We all knew that John Dutton would not be around long in the second half of Yellowstone season 5, seeing as Kevin Costner officially exited the show, and Yellowstone season 5 episode 9 did not drawing things out.
Beth (Kelly Reilly) arrives at the governor’s mansion as police have already taped off the scene. No one will tell her what happened, but when she sees John’s assistant Clara (Lilli Kay) teary eyed, she fears the worst. Kayce (Luke Grimes) gets there and is able to push through the yellow tape and brings Beth along with him. He is shown the scene, and sure enough John is dead, blood spattered on the bathroom wall, a gun nearby on the floor. Beth then sees it for herself. She’s instantly convinced it was Jamie (Wes Bentley).
But Jamie also appears to be in shock as he watches the news report. It gets no easier when he is called by authorities and told John’s cause of death (COD). In shock he heads to give a press conference, meeting Lynelle (Wendy Moniz) on the way, also stunned by this event. Jamie struggles through the press conference, where he officially announces that John is dead, apparently by suicide.
On the car back to the ranch, Beth and Kayce listen to the press conference on the radio. Learning they’re calling it a suicide, Beth has Kayce pull over and walks out into the field. She calls Rip (Cole Hauser), telling him they killed John and that she needs him back in Montana. Just like that he is riding off into the Texas sunset to make it back to Montana as quick as he can.
Read on for our full break down of Yellowstone season 5 episode 9, “Desire Is All You Need.”
Detour
Despite a two-year break between episodes and a new major plotline to dive into, Yellowstone season 5 episode 9 still spends most of its time on Rip and the other Yellowstone cowboys’ trip down to Texas. At least from my perspective, the first eight episodes of season 5 felt light on plot and big on hyping the cowboy way of life; I was surprised that with only six episodes left to potentially wrap up the season, so much of this episode appeared to follow a similar trajectory.
In any event, it’s six weeks before John’s death as Rip and the crew are driving down to Texas. Some highlights of the trip: Rip is kind to a young kid who asks to pet their horses, but then tells off a couple of 20-somethings saying they’re not running a petting zoo. Beth then calls him telling her as soon as he gets to Texas she’s flying in for some marital privileges, which everyone in the car hears over the phone.
They finally get to the 6666 ranch, where they rendezvous with Jimmy (Jefferson White) and the other cowboys of that ranch helping out with their cattle. Rip gets the lay of the land (they’re sleeping in tents despite being offered a bunkhouse, and need to be aware of the high risk of fire) before he heads off to run some errands. This includes picking up a specially made bit by an elder craftsman that Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) apparently ordered 15 years ago. Rip notes how he appreciates the spurs the man made, so the man offers them to Rip for free, I guess because the man can tell Rip’s a real cowboy, one of the last.
Rip clearly is lamenting that their way of life is dying. Back at the camp with the others he says that in 30 years there won’t be anything like they’re doing. The country will be all wind and solar farms, and their beef will all come from Brazil. To fit his mood, he has Walker (Ryan Bingham) play a sad song.
Another quick little side plot back in Montana, Kayce, Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Brecken Merrill) inspect their new house on the ranch, far away from everyone else, and decide it’ll do for their new home.
Setting the scene
Interspersed in those asides are what we can expect will be the big plotlines for this season, though we just get a taste.
First, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) meets with a mysterious man named “Grant” (that’s not his real name). This is the man she is hiring to kill John, following through on the idea that she and Jamie previously talked about. Grant notes they have compromising footage of Sarah and Jamie they can use as blackmail if they need it and sets the record straight — Sarah is the one committing murder here. Grant and his team may provide the logistics, but it’s the person who has the desire to do the job that is responsible, not the tool they choose to use to get it done. Grant then lays out the plan, saying suicide is the lowest risk option. Sarah gives him permission to execute the plan.
Elsewhere, Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and Mo (Mo Brings Plenty) look over the lake where the government is going to be building the proposed pipelines. He worries that if there is an explosion of the pipeline it’ll poison the reservation’s water supply but no one will hear about it as the government will cover it up. Rainwater says this fight is the hill they are going to die on. Mo is ready for the fight.
The Duttons’ new reality
Back in the present, following John’s death, Jamie is distraught as he gets home. Not the reaction Sarah, who is waiting for him in lingerie and with champagne, was expecting. Jamie realizes what Sarah has done. He thought they were just discussing killing John and hadn’t decided to go through with it; Jamie worried John killed himself over the impeachment hearing that Jamie brought against him. Sarah assures him though that he is completely shielded from the murder, so now he needs to focus on this new world without John. She add there’s no need to mourn. Lions don’t die of old age, they are killed by younger lions. Jamie is the younger lion, and this is his kingdom now.
But Beth is going to have something to say about that. While Kayce can’t believe Jamie would kill John, Beth says he would and he had Market Equities’ resources to back him up. She encourages Kayce to call the state police to look at the security footage from the governor’s mansion to learn the truth. However, the police say there was a power outage in the neighborhood at 3:50 am; John’s time of death was confirmed as 3:53 am. Beth notes how “convenient” that is. Beth says Kayce needs to look Jamie in the eyes to see if he did that. Once he does, then he can help her decide how they’ll kill him.
Rip arrives back at the ranch (with some late season Game of Thrones travel time apparently) and Beth runs to him and falls into his arms as her emotions over her father’s death flood out of her again.
Five episodes of Yellowstone season 5 (possibly ever for the series) are left. Hopefully after this easing into this new era of the show we can get to the good stuff quickly.
New episodes of Yellowstone air Sundays at 8 pm ET/PT on Paramount Network in the US. Episodes stream on Paramount Plus in the UK every Monday.