders.
Beth being Beth, nearly every one of these new developments quickly—and often inexplicably—went awry. She cruelly pushed Carter away after he was insufficiently obedient. She enraged John by manipulating his new love interest Summer (Piper Perabo) into getting arrested at an environmental protest. And in this week’s season four finale, “Grass On The Streets And Weeds On The Rooftops,” she gets fired from Market Equities due to all of her Summer shenanigans—complete with a promise from Caroline that the company is going to renege on their past arrangements and “rape your land to death.”
We need to reckon with Beth, both because “Grass On The Streets” is very Beth-centric and because whether or not casual Yellowstone viewers stick with this crazy show often comes down to whether or not they can handle Beth’s whole deal. And I should say straight out: The success or failure of any Beth-related storyline has only a little to do with Kelly Reilly’s performance, which is consistently electrifying… even when her character is doing and saying things that don’t make any damn sense. But the entertainment value of Beth’s chaos is mitigated by the general ludicrousness of who she’s reputed to be and why she seems to get away with everything.
In this week’s Yellowstone, for example, all the drama of her dust-up with John—which just last week had him essentially kicking her out of his life—is corrected before the opening credits. Beth starts packing, Rip tells her he will cut her off completely if she leaves, she patches things up with John and… that’s it. Before long, Beth and Rip are getting married on the ranch, with John watching proudly.
Then there’s Beth’s “big fix” in this episode, which involves her usual go-to tactic: sexualized bullying. When she finds out that Jamie’s biological father, Garrett, was responsible for last season’s finale-ending Dutton-hunt—and that Jamie has known this for a while—she threatens Jamie with prison, warning, “You’ll probably commit suicide after your first rape.” She makes it seem like his only option is to kill Garrett… which Jamie does. And then when he’s trying to ditch the body, she snaps a picture of him, for blackmail purposes.