We’re starting to see more of the ripple effect of John Dutton’s death outside of the immediate family in Yellowstone season 5 episode 12. While Colby (Denim Richards) talks with Teeter (Jen Landon) on the phone, he tells her if she has things she wants to do in the future beyond the ranch, now may be the time to start thinking about them. During this conversation, he lets slip that he loves her, the first time he’s said it. While he tries to awkwardly play it off, she tells him she loves him too.
Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) also talks to Carter (Finn Little) in the bunkhouse about other ranches that could be options to move on to. Rip (Cole Hauser) comes in and tells them they are going to be selling off most of their cattle and horses, only solidifing the worry the ranch may be shutting down. Though Rip says it’s an effort to allow the Duttons to pay the inheritance tax on the ranch without having to sell the land.
Elsewhere, the news of John’s death still needs to be shared with Jimmy (Jefferson White). Rip calls Travis (Taylor Sheridan), who is teaching Jimmy how to train horses, and asks if he can tell him (Rip doesn’t have the heart to do it). Jimmy takes the news hard and Travis says he can take the week off. But Jimmy says he’ll take the weekend; John wouldn’t want work to be missed on his account (Jimmy’s character growth has by far been one of the best on the show).
Plenty more happens in Yellowstone season 5 episode 12. Read on for our full recap.
Jamie is panicking
Just as he worried would happen when Sarah Atwood was murdered, the police quickly come to talk to Jamie (Wes Bentley). They are in full investigation mode, and Jamie gets defensive, not allowing them to search his house for Sarah’s belongings, which does him no favors in convincing them he has nothing to do with the situation. They’re coming back with a warrant that Jamie can’t talk his way out of. Once the police are gone, Jamie rushes to destroy evidence before they can come back and find it (yeah, sure that won’t come back to bite him).
Kayce (Luke Grimes) sees the news about Sarah on his phone when he gets a call from the police about it. The police are sure she was targeted, which convinces Kayce she was involved in John’s death. As for Jamie, he’s still not sure yet, but he gives the police the green light to proceed with their investigation, even if it means Jamie will get burned. Kayce then makes a call to his old operative buddy, who gives him the information on Grant (Matt Gerald), the man who planned the ops to kill John.
Kayce fills Beth (Kelly Reilly) in on the situation. She’s worried that if the police arrest Jamie he’ll spill all the dirty secrets about John to save himself. Wanting to protect her father’s legacy, she tells Kayce to leave Jamie to her.
Man eater
One of the horses that Rip is trying to sell is the “man eater,” the young colt that Lloyd hasn’t been able to train. He gets a buyer in Mexico for it and sends Colby back to load the horse up.
Meanwhile, Carter is in the barn tending to the horses when he gets to man eater’s stall, noticing the empty water bucket. Despite being told not to go into the stall alone, Carter wants to do his job, so he carefully walks in and grabs the bucket to refill it. When he tries to return the bucket though the horse gets aggressive and pins Carter in the stall.
Colby arrives and finds Carter in this predicament. He comes into the stall to distract the horse, allowing for Carter to slip out. But the horse then kicks Colby square in the chest and continues to stomp on him. Out of the stall, Carter rushes to get a rifle, shoots and kills the horse. It’s tragically too late. Colby is dead.
Rip has to make another bad call, letting Ryan (Ian Bohen) know that his best friend is dead. Ryan then tells Teeter, who breaks down sobbing at the news that her boyfriend is gone.
After the Yellowstone cowboys load all the cattle in Texas to be sold, they get back in the truck to drive back to Montana. Ryan attempts to console Teeter, telling her that Colby didn’t suffer. But he was a cowboy, she reminds him, suffering is the job. She just wishes he would have suffered a little longer so she could say goodbye.
Dealing with guilt
Beth brings a box to the bunkhouse so they can back up Colby’s things and send them to his mother. But when it comes to his cowboy hat, Lloyd asks if she can leave that, noting it would be good if Teeter had something to find when she got back.
Beth then goes looking for Carter, who she finds in the tackroom. She knows Carter is blaming himself, but everyone is going to find reasons to blame themselves when really it’s no one’s fault. Colby made a choice to help Carter. Carter can now choose to honor that sacrifice or he can squander it. She asks if Carter is planning on staying in the tackroom all night, noting she would want her family’s help in dealing with this type of situation. When Carter says he doesn’t have a family, she says sure he does — her.
At the main house, Beth then has to give Rip a pep talk. After giving him permission to throw something to avoid bottling up his emotions, she asks him what else he needs to fix how he’s feeling? He just needs time, and her, acknowledging that if he ever started feeling guilty for himself guilt is all he’d feel. He also notes that being a cowboy is a dangerous job, and thinks one day it will kill him too.
Kayce chooses his path
Following Colby’s death, Kayce and Tate (Brecken Merrill) walk through the family graveyard. Tate asks if this is where Kayce is going to want to be buried? Kayce just wants to be close to Tate. When Tate says that he’ll be at home, whether it’s their new house or the ranch, Kayce is quick to point out the ranch isn’t actually their home anymore. This is a revelation for Kayce, who calls Mo (Mo Brings Plenty) and says he sees his choice clearly now and knows what to do, but he needs Mo’s help.
Kayce is packing tactical gear when Monica (Kelsey Asbille) comes in wondering what he’s doing. He can’t tell her specifics, only that it’s what’s best for their family, not the ranch, telling her he knows what his vision means and asks her to believe in him. She always has, but she wants him to promise that he’s coming back, which he does.
Turns out Kayce needs to send a message to Grant. As Grant takes his daughter home from soccer, Kayce sneaks into the car and holds Grant’s daughter at gunpoint to get his point across: Kayce knows how to get to Grant, so if anything else were to happen to the Duttons, Kayce would return the favor. He then hits Grant in the head, telling him he is counting coup, taking a piece of his soul. Grant is appropriately scared, driving off as soon as Kayce gets out.
What will Kayce do next now that he is going on the offensive?
New episodes of Yellowstone air Sundays on Paramount Network in the US, stream Mondays on Paramount Plus in the UK.