The opening scene of Paramount Network’s Yellowstone season five episode four confirms Beth’s been taken to jail. Her cellmate’s in rough shape and they exchange brief stories of how they wound up in this predicament.
Jamie (Wes Bentley) arrives to speak with his incarcerated sister, but Beth downplays what happened. “What’s the big f*cking deal, Jamie? I got into a barfight in Boseman. Montana Board of Tourism should put that on f*cking T-shirts,” says Beth (Kelly Reilly).
Jamie points out the tourism board wouldn’t be keen on locals beating up tourists. He also explains this can’t be swept under the rug. Beth’s only hope is that the woman doesn’t file charges. If she doesn’t, then Jamie can ask for mercy based on Beth’s “diminished capacity” to control her f*cking emotions.
Jamie can’t bail her out and, at this point, she just has to cross her fingers that no charges are filed. Either way, the press will have a field day with this. Jamie’s serving up the truth and Beth’s only ammo to fight back is to once again point out her dad’s governor while his dad’s dead.
Beth orders Jamie to hang out and wait for the victim. When she shows up, he needs to stop her from pressing charges.
Jamie’s next visit is with the Bozeman police department. His angle: the police should also file charges against the tourist.
Meanwhile, John (Kevin Costner) orders his assistant, Clara (Lilli Kay), to clear the Montana Educators Luncheon from his schedule. He correctly points out that there won’t be any actual educators there on a Thursday. It’s just another meeting of politicians.
He passes a boardroom full of people and learns they’re his policy advisors. John can’t believe his advisors are meeting without him and takes a seat at the head of the table. The room falls silent, and no one answers when John asks what policies they’re discussing. John checks out their agenda for himself and learns first up is an agreement to lease 7,000 acres to a solar farm company.
Stanley introduces himself as John’s chief policy advisor and he’s taken to the woodshed in front of the group for not just popping into John’s office and introducing himself before this.
John continues looking at the list of “his policies” and learns about the end of oil exploration in an area with sage-grouses. John points out Stanley wants John to support the removal of sagebrush to put in solar panels but wants to end oil exploration to help the sage-grouse. Sage-grouse live in sagebrush. Why move forward in clearing 7,000 acres of the birds’ environment while ending oil exploration?
John’s heard enough and fires all of his policy advisors. He believes they’re a waste of taxpayers’ money, and Clara confirms he just saved Montana $1.6 million.
John can’t get out of his next meeting, however. It’s with Park officials and US Fish and Wildlife, and they have a large map tracing the path of two protected wolves. They were on John’s ranch for a few weeks and then suddenly made a quick 30-mile trip back toward the park and the Yellowstone River.
The recovered collar shows that the wolves swam downstream for five miles. Wolves don’t do that. Ranger Art Hansen believes John’s cowboys killed the wolves and took their collars to the river.
John calls Rip (Cole Hauser) on speaker phone and Rip claims they haven’t seen any wolves. Rip adds that Fish & Wildlife already paid the ranch a visit.
One agent points out that it’s possible the wolves attacked John’s cattle and his men killed them from a distance without noticing they were wearing collars. (Which is exactly what happened.) He also points out that an environmental group also monitors the collars, and they will come after the Yellowstone Ranch.
John doesn’t appear to be fazed by this development, but the hits just keep on coming. Jamie calls his dad and fills him in on Beth’s legal problems. John’s response? “This f*cking day.”
John makes a quick call to Senator Lynelle Perry (Wendy Moniz) and after semi-joking about swapping jobs, he sets up a lunch date. They meet and Lynelle once again goes over what’s expected and that meetings with middle school kids have a lasting impact on the kids. It’s an important part of his job.
Lynelle laughs and then apologizes when John reveals Beth got into a barfight. She suggests he ignore and not comment to the press. If she’s convicted, he can pardon her – but that’s opening a can of worms.
John also asks about environmental groups relating to wolves, and Lynelle says to avoid them at all costs. Wolves and buffalo groups were the bane of her time as governor, and he needs to get an environmental advisor ASAP.
The drunken flirty woman on the receiving end of Beth’s punches arrives at the police station and wants to press charges. Jamie explains that there’s no such thing as self-defense in a bar fight and confirms she’s the one who instigated the interaction. Since she threatened Beth with taking her husband, that’s assault. Beth saw her as a threat and reacted.
Since the woman doesn’t live in Montana, she’ll be denied bail after Jamie files charges against her. But if she doesn’t press charges, then Beth will have spent a night in jail and will be charged with disorderly conduct for her actions.
Jamie’s ice cold when the woman says she can’t wait to get out of this state. She asks if she can leave the meeting and Jamie replies, “Please.”
Beth’s not in the least bit thankful Jamie got her off with just disorderly conduct. She’s pissed she has to pick up trash and remains upset when she learns he hasn’t provided a way for her to get home. She wonders if he wants her to hike up her skirt and hitchhike, and Jamie, who’s no longer mincing words, replies, “Doubt it would be the first time.”
Still, he gives in and Beth tosses his paperwork into the backseat. She’s shocked to see a child’s car seat set up back there and Jamie’s forced to confess he has a son.
“You had my womb cut out of me and God gave you a boy?!” snarls Beth.
She punches her brother repeatedly, causing the car to swerve all over the road. When Jamie hits the brakes, Beth storms out of the vehicle in a rage. Jamie quickly follows and tells his sister that taking her to the clinic is the greatest regret of his life. He also admits his son is named after him.
Jamie explains no one – including their dad – knows about his son. Beth pledges to take the boy from Jamie and rob him of fatherhood. She warns Jamie that the next time he sees his son, he needs to kiss him goodbye. “He’s as good as gone,” says Beth.
She walks off, leaving Jamie in the middle of the road. He runs back to his car, shuts the door, and screams. After he lets that out, he nearly hits Beth as he speeds past her. (It probably took all the restraint he could muster to not run her over at this point.)
Elsewhere, Kayce (Luke Grimes), Monica (Kelsey Asbille), and Tate (Brecken Merrill) drive in silence to baby John’s funeral.
Rip, Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith), and the guys spot Mo Brings Plenty and a few men digging in the Dutton cemetery. Rip’s group rides over and Mo asks about John’s dead horse that’s lying nearby. Mo doesn’t explain why he’ll bury the horse next to the baby, but Rip understands it has something to do with Native American traditions. (The timing worked out perfectly since the boy needs an animal companion to join him on his journey in the afterlife.)
Rip sends a couple of guys back to grab more shovels and then the groups combine forces to finish digging the graves.
John and Beth make their way separately back to the ranch in time for the baby’s funeral, but they don’t join the tribal members gathered at the gravesite. Instead, they watch from a short distance away as Monica places the hair she cut off, now in a braid, on top of the little coffin.
John orders Beth to find some impulse control now that she’s out of jail.
Neither John nor Beth was invited, and they weren’t even aware the funeral was being conducted until they saw the cars and a hearse. Beth’s about to walk off, certain they’re not welcome, but John won’t leave. He tells his headstrong daughter that even if they’re not wanted, Luke and Monica need to know they care enough to stay.
Beth walks away anyway, but not before informing her dad she wants to be cremated.
After the baby’s in the ground, John makes his way toward the gravesite. He’s met first by Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) who explains it’s okay to visit the grave now that the ceremony’s over. Thomas also explains that grief isn’t meant to be shared – that’s why they don’t invite everyone to funerals.
However, comfort is welcome and Luke and Monica can use some now.
Thomas realizes now’s not the right time but says he and John will need to talk about the 300 jobs that were eliminated when the airport was canceled. John agrees to meet with Thomas on the reservation as a show of how much he cares about Native Americans.
Monica’s sitting by the grave and John joins her, acknowledging he knows how she feels. He felt that way too when he buried his son. John then shares a secret he hasn’t told anyone. He had a brother for 18 hours and his name was Peter. He was premature and his heart wasn’t strong enough to survive. He reveals they gave Peter back to his mom and everyone prayed, but he passed away.
Peter’s death hardened her and she didn’t want children after that.
When John’s son Lee was born, John’s mom and dad held him. He recalls his father told his mom that their son, Peter, lived a perfect life. His dad told his mom, “All he saw of this planet was you and all he knew was you loved him.”
John believes Monica’s baby also lived a perfect life. John quietly and gently holds Monica and reminds her that her baby only knew her and that she loved him. Monica briefly sobs into John’s shoulder and then thanks him before getting up and joining Kayce and Tate.
Kayce remains behind and John confesses that naming the baby after him means more than Kayce will ever know. John hands Kayce back his badge, aware his son needs to keep drawing a paycheck for now. Kayce still wants to quit, and John confirms he’ll find a replacement if that’s what Kayce wants.
A short while later John and Rip have a chat and John wonders why his horse was buried in the family’s graveyard. Rip assumes it’s so the boy has something to ride in Heaven. John latches onto the idea of horses in heaven. “Wouldn’t that be something,” muses John.
Their chat briefly turns to wolves and Rip explains what happened and apologizes for what went down.
The following day the bunkhouse boys load up and head out to help another rancher brand his cattle. Their day is full of herding and roping, and it’s a change of pace for the audience after the episode’s emotional first 45 minutes.
John puts his right to pardon people at any time during his term as governor to good use and pardons Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo). He waits outside the jail after she’s released and she jokes, “What took you so long?”
John explains there’s a catch: he has to supervise her for six months. John asks for help in understanding how she thinks; it appears he’s found the environmental advisor that Lynelle told him he needed to bring on board.
Summer makes it clear she’s not about to get into a sexual relationship with John. He’s okay with that.
Jamie meets Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) for dinner, and Sarah gets down to business almost immediately. She wonders how they can get John to reverse his decision and how Market Equities can save face. Jamie’s certain ME won’t win in court and Sarah explains they don’t need to win; they just need to keep it in the news and make it impossible for John to win a second term.
They decide they’re not actually hungry, and Sarah suggests they head to the bar. Jamie agrees, and a short while later Jamie’s much more relaxed and actually laughing – although he confesses he’s laughing because he’s so uncomfortable. He also confesses he’s dreading arguing with her in court.
Sarah turns on the charm and wonders why Jamie’s single. He blames it on living away from people, and then they both confess they’re feeling irresponsible. They find a bathroom no one’s using and make out, unaware Beth’s been watching them from a booth in the restaurant.
Beth hears them having sex in a shower stall and while they’re preoccupied, she goes through Sarah’s purse. Beth snaps photos of Sarah’s license and then leaves without making her presence known.
Later that night, Rip wakes to find Beth wide awake and thinking. She suggests that he goes back to sleep while she does some research on Sarah in the living room. She’s just getting into it when she spots Summer heading into the kitchen.
They exchange biting insults before Summer heads back to John’s room and back to the “hard work” she’s doing to stay out of jail.
It’s all too much for Beth and she says, “I am not starting this day sober.” She grabs a bottle and a glass and heads to the porch.
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