Ahead of Yellowstone's Season 4 Premiere, Catch Up on Where We Left Off
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Yeehaw! It's time to get back in the saddle again.
Dust off those cowboy boots because we're returning to the ranch for season 4 of Paramount's Yellowstone on Nov. 7.
The explosive finale of the neo-Western's third season left many fates in the air, which is why we've created the ultimate guide to spark your memory about where we left off with the Dutton family ahead of the season 4 premiere.
Yellowstone is a modern-day Western that follows the Montana-based Duttons, led by powerful patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner), the owner of a massive cattle ranch. His efforts to expand his power and defend his land means he has a growing list of foes looking to unseat him and his family from their position.
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"When we say the 'wild west,' what that really means is a lawless west," said executive producer and co-creator Taylor Sheridan of Season 4. "There's going to be a lot of consequences."
"The wrath will be coming upon someone," said Gil Birmingham (who plays Chief Rainwater), while Cole Hauser (who plays Rip Wheeler) added, "everybody's gonna get f----d up."
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Longtime characters reportedly returning to the ranch are Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), and Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley). Other characters set to return include Roarke Carter (Josh Holloway), Jimmy Hurdstrom (Jefferson White), Monica Long Dutton (Kelsey Asbille), and Tate Dutton (Brecken Merrill).
In addition, new players are saddling up for the upcoming season including Jacki Weaver as Caroline Warner (an executive who tangles with the Duttons), Piper Perabo as Summer Higgins (a protestor of industrialized farming), Kathryn Kelly as Emily (a vet tech and possible love interest), and Finn Little as Carter (essentially a younger version of Rip).
Who lives? Who dies? Who planted that bomb? Although we have many burning questions ahead of the premiere, the season 4 trailer teases what to expect next.
The trailer reveals that something bad has happened to bronco buster Jimmy Hurdstrom; we also hear a panicked Rip crying out, "Don't you die on me, you hear me?" (But what that bad thing is, and who Rip is speaking to, still remains a mystery.)
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In regards to the shocking season 3 finale, Bentley told EW, "As an audience, it feels like the board got wiped and we can write some new things on that board."
And season 4 wastes no time in giving viewers what they want: "Where we pick up, is right where we left off," said Bentley in a Paramount preview. Added Sheridan, "It was a devastating attack against the family, so we've got to figure out who's left to look into it — and that's my goal."
According to Paramount, "Revenge will be worth the wait." So while you wait for the season 4 premiere on Sunday, let us remind you about where we last left off with the ruthless ranchers.
(Hold your horses! Season 3 spoilers ahead!)
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Is John alive?
Season 3 literally ends with a bang (three, actually). While taking part in a (rare) act of kindness by helping a mother and her child change a tire on the side of the road, John unwittingly puts himself in danger.
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A mysterious van pulls up beside them and asks if they need help. Despite John telling them the situation is handled, they stick around and the driver asks, "Are you John Dutton?" As soon as John says "yes," a man from the van opens fire.
At the season's end, it was unclear is Dutton (or the woman in the car he was assisting) would survive the spray of bullets.
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Did Rip really go grave digging?
After killing two of Roarke's hired men in the second to last episode, he comes clean to his lover, Beth, about his innumerable body count. The two have a philosophical discussion, and Rip decides it's finally time to propose to Beth.
So (naturally) he goes to dig up his mother's grave and remove the decade-old ring from her corpse. The scene ends with Rip holding his mother's decomposed hand, musing aloud, "Maybe you can meet her, in a way." (Uh oh, should we be worried?)
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Is Beth okay?
After CEO Willa Hayes (Karen Pittman) fired her from Dutton nemesis Market Equities at the end of season 3, Beth packs up her belongings — and one box contains an explosive surprise, which her poor assistant finds out the hard way.
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Fans speculate that Beth remains alive come season 4, since the trailer implies an even bigger role for the biggest existential threat to the Dutton ranch: Market Equities, her former employer. Could it be that Willa's idea of "firing" had more than one meaning?
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Who raided Kayce's office?
Viewed as a hometown hero after handling the cattle thieves, the youngest of the Dutton brood is not only recognized for his leadership, but a serious contender for governor by the time the third season comes to a close.
Although his father believes he has promise to run the ranch in the future, Kayce is torn, due to his loyalty to the reservation, which is his wife Monica's ancestral home.
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Just as Kayce seems to have gotten a handle on the ongoing strife between the reservation, Market Equities, and the Dutton Ranch, his office is raided by unknown assailants who unleash gunfire while he's on the phone with Monica.
The last thing we see is Kayce behind his flipped-over desk dodging the bullets (or at least attempting to). The last thing we hear is Monica on the phone yelling his name.
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Is Roarke Morris behind the attack?
As a hedge fund manager who will stop at nothing to make money, Roarke's main goal is to buy the ranch to build an airport on the land, whatever it takes. Willa encouraged him to escalate the conflict in order to clear a path for Market Equities to purchase the land. But did Roarke order the attack alone?
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Was Jamie in cahoots with Roarke?
Jamie confronts his adopted father John about the family secrets, then sets out on a mission to find Garrett Randall, his biological father (played by Will Patton), who just happens to be a manipulator and a murderer. We learn that Randall killed his wife (Jamie's mother) before putting him up for adoption.
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Since Jamie feels like an outsider to the Dutton family and is boiling over in bitterness and anger, he confides in Randall about his dream of taking over the ranch.
"Yellowstone ain't a ranch, it's an empire. And empires, you take," said Randall. "The only way to take down an empire is to kill the king."
Yellowstone fans speculate that loaded sentence could be the clue to who tried to take down John and his domain. But we won't know for sure until season 4 of Yellowstone debuts on Nov. 7 on Paramount Network.
