Amid shifting alliances and a growing list of enemies, the Dutton family’s legacy is jeopardized like never before, and retribution is certain.
At the end of Season 3, John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and his son Kayce (Luke Grimes), and daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly), were attacked and targeted, one by one, for assassination. After John stopped to help a stranded motorist, a van pulled up and masked men opened fire on him, shooting him several times and leaving him for dead. Beth’s assistant opened a mysterious package addressed to her office which then proceeded to explode, and Kayce came under attack in his own office. This left viewers and fans alike enraged, not knowing who was going to die, if anybody, and who would live. They would have to wait nearly an entire year before Season 4 premiered but boy did Episode 1 more than make up for the long wait.
Thankfully, none of the Dutton family lost their lives but once Kayce gets wind of the men who tried to kill him and his family, he gives chase and we are witness to one of the most exciting episodes in recent television memory. The killers are surrounded by Kayce and the local police department and there is all-out war as a violent firefight erupts, culminating in Kayce getting shot but surviving. The same can’t be said for the would-be assassins. While the Dutton family are under attack, Kayce’s wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and their young son Tate (Brecken Merrill) are ambushed at the Dutton ranch and just as an armed intruder is about to shoot and kill Monica, Tate shoots him dead.
Convinced that her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) is somehow responsible, Beth vows revenge but as life begins to get back to somewhat normal, John discovers that Jamie had nothing to do with the attack but does determine the person at the helm. Or so he thinks. With Tate suffering from PTSD after the shooting, Monica tells Kayce that she wants to leave the ranch and he agrees with her. They buy a house and some property where Tate can begin the healing process and Kayce can keep a close eye on his family. While at the hospital to see her father, Beth engages in a 14-year old boy named Carter (Finn Little), who has just lost his heroin-addicted father. She reminds him of her lover Rip (Cole Hauser), when he was a kid and takes pity on him and brings him home with her, giving him the chance of a new life as opposed to being bounced around the foster care system.
Jimmy (Jefferson White), now working at the 6666 Ranch in Texas, learns new techniques and proficiencies in regards to becoming a cowboy that he never learned at the Dutton Ranch and he meets Emily (Kathryn Kelly), the ranch’s chief vet technician and they fall in love. As Market Equities move forward with their plan to develop the valley and take over the Dutton Ranch, Beth manages to sweet-talk her way into the company, convincing its CEO, Caroline Warner (Jacki Weaver), that she needs a local in her organization but this being Beth, naturally, she has ulterior motives. Kayce decides to take the warrior initiation rites of his wife’s tribe so he will be recognized as a full tribal member but its outcome puts added pressure on his and Monica’s already strained relationship.
As Jamie tries to acclimate to having his biological father Garrett (Will Patton) living on his ranch with him, along with his girlfriend Christina (Katherine Cunningham) and their baby boy, Jamie discovers a horrifying secret and when he confronts Garrett about it, he is beyond shocked when he admits to everything. When Beth also learns of the same secret, she meets with Jamie and threatens him but when he pleads for his life, she gives him two options, neither of which bode well for him, but with a third option, he will get to keep his job as the state’s livestock commissioner and will be indebted to her for the rest of his life. Jamie being Jamie, chooses option number 3 and sets out to fulfill his obligation to her.
Taylor Sheridan has outdone himself with Season 4, but then again, he outdid himself with every previous season as well. He has a remarkable talent at writing characters and then bringing them to life on screen, whether it is the big screen (“Sicario,” “Hell or High Water,” “Wind River”), or on TV (“Yellowstone,” “Mayor of Kingstown,” “1883”), whichever medium he chooses his stories and characters never disappoint. Kevin Costner leads the pack and his gruff, cantankerous John Dutton becomes more and more likable as the overall story progresses and while he can also be petulant and impatient, this season he also displays a sympathetic and compassionate heart, but don’t ever let that fool you because if you cross him or hurt his family, he will shoot you dead with no compunction whatsoever.
At the conclusion of “Yellowstone: Season 4,” the future of certain members of the Dutton family are left in a state of uncertainty, while others fare much better but then you have to remember that Sheridan has a way of performing complete turnarounds when you least expect them. With Season 5 expected to premiere later this fall, it is exciting not knowing what to expect because just when you think you have that figured out, the rug is pulled out from underneath you. And sometimes, that can be a good thing!
Available on Blu-ray and DVD March 8th
