‘Yellowstone’ Presents a Possible Murder Howdunnit

Rating: C+

In the first twelve minutes of the season five premiere, episode nine, part two of the series Yellowstone, the audience gets glimpses of a grisly scene. Blood on the walls and a pistol by a body become alarming. There’s no shot of the face which is intriguing enough because this show never shies from showing forceful acts and sexual situations. It appears as if John Dutton (Kevin Costner) has been unalived at his own hands. This prompts Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) to join her brother Kacey Dutton (Luke Grimes) and venture into the scene which has been taped off by police and medical and law enforcement vehicles dot the area.

The handgun blast to the face signals that there will be no closeup of Dutton’s mutilated visage. What looks like a suicide, Beth asserts that her faux brother Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) had coordinated a hit against their father.

Which comes to the point to be made here. Everything from the newscasts to Jamie himself, they say Dutton “appears” or “seems” to be dead. Beth continues to say someone killed her father and places zblame on Jamie and for good reason. He set all of this in motion with his girlfriend and alleged accomplice, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Oliveri). She sits before an interrogator who seeks the truth from her. She puts up a solid defense and goes free.

So, this is not the classic “it was all a dream” scenario. This stands as Costner not being part of the cast to shoot the film Horizon, a Western movie that flopped at the box office. In order to get around the scheduling of Yellowstone, he literally had to be out of the picture. All of this is a clocking device to garner more eyeballs to the screen. While critics showed general favor for the premiere, audiences attacked it critically. The viewership remained strong, however. Over sixteen million devices displayed the show.

With the might of television’s most watched saddle soap opera, it is to the credit of showrunner Taylor Sheridan to create a fuss right at the beginning of what may be the fifth and final season. As well-produced and written as the show is, the performances will likely linger in the memories of viewers.

Packed with non-stop action, twists, turns, and plenty of cowboy talk, this all seems like it will go into the pantheon of some of the most popular series ever created.

But Sheridan and Co. seem to be winding down and at the same time preparing for a bang of an exit. To concoct the mystique of a main character being shot and killed as a suicude only leaves multiple questions which may or may not be answered.

Some of the questions remain: Whose body is that in the bathroom? Where are the staff that could’ve checked on their boss? These are the interesting concerns that will run a trail of blood that has already existed since season one.

As captivating as the show is, it’s like The Sopranos with spurs. The cinematography and sound will always resonate and prompt future viewings and the ability to watch the show again on-demand.

From its inception, the idea of cowboys, murder plots, and romantic entanglements caused a stir. This episode is no different. When it goes back in time to the cowboys headed to Texas, there is a refreshing sense of productiveness that leaps off the screen. Beth suspends her community service hours by lighting two cigarettes and drinking something presumably strong from a flask. Such is the life of a rebellious woman with enough attitude to fill a football stadium.

As Kayce comes to grips with the alleged suicide of his father, he wipes tears from his face. This may be one of the most vulnerable he’s been during the entire saga.

The moment where Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) embraces a clearly distraught Beth will reverberate through future episodes. Let’s just see if all those tears were for naught.

Objective Observations:

For all the profanity, sexual situations, and violence the characters still mind their manners saying “please,” “thank you,” “yes sir and ma’am.”

The close attention in making the spurs and honoring the late Bill Klapper shows the respect this series has always provided.