‘Yellowstone’: Jamie & Rip Face Tough Decisions (RECAP)

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Yellowstone Season 4, Episode 6 “I Want to Be Him.”]

Given the events of this episode, it seems like a good time to remind everyone that this takes place on a ranch where the hands are branded. So what goes down in this Yellowstone episode in the Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) vs. Walker (Ryan Bingham) drama shouldn’t be too surprising.

Elsewhere in “I Want to Be Him” — said at a time when the “him” in question probably doesn’t want to be himself — Jamie (Wes Bentley) confronts his father Garrett (Will Patton) with what he’s learned about his role in the attacks on the Duttons, Beth (Kelly Reilly) asks Rip (Cole Hauser) to take her for an important ride, and Summer (Piper Perabo) gets quite the unwelcome following a night with John (Kevin Costner) at the ranch.

The Family He Chooses

Jamie steels himself before pulling a gun on Garrett and confronting him about seemingly hiring his former cellmate to orchestrate the hits on John, Beth, and Kayce (Luke Grimes) at the end of Season 3. But rather than listen to his son and put his hands over his head and turning around, Garrett turns his chair and sits, facing him. He’d rather he shoot him than have his son yell at him in the house he built for him.

“You tried to kill my family,” Jamie says. But “that’s not your family,” Garrett corrects. He is Jamie’s family. His ex and their son can be part of it, too. Jamie admits he might not miss his father or sister, but he would miss his brother, Kayce. He’s not his brother, Garrett argues. In his heart, he is, Jamie insists, and “what about right or wrong?”

According to Garrett, “There’s no such thing. There’s no such thing as right or wrong. There’s no such thing as fair or moral. Those are words men invented to scare and shame other men from taking back what they’ve stolen. John Dutton used you, just like he used all his children to scare and shame others so nobody takes back what he stole. You know that’s true.” His words seem to work as Jamie lowers his gun.

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“I have no agenda but giving you back the family that you never had and the legacy he robbed from you,” Garrett continues. “Did I try to kill them? You’re goddamn right I did, and I’ll keep trying ’til I get it right, that’s how much I love you.” Jamie lets him take the gun from him and hugs him, crying.

So what will Jamie do after Beth pays him a visit at work just to let him know about her new role at Market Equities and remind him that she plans to ruin his life?

A Painful Understanding

If you ask Lloyd, he’s not in the bunkhouse because he’s an outcast, much like Carter (Finn Little) is, after his attitude with Beth. The kid’s advice? Apologize. Lloyd … does the complete opposite, walking into the bunkhouse, grabbing Walker’s guitar and smashing it as Ryan (Ian Bohen) reminds him of the rule that there’s no fighting. Well, there isn’t much fighting after that — because Lloyd stabs Walker. (It’s at this point that Eden Brolin’s Mia officially leaves with “f**k this place.”)

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As Lloyd’s restrained, a vet checks on the wound: the knife is above Walker’s lung and below his clavicle. It’ll be painful to remove, he warns, and when it doesn’t come out easily, he turns to recheck the X-ray. Laramie (Hassie Harrison) yanks it out as he does. This lands Lloyd in hot water with both Rip and John. He gets one last chance after breaking the rules he’s helped enforce for 30 years, the Dutton patriarch warns him, “but if you blow it, you understand?” He does.

As a result, there’s a major change to the ranch, John decides: no more girls in the bunkhouse. Teeter (Jennifer Landon) is a good hand and hasn’t caused trouble, Rip argues. All of them, John insists, adding, let Lloyd and Walker fight it out and then make an example of the last man standing.

After sending Laramie and Teeter packing, Rip has the men watch as Lloyd and Walker fight it out — “this s**t ends here, all of it” — and it goes on quite a while, until Lloyd is the last one standing. John steps in to finish it, since he’s Rip’s friend, but the foreman knows it’s his job. He goes, hugs Lloyd, tells him he loves him, and then punches him multiple times. “This is for your protection, Lloyd. You understand me? This is to protect you from yourself,” he says before stomping on his hand.

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After, both Rip and John walk away, upset. And Carter is left knowing what he wants to be when he grows up. “Him,” he says, pointing to John. “I want to be him.”

Beth vs. Summer

When Beth finds Summer in the kitchen in her father’s shirt, she grabs a knife, refusing to put it down even as John steps in. What follows is the two women trading barbs, especially with Summer pointedly kissing John on her way to get dressed.

“I’m too old for this s**t. I’m too old for her,” John tells Beth once Summer’s gone. “I’m too old for that look you’re giving me. I’m just too old for all of it.” He says that they talked until late, then he offered her a room and clothes since hers were covered in pepper spray and paint. Beth is free to skip breakfast, he says. “I wouldn’t miss this breakfast for the f**king world,” she says.

And honestly, we’d love to have a seat at the table, too, because Beth and Summer together are so much fun arguing about wheatgrass. Bodies aren’t designed to digest it, according to her doctor, Summer says. Beth’s hasn’t told her that, the Dutton counters. “You should get a new doctor,” Summer suggests. “You should get tested for chlamydia, you f**king hippie,” Beth returns. With John telling her to treat his guest with respect or leave, Beth chooses the latter. “I hope you find a therapist who can help you,” Summer says, and Beth replies, “I hope you die of ass cancer.” As John puts it, “that went to s**t in a hurry.”

As John’s driving Summer back into town, he stops to help a calf on the side of the road back into the pasture. After seeing how he and Rip care about the cattle and love what they do, she understands them less, she admits. She’s walking the rest of the way, she decides, and she knows if she needs to, she can flag down one of his cowboys.

Elsewhere in this episode:

• Beth asks Rip to take her for a ride on a horse to “the place where you make me your wife. … I want a place with no memories, a place where nothing happened until we happened.” He knows a place, he says.
• Kayce and Monica (Kelsey Asbille) find their new home, and it even comes with a dog for Tate (Brecken Merrill). Monica’s also a bit jealous when they run into one of the ranch’s old wranglers, Avery (Tanaya Beatty).
• Jimmy’s (Jefferson White) time with 6666 cowboys continues, and he seems to be learning. Even after he’s exhausted at the end of the day, he grabs a rope to practice off a wrangler telling him he needs to learn it.

Yellowstone, Sundays, 8/7c, Paramount Network

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