'Yellowstone' S4, E8 Recap: Two Daddies Is One Too Many
Three episodes of Yellowstone remain, and what are we tackling this week? The birds and the bees. Alright, not really, but if an installment of Yellowstone were ever to serve as a sweet, family-centric exploration, it's this one. For starters, Monica is pregnant again, and Kayce and Tate are jazzed about the growing family. Jamie's daddy is helping him handle his other daddy. Beth feels like she has a home life of her own for the first time—and if Jimmy and Emily aren't careful, they're going to have a brood of their own, too! Everybody's getting laid, talking about prostates and erections (you didn't forget the way the Duttons speak, did you?), and friends, what a beautiful time to be alive out in Montana.
That doesn't take the opening scene into consideration: ahead of the 1883 premiere, we get a peek into the old world, when John Dutton Sr., as a little boy, and his family moved to Montana. James Dillard Dutton (Tim McGraw) is shot and seems to be on the verge of death by the time the credits roll, so yeah. There's new life and potentially dying embers to process from this episode. But let's not assume too much; instead, let's get into the nitty gritty of this week's Yellowstone.
Daddy! Help Me Defeat Daddy!
Well, Jamie is not doing well with the news that John is going to run for governor instead of him. And now New Daddy is dead-set on helping Jamie beat Old Daddy. How? Remember all those people the Duttons killed in Episode One? Dead bodies don't stay buried forever. (Alarming!) Plus, Christina suggests that Jamie could also use John's deepest secrets against him—namely, the fact that John can't actually win the governorship. If he could, she reasons, he would have done this a long time ago.
Jamie calls John because he wants to meet, and John recommends they do so at the ranch. Jamie isn't interested in that, but before you can even think about unpacking that situation, John and Rip pull up to a diner and quickly recognize it as a hold up. They sneak in the back and snipe the would-be robbers and save everyone in the restaurant... except the sheriff. As horrific as all of that is, shooting robbers to save a diner full of onlookers is going to make a candidate for governor look pretty good isn't it?
Beth and the Fake News Media
Beth's plan of deploying protesters on Market Equities is working beautifully. With over 300 people protesting, the good New Yorkers in Montana are pressed, but Beth assures her executives of how to handle the situation, and they listen... whether or not that's good for them. Eliminate the press, then handle the protesters the Montana way, she argues. Beth goes to deliver the news to the journalists, but predictably, she's got more up her sleeve. She's not sending them away for long... she's just teeing them up for a bigger story to come. Beth Dutton: woman of the media!
That bigger story? In the middle of the night, SWAT team members storm Summer Higgins' protest camp to violently remove protesters. Summer emerges from her tent and nervously makes a call. To whom, you ask? Beth Dutton. Even more shockingly, Summer tells Beth, "they're here," indicating she knew this was coming. Beth says, "Time to take one for the team," and Summer simply says, "yeah." This teamwork! The SWAT team beats the protesters and arrests them, and the media gets a full view of the violence.
Table Manners
I can't explain exactly what happened at the Dutton family dinner table that suggested Beth should burst into a diatribe about prostate health, but I loved it. It might have been the best scene of the season. Having moved in with John, Beth and Rip and Carter sit down for dinner, which eventually leads to Beth bursting out and explaining how much she hates that table because it represents a family she doesn't feel like she actually has. And Rip, being the angel fiancé he is, suggests they move to a different table. And suddenly, we see the first confrontational Dutton dinner in... perhaps the whole series?
And then, in the sweetest moment, Beth thanks Rip for everything as John offers Carter a present from a story he's told him. And if you see tears coming down my face, that's Montana sweat, ok? Mind your business.
Jimmy at Bat
In the world of 6666, Jimmy and Emily are getting along mighty nicely. Emily is giving Jimmy a Texas 100, which is a 500 in any other state. Flirting to beat the band, not only does she pick at Jimmy, but she squares him up for a date, which ends in quite the kiss. In short, the pairing has us asking: Mia who?
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