Paramount Network’s Yellowstone season five episode two opens with the heartbreaking and devastating scene of Monica and Tate’s car accident. An injured Tate was the only person who wasn’t ejected when Monica’s car and a stranger’s truck ran into a buffalo that wandered onto the road.
Monica (Kelsey Asbille) is in horrible pain as she yells for Tate (Brecken Merrill) to call an ambulance. Tate, who’s already endured so much trauma in his young life, makes the call as Monica screams.
The credits lead into a scene at Kayce’s place, with Kayce (Luke Grimes) gently holding his sleeping wife in bed. He quietly rises to drive Tate somewhere, assuring his son that they’ll be okay but it will take a while to mend. They’ve lost a son and brother, but Monica’s lost a part of herself so her healing will be much more difficult.
Tate wonders if they’ll try again and lets his dad know he liked having a brother, even if it was just for an hour.
Over at the Yellowstone Ranch, Rip (Cole Hauser) orders Carter to saddle up John’s horse. John’s not around but the horse needs to get out, so Carter’s going to be subbing in for the big boss. Carter moves a little too slowly for Rip’s taste and Rip says, “God didn’t add extra daylight to Tuesday, Carter!”
Lloyd (Forrie J Smith) joins Rip, and they watch Carter methodically work on saddling the horse. Rip finally loses his patience and takes off with the wranglers, leaving Lloyd to supervise. Carter’s nervous since he’s never done this for himself, and he pretty much forgets everything he normally does when getting the horses ready in the morning.
Lloyd has the patience of a saint and walks him through each step.
John (Kevin Costner) goes over his schedule with his assistant, Clara Brewer (Lilli Kay), and is stunned to learn just how many meetings he has to sit through in one day. He’s also frustrated when he hears about a talk he’s supposed to give the following day in Butte to promote one of his educational programs…a program he’s never heard of.
His patience is as short as Rip’s and he calls for his Chief of Staff Jim Roberts to be brought into this morning’s meeting. (Jamie, Beth, and Lynelle are already in attendance.) John’s savvy enough to know Jim’s friendship with someone who benefits from this new educational initiative is the reason it’s been approved.
Poor Jim…he’s barely made it into the meeting when he’s replaced by Beth as CoS and ordered to leave.
Beth (Kelly Reilly) doesn’t want the position but John insists that since she got him into this job, she has no choice but to get him through the next four years. Beth looks at her dad’s schedule and Lynelle explains what his next meeting’s about. (John’s clearly a fish out of water with exactly zero you-know-whats to give about being governor if it doesn’t concern his family’s ranch.)
Lynelle reminds him that as governor he needs to shake hands, pose for photos, and basically play nice. John, who’s already said he’s a one-term governor, doesn’t plan on doing any of that.
Jamie (Wes Bentley) is next up to explain what the legal process will be like if he calls off the funding for the airport and other Market Equities projects. Market Equities will just get funding elsewhere. Also, John can’t just cancel the lease or he’ll be sued. And Jamie’s certain if they sue, Market Equities will win.
“Revoke the funding, order an environmental review, and cancel the lease,” says John, not budging one iota from his position despite the legal consequences.
Jamie and Lynelle argue that Market Equities will ultimately wind up owning the ranch if John continues down this path. Beth points out the Yellowstone’s zoned as agricultural. That leads to – at least on the surface level – a civil discussion with Jamie about approvals and use of the land for purposes outside its zoning.
Jamie says that statute is waved by the governor’s office all the time, and Beth fires back. “Well, not this time.”
Beth has Clara set a meetup for drinks for her and John with Ronny and Kyle from the Park County Commissioners’ office today. John also has Clara clear any meetings from his schedule with groups that have “alliance” in their title.
Beth’s ready to wrap up the morning’s meeting after telling Clara to pack a bag, she’ll need it for their evening with the commissioners. But John has one more item to discuss. He orders Jamie to have the paperwork complete and on his desk in one hour. Jamie requests a private meeting with John, and Beth tells him to just go do his f*cking job.
After Jamie and Beth leave, Lynelle looks over John’s schedule and explains the game to him once again. It’s all about exchanging favors. First, he gives them and then he can ask for favors in return. She’ll fill in on as many of his meetings as she can, but he must agree to some meetings. She also reminds him that if he alienates everyone by insisting he’s not in it for the long haul, his supporters will desert him. And he’ll need them to help fight off Market Equities. It’s unlikely they’ll just slink away quietly into the night.
If Market Equities learns they only need to wait four years, they’ll wait. He’ll have to change laws while he’s in office if he wants to permanently hold them off. The Land Board has five officers – the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Auditor, and Public Interest Superintendent. Lynelle believes Jamie was smart to sign the lease in the first place, and if he hadn’t then the Land Board would have voted to allow the State to own the Yellowstone Ranch.
When John cancels the lease, it’ll go back in front of the Land Board and they could still turn over Yellowstone to the State – if John refuses to play the game. (He should listen – Lynelle understands exactly how this all works.)
Jamie ignores Beth when she follows him and keeps saying, “Hey,” slamming his office door behind him in her face. Undeterred, she barges in and slams the door even harder behind her. (She has to one-up him on every single thing!)
She warns her brother never to contradict John again, but Jamie patiently explains why he spoke up. Beth claims she wants to believe he’s doing what’s best for the family but then she reminds herself that John’s not his dad and this isn’t his family. She also brings up that he shot his own father (without saying those actual words).
Beth wants him to do as he’s told until Market Equities gives up. After that, he can leave. Beth confirms she views him as unredeemable.
“Your political career was over the moment you chose your father over mine,” says Beth. He had best not forget he’s her prisoner now unless he wants to go to jail. And, since he’s sold his ranch, she wants him home on weekends so she can keep an eye on him. (I’ve always been #TeamBeth but not loving this extreme version of a vengeance-driven Beth right now.)
Home alone, Monica makes it to the bathroom and stares at herself in the mirror. She touches her stomach and takes a deep breath before joining Kayce outside. He’s taken the day off work in case she needs anything, and Monica confesses she’d like to hold a very private funeral for the baby. Kayce blames himself and Monica warns him they’re not going to do that. It’s no one’s fault.
Monica wants to bury the baby at Yellowstone, and Kayce says he’ll ask John but already knows the answer’s yes.
Monica asks the question on all our minds. Is this what Kayce meant when he said he saw “the end of us”? He admits it isn’t; he never saw this coming.
“This won’t be the end of us,” says Kayce. He adds that he had to choose the end of us, and he will never choose that.
Kayce brings up that Tate wants a brother and Monica says she wanted him to have one. The couple holds each other tight as Monica sobs.
The wranglers work the cattle and come upon a dead momma cow. Rip and Lloyd believe that wolves did it, but Ryan (Ian Bohen) disagrees. Wolves might have eaten it, but something else killed it. He wants to call in Kayce, but Rip wants to leave Kayce out of it, given what he’s going through right now. Plus, they don’t need a State hunter on Yellowstone just a couple of days into John’s term.
They’ll deal with it themselves after they get a permit. Rip puts Ryan and Colby (Denim Richards) in charge of killing the wolves.
Episode two’s halfway done when one of season two’s new big baddies, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), puts in her first appearance. Sarah’s a heavy-hitter called in by Market Equities CEO Caroline Warner (Jacki Weaver) to handle the Dutton situation.
Sarah joins Caroline and the Market Equities team to watch a press conference called by Governor John Dutton.
Meanwhile, Jamie delivers the paperwork John requested squashing the permit and funding. Jamie warns his dad that he’s basically declaring war by signing this order, and John says they’re already at war.
John delivers a speech about the meaning of the word freedom. Allowing a city to be built in the middle of the pristine wilderness strips Montanians from their freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water. The development would also strain hospitals and key infrastructure. Plus, it will ultimately raise their taxes and make it harder to remain in Montana.
He signs an executive order to revoke Market Equities’ permits and cease all funding. John doesn’t take any questions and quickly leaves the press conference.
Caroline wants a cease & desist order filed along with a lawsuit over breach of contract. She wants them to throw in any other charges they can think of.
Sarah points out that Jamie doesn’t look up to the fight. He’ll be her first target.
Back at the ranch, Lloyd’s impressed with Carter’s first real day of cowboying and sends him off to round up two nearby cows. Suddenly, his horse trips in a hole and falls, with Carter injuring his arm. However, that’s not the worst of it. The horse won’t be able to recover from this injury and Rip’s forced to put him down. (Remember, this is John’s horse.)
Rip dispassionately orders everyone back to work as Carter apologizes. Rip tells Carter to carry the bridle and saddle back to the barn, after reminding him to always have one eye on the ground and one eye on the cattle in the future.
Beth arrives early for the evening’s meeting over drinks, and a man unwisely chooses to hit on her at the bar. She pegs him as a professor with grown kids and a wife who left him. She shatters his ego by describing what she thinks is his way of life, sending him off to nurse his wounds after calling him a pencil d*ck.
The meeting begins and the men aren’t happy John just stripped the county of hundreds of millions in tax revenue. John points out they don’t have anywhere to spend hundreds of millions anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.
John promises to increase their tax revenue by doubling property tax on non-residents. Ronny Meyers (J Downing) and Kyle Fremont (James Remar) don’t think it’ll work but Beth attempts to sway them to John’s side. They cut to the chase and ask what John wants, and he asks them to turn down the request to rezone Yellowstone Ranch.
A discussion ensues and John promises there won’t be any litigation. And he promises they’ll remain in office if they take his side. Plus, when the rezoning request is denied he plans on placing the ranch in a “conservation easem*nt” so there will be nothing to litigate.
This takes Beth completely by surprise. It’s also all it takes to convince Ronny and Kyle to promise to deny the rezoning request.
Beth warns her dad that if he makes that move, they won’t be able to cover their losses or taxes. They can’t sell off or develop any of the ranches, and will likely lose the whole ranch.
“But it will be whole, honey,” replies John. “It will be whole. That matters more than any name on a deed.”
Beth did not see this move coming.
John arrives back at the ranch and Rip fills him in on what’s going on. Carter broke his arm when John’s horse stepped in a badger hole and shattered his leg. He apologizes to John and says it was his fault. John understands and doesn’t hold it against Rip or Carter.
Rip’s happy to have his wife back, even if it is just for eight hours. Beth promises they’ll cram a week’s worth of loving into one night.
Night’s fallen, and Colby and Ryan follow Rip’s orders and shoot the wolves eating their cattle. It’s not until after they’re dead that the guys realize these are protected wolves from the park. They’re each wearing collars that track their movements and if they remain still for 12 hours, dozens of game wardens will come looking for them.
People love these wolves and follow their movements. They even have their own Facebook pages, and some supporters wear T-shirts with their faces. If they learn the wolves have been killed, all hell will break loose.
Ryan thinks they need to take off the collars until he can figure out what to do.
It’s only after the wolves are dead that Ryan admits they didn’t get the necessary permits to kill them. (What’s with all the animal deaths in this episode?!)
A flashback shows a young John Dutton (welcome back, Josh Lucas) and a ranch hand discovering dead fish, a calf, and a dead elk. There’s something in the water that’s poisoned the animals and fish, and John looks for the cause from a helicopter. He discovers a construction site and punches the foreman, Dick Weller (Elijah Mahar). He holds up his Livestock Agent badge and pulls out his gun, to show he means business.
One of the men explains they’ve been spraying a chemical to kill off weeds. Dick claims they’re licensed to spray it and doesn’t care the chemical’s made its way into the creek. The EPA approved it while they’re working on putting up a cell tower for the phone company.
Because they have a permit, they won’t stop using the chemical. John will have to speak directly with the phone company.
That night, a teenage Rip and other ranch hands destroy the construction site and the equipment. They also spray the chemical all around the foreman’s property and knock the man out when he confronts them.
The vegetation quickly dies along with birds and any other wildlife in the area. The foreman howls in the shower as he tries to wash off the chemicals after laying outside, unconscious, all night covered in poison.
Back to current events and Ryan and Colby are forced to call Rip about the dead wolves. He rides out in the middle of the night and instructs them to remove the collars. They’ll need to move like wolves as they ride back to the park.
They place the collars semi-loosely on pieces of wood and toss them in the river. Rip warns them never to shoot wolves with GPS tracking devices again (that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?) and never to tell anyone what they’ve done.
Morning arrives on the ranch and Clara’s overwhelmed by the view. She can’t imagine what it takes to maintain the Yellowstone and John admits it takes everything they’ve got.
The episode ends with one of the pieces of wood, tracker still attached, getting snagged on a tree limb that’s fallen into the river.
- Luke Grimes and Kelsey Asbille Talk Yellowstone Season 5
- Yellowstone Season 5: Wes Bentley Interview on Jamie’s Shattered Relationships
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 1 “Half the Money” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 2 “Phantom Pain” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 3 “All I See Is You” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 4 “Winning or Learning” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 5 “Under a Blanket of Red” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 6 “I Want to Be Him” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 7 “Keep the Wolves Close” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 8 “No Kindness for the Coward” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 9 “No Such Thing as Fair” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 4 Episode 10 “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops” Finale Recap
- Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 1 “One Hundred Years is Nothing” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 3 “Tall Drink of Water” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 4 “Horses in Heaven” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 5 “Watch ‘Em Ride Away” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 6 “Cigarettes, Whiskey, a Meadow and You” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 7 “The Dream is Not Mine” Recap
- Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 8 “A Knife and No Coin” Recap
