Yellowstone season 5 episode 11 was the best episode of the western series in some time. The plot finally took some major steps forward after the show slowed its pace down for all of season 5 to date romanticizing the fading way of life of the cowboy; the flashbacks to bits of story that happened after season 5 part one’s finale and the death of John Dutton weren’t exactly riveting television either.
I understand Taylor Sheridan had to adapt on the fly after the departure of Kevin Costner, but continuing with seemingly inconsequential storylines of the Yellowstone cowboys in Texas and Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Monica (Kelsey Asbille) building out their new house so much has been questionable. These feel like storylines that were written pre-Costner’s exit and shoehorned in to not waste the work. But finally, at long last, we’re seeing the consequences of John’s death coming to the characters, which has given Yellowstone its mojo back.
Let’s dive into what happened in Yellowstone season 5 episode 11.
The murder of John Dutton
Pre John Dutton’s death, Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) say their goodbyes in the Texas hotel, with Beth planning to drive through the night to get back to Montana. Meanwhile, Kayce and his family furnish their house.
But we also get the actual operation that killed John. Three men dressed in all black sneak into the governor’s mansion, grab a sleeping John and put him in a choke hold until he passes out, then carry him to the bathroom and stage his “suicide.”
As Beth drives through the night, she gets this sudden awful feeling. She calls Rip to make sure he‘s OK; he is. Kayce also has a sense that something is up, waking in the night to what he thinks is just a bad dream. But when his phone rings and it’s the police, he realizes it wasn’t a dream after all.
The new governor
That’s the last of the flashbacks for this episode, as back in the present we meet the new governor, who is being sworn in to serve in the role ahead of an official election. Despite being John’s lieutenant governor, he tells Jamie (Wes Bentley) he didn’t agree with John on what was best for Montana. He wants to reinstate the Market Equities deal, which is fine with Jamie.
After the swearing in, Jamie and Lynelle (Wendy Moniz) meet with the governor in his office. Waiting for them is Clara (Lilli Kay), John’s assistant, who is offered the chief of staff job for the new governor. They get into the Market Equities deal. Jamie already has plans to restore the lease and nix the land being placed into a conservation easement by John. The governor asks if the state could take the land through eminent domain so they can control the lease? Jamie is open to the idea. Lynelle thinks this is all a mistake, enforcing eminent domain could take years and the conservation easement is going to be harder to remove than Jamie thinks. While John’s policies were self-serving, they made the region less dependent on tourism and real estate; if they go with this new idea, she worries it will put a strain on Montana.
Lynelle leaves, but the talks continue. Jamie says he still has an obligation to preserve the ranch if he can, believing the Market Equities deal is the only way to do that. But with Beth and Kayce never going to sell, the government has to take the land to move the project along.
Having listened to all this, Clara declines the chief of staff job. She rushes after Lynelle, who offers her a job in her Montana office. But before she officially joins her staff, Lynelle notes Clara is technically unemployed, and as such is not bound by confidentiality rules (wink, wink).
Kayce investigates
Convinced John’s death was not a suicide, Kayce must prove it. He visits the coroner who did the autopsy, requesting a toxicology report and a new examination as if this was a homicide.
At first, the coroner can’t find anything new, but Kayce demonstrates a technique soldiers use when they are trying to knock someone out on covert missions. This helps the coroner notice bruising on John’s neck and his legs. She now believes John was forcibly restrained, but still can’t confirm it’s a homicide, instead saying she will change the cause of death to “undetermined.”
Kayce then meets with the detective working the case and asks to see the murder weapon. The gun is a service pistol from the Livestock Commission, which should have been in a different city and locked away; security footage could show who grabbed it. With all of this, Kayce wants the police to make a public statement about John’s death now being a homicide. Kayce knows it won’t help find the killers, but they can find who paid them.
Kayce has one more stop to make. He forces his way into Jamie’s office and throws him across his desk. Jamie instantly knows what this is about but tries to tell Kayce he can’t listen to Beth. He asks if Kayce really believes he could do anything like killing John and insists he is still working to protect the ranch. Kayce hopes for Jamie’s sake he is telling the truth.
But that may get harder for Jamie as the police give the press conference, which shocks Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) and Grant (Matt Gerald), who organized the hit. To make matters worse, in addressing the state assembly to revoke John’s policies, the governor orders Jamie to recuse himself from all matters related to John (including the Market Equities deal) in light of the recent news.
Choices
Beth, who watched the governor’s address from the ranch, tells Kayce they only have two options: sell parts of the ranch at a fraction of what it’s worth or lose it entirely.
Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and Mo (Mo Brings Plenty) arrive to offer their condolences and talk. Rainwater speaks with Beth, telling her he understood John’s dream for preserving the ranch, and while their reasons were different, Rainwater maintains that dream; he’s happy to help in order to keep the land “pristine.” Beth notes there are some private equities groups interested in maintaining open land for “experiential hospitality,” but knows that ultimately they can’t stop the land eventually being taken over and developed. She laments that John could have better monetized it, controlling the land’s evolution. Now they just have a front row seat to its destruction.
Kayce tells Mo his vision from season 4 revealed he is going to have to make a choice between his family and the ranch, but he doesn’t know what it means. Mo says when the time comes he’ll know what to do, saying it won’t feel like a choice, it’ll feel like fate.
Damage control
Sarah buys a burner phone to try and call Grant, but the number she was given is no longer in service. Sarah looks more frazzled than we’ve ever seen her.
Jamie shows up, saying her big plan didn’t work; his career is shattering. She says the governor is trying to distance himself from Jamie and put the blame on him to better his position in the next election. As for the murder investigation, they have no real proof, just things that can be explained away. There’s nothing that can connect back to Jamie; she took the risks, saying she did it for him. As she taunts Jamie for being weak he slaps her, but Sarah slaps him right back. She goes to leave, but adds this comment: when the man that builds a name dies, the name dies with him; without John, Jamie got a whole lot less important.
Sarah doesn’t drive too far away when Jamie calls her, apologizing. She says Jamie has to trust her. While she’s stopped at a light, a couple pulls up alongside her and gets her to roll her window down to ask for directions. The man asks if she is Sarah Atwood? She asks how he could know that? But instead of answering he pulls out a gun and shoots her in the head, then a couple times in the chest to make sure she is dead.
Jamie is still on the phone, listening as all this happens. He panics as he knows that his number will now be the last one on Sarah’s phone when police take it in as evidence.
New episodes of Yellowstone premiere Sundays on Paramount Network in the US; Mondays on Paramount Plus in the UK.
