yellowstone season 4 episode 4 is out now, so here’s a recap if you want to know what happened. Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen the episode yet and want to find out for yourself what happens, don’t read any further.
As we open episode 4, we see Jimmy’s (Jefferson White) journey with Travis (Taylor Sheridan) continuing west, set to the tune of Shane Smith and the Saints’ “All I See Is You.” Jimmy is thinking about Mia (Eden Brolin), but he can’t bring himself to write her a letter. And all the while, he absentmindedly tells the woman in a competition to send the checks Travis won from the horse court to whatever address they have on file for the Dutton Ranch.
jimmy is still a bit of an outsider among travis’s entourage. As he grooms a horse before the competition, he wishes Travis good luck. “Jimmy, luck has nothing to do with it,” Travis says in disgust.
Meanwhile, Yellowstone star John Dutton (Kevin Costner) takes Kayce (Luke Grimes) to a special place for a chat. “We have so much to talk about, why aren’t we talking?” kayce asks. Finally, John tells her: This is the place where his father died, where he proposed to Evelyn (Gretchen Mol), and where he buried his wedding ring.
john hands kayce the file on chief thomas rainwater (gil birmingham). “That’s the man hired to kill us.”
So, john gives kayce an assignment: go talk to jamie (wes bentley) about the file. if she falters and doesn’t help them, then they will have their answer as to whether she was complicit in the attacks.
“I just don’t think jamie can do it, dad,” kayce says. “Beth has everyone so twisted about who he is.”
in yellowstone s4 episode 4 beth has a fateful meeting
The action then shifts to Jamie and her biological father (Will Patton), who are inspecting Jamie’s newly purchased house and land. “I’m 41 years old and this is the first thing I’ve ever had,” Jamie says. her dad likes to cook for both of them, she says it’s one of life’s few innocent joys, and jamie is growing closer to him. she congratulates jamie for everything she has done. “You gave me the strength to do it,” Jamie replies.
next is beth’s (kelly reilly) meeting with stock market CEO caroline warner (jacki weaver) at an expensive local bar. After offending Market Equities’ lead attorney, whom she accuses of liking dominatrixes, Beth is left alone with Warner.
“I bet you’ll slice ’em up in the boardroom, right?” warner begins. he goes on to tell beth that he is very different from the old boss. and she is not afraid of beth. she is old enough to have climbed the ladder when she was oiled up to prevent women from climbing it. “I climbed it anyway, stepping over a little bitch like you on every rung,” she says.
warner offers beth two doors. one is a wave of fines and charges for insider trading. the other is an intriguing proposition: he wants to bid on the land trust beth set up with schwartz & meyer we learned that beth arranged the trust so that schwartz & Meyer was a minority investor with no controlling interest.
“stubbornness is not a business strategy, beth. That’s how you lose the ranch entirely,” Warner tells Beth. “come and work for us, and I’ll help you defend it.” She says Western Fantasy is Montana’s only asset, and she wants to monetize it. she wants beth to help her develop the state. Beth Counteroffer: She wants Warner’s majority stake in Schwartz & meyer get him that and he’ll join the hedge fund.
we learn where jamie’s heart is
Meanwhile, Kayce goes to meet up with Jamie, Yellowstone’s black sheep. They greet each other gingerly, and Jamie responds to Kayce’s rebukes for not visiting John by telling her that Jamie was the reason John had police protection at the hospital. he was the reason there was no investigation into the murders of the dutton attackers.
“There is what is fair and there is the law. they’re not the same,” he tells kayce.
kayce then shows jamie the rainwater file. we learn that the criminal who hit john has been in prison for 20 years. Kayce wants to interview the inmate and wants Jamie to come along. After a moment, Jamie replies, “Of course.”
a fight breaks out at the yellowstone bunkhouse
kayce decides to take her family to monica’s grandfather’s house, she fears they are not getting better and he has already lost them. Monica (Kelsey Asbille) is thrilled to be back in Grandpa Felix’s territory, and Tate (Brecken Merrill) seems to be glad too. John seems deflated by his departure.
Meanwhile, back in the bunkhouse, Teeter (Jen Landon) is cooking. the ranch hands begin to eat, only to learn what is in the food: everything. that is, everything about the cow that no one else wants. Walker (Ryan Bingham) goes to offer Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) some food, and a fight immediately breaks out. Rip (Cole Hauser) has to interrupt his conversation with Carter (Finn Little) to investigate, and he’s not happy with what he finds.
“damn you for making me do this,” he says to lloyd. and she throws lloyd on the table, knocking him unconscious. then he tells walker the same thing he told one of the cowboys he took to the train station: “there are no fights on this ranch. If you want to fight someone, fight me. I’ll fight you all damn day.” Not a good sign for Walker’s continued presence at Yellowstone.
beth and john have a man-to-man conversation
Elsewhere on the ranch, Beth and John have a talk. Turns out Jimmy’s checks went to the cabin where Beth is now staying. She tells John that she was wrong about her horse and cattle ambitions. Beth tells John about Market Equities’ offer to oversee all of her development projects in Montana. John looks worried. “Do what you think is best, honey.” then he tells her that kayce left.
“there’s no peace in this place, dad,” beth says. “It never has been. It doesn’t bother you or Kayce because you are not peaceful men. I guess I’m not peaceful either.”
then back to jimmy, who is making a nightly bond with travis. They debate the greatest movie of all time, and Travis throws some cold water on Jimmy’s claim that rodeo was the only thing he was good at. “When you’re done with the sixes, you’ll want to spend the rest of your life riding horses, or you’ll never get on another one,” he tells the ranch hand.
Can Carter win back Beth’s trust and stay on the right path in life? Will the stock market accept Beth’s counteroffer? What will happen to Kayce’s family on the reservation? Will Jamie help the rest of the Duttons unravel the mystery of the attacks? tune in next week to find out.
In the meantime, stay tuned for the yellowstone bunkhouse breakdown podcast. listen to a recent episode here: