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For four and a half seasons, the power hungry Dutton dynasty has been punched, wounded, shot at, and blown up, all while scrapping with every ounce of their resolve to hold on to the titular Yellowstone ranch. Almost half of that time, those scraps are with each other, as creator and showrunner Taylor Sheridan has dialed sibling rivalries and parental pressure up to 11.
When Yellowstone went off the air last year, there were two major warring factions within the family. One one side, there was patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner), now the newly-appointed governor of Yellowstone’s Montana, who took the position to manipulate the system, and give his family a political advantage. Right by his side, as always, is his only daughter and pitbull in Prada shoes, Beth (Kelly Reilly), who is perhaps the only one who stands up to her father and could be seen as the real power behind the throne. Last season, John was often distracted by his new aged hippy paramour, Summer (Piper Perabo), but Beth remained steadfast and all business.
This meant that Beth was the one who picked up on the stink of Sarah Atwood (Dawn Oliveri), a heavy hitting corporate lawyer from Market Equities. That conglomerate has been trying to take down the Duttons by any means necessary for several seasons now, and when hired, the blackhearted Atwood chose a more up close and personal method to take them down. Atwood has been pouring honey into the ear of adopted Dutton, Jamie (Wes Bentley), and seducing him both on a professional and personal level. As Jamie fixates on gaining the governorship for himself, the tensions between the two factions have reached an all time boiling point, as both Jamie and Beth vowed to kill the other in the midseason finale.
The recent trailer hyping the second half of season five naturally pushes this rivalry, and it looks like Jamie and Sarah are clearly still vying for the throne. Give it a watch below.
Sarah has one of the more memorable lines as she venomously tells Jamie “Old lions die in the jaws of younger lions,” foreshadowing the final battle between John and Jamie. Knowing that Kevin Costner is not returning to the show, it begs the question how his character will be written off. Could Jamie finally go through with an act that takes true testicular fortitude, and land a major blow against the Duttons? Could he now literally be the death of John, rather than merely a disappointment?
However, with John out, it also removes what was arguably the only thing standing in the way of Beth completely destroying her adopted brother once and for all. In the trailer, Jamie can be heard threatening someone, likely Beth, on the other end of the phone, promising “you destroy me, you destroy yourself” which is a mutually-destructive vow Jamie has made before. However, let’s face it – if Jamie betrays the family it would not be a shock at all. It may give the character a rather one-note feel for most of his five season arc, but it is not exactly out of left field. There may be an even bigger betrayal this trailer teases.
Since the inception of the show, Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) has been a man torn between two worlds. He seems to be one of the only Duttons who shuns the power-hungry ambition and cutthroat nature his father has tried to instill and instead focuses on the truly important things in life, namely his wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and son, Tate (Brecken Merrill).
Kayce has always enjoyed the quiet life, living with Monica and Tate on the reserve, embracing the spirituality of the First Nations people he calls both friends and family. There have been many times when Monica (who rarely earns points with audience members) has told Kayce he must choose between her and the destructive end that goes hand in hand with being a Dutton.
Tempting Kayce even further away from his family is long standing frenemy, Thomas Rainwater, (Gil Birmingham), and in this trailer, the two can be seen swearing a blood oath to one another, and announcing themselves as brothers. Immediately after, Rainwater’s trusted consigliere, Mo (Mo Brings Plenty) can be seen in war paint with a small army on horseback behind him. It has long been Rainwater’s dream not only to reclaim his ancestral land, but to build a legacy on that land, and while John has at times assisted Rainwater, the Yellowstone plot remains a massive piece of Rainwater’s dream. With John now out of the way, Rainwater may see this as his last opportunity to seize the land, and that is likely with Kayce by his side.
The trailer then juxtaposes that newfound brotherhood with Beth announcing “He will ruin this family’s name.” This could easily mean Jamie, but what if it isn’t just clever editing, and is actually about Kayce? What if Kayce joining forces with Rainwater is what causes the Duttons to lose the ranch once and for all? There have yet to be any major shifts in personality for the mainstay characters of the show, but with this future of Yellowstone very much up in the air, it might be the best time for Taylor Sheridan and his writing team to finally throw fans a massive curveball in the form of Kayce’s perceived betrayal.
Yellowstone season 5 part 2 premieres Sunday, November 10 at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount Network.
The post Yellowstone Season 5 Trailer Teases a Major Dutton Family Betrayal appeared first on Den of Geek.
