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For more than two years, Yellowstone has thrown around ideas for potential spinoffs, sequels, and prequels, all the while naming every big-name actor that co-creator Taylor Sheridan has on his Christmas list of talent. Now the future of the show has finally become clearer. Deadline has revealed that a yet-unnamed Yellowstone project will continue the modern Dutton narrative. The site reports that Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) will be the co-leads of this new show, with other preexisting Yellowstone characters rounding out the cast.
This news should come as no surprise to avid viewers of Yellowstone. Rip and Beth are fan favorites, so creating a new series around them is a no-brainer. This announcement also presents a major opportunity for the franchise, however. Yellowstone has been playing it extremely safe for more than two seasons at this point. The biggest bombshell in the show’s world (the death of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton) arrived because negotiations broke down between the show and Costner, not necessarily because Sheridan thought shaking up the dynamic was in the plot’s best interests.
A Rip and Beth spinoff represents Sheridan’s chance for a fresh start. It can make up for the milquetoast, self-indulgent effort that Yellowstone has put forward in its controversial fifth season. It also means that fans might have to prepare to get uncomfortable in order to improve the story and revive the franchise. Thankfully, certain storytelling seeds have already been planted in Yellowstone that might blossom in Rip and Beth’s future.
Here’s how the planned Rip and Beth spinoff could pan out.
Beth Will Become a Better Character
A Rip and Beth spinoff needs to remember that character growth is not weakness. Beth being an unrelenting monster for five seasons straight to anyone other than Rip, Kayce, or John has been mentally exhausting for a lot of viewers. True strength of character comes from those who can admit they are wrong, even occasionally. Beth has been wrong so many times throughout the show that it makes her more akin to an antagonist than a protagonist. In fact, if you take the literal meaning of antagonist, that’s exactly what Beth is. She antagonizes people.
Sheridan has graciously given us a glimpse at a different Beth in the last few episodes of this season of Yellowstone, and it’s one of the only times fans have actually seen maturity and growth from her. She’s listened to her partner when he has needed her. She’s been more of a matriarch, both to the Dutton family and her surrogate son, Carter (Finn Little). She’s shown warmth, tenderness, and love. Once again, that is not a sign of weakness. That does not make her any less of a “bad-ass bitch” as so many would write on online forums. It makes her a well-rounded character with multiple layers.
The Beth mentioned above is the kind of character that needs to lead this spinoff. That is the kind of character that needs to be the matriarch of the Dutton family. Strange to think that we are mere moments away from Beth being the full-fledged “mom” of the family, but that is certainly the direction the show has set up.
The Spinoff Should Borrow from 1883 and 1923
Fans have been put in a very uncomfortable place by Sheridan in the latter half of Yellowstone season 5, and not just when the showrunner and actor chooses to show his shirtless tanned hide in superfluous pool party scenes. The biggest change that fans are preparing for is that the Dutton family, in all likelihood, will no longer own the Yellowstone Ranch after the conclusion of the finale.
Den of Geek has previously suggested the family needs to lose the ranch even before season five started, among other suggestions to revitalize the show. With Sheridan pushing the story inches away from that major loss, and only one Yellowstone episode left to go, let’s give that narrative not just a tiny nudge, but a massive shove. This writer would even go so far as to abandon the story of Rip and Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) remaining to work the ranch, even if the Duttons don’t own it. These men, and these characters deserve their own success story, and that might mean they stray a bit from the family legacy.
Why not have this generation of the Dutton clan build something of their own? It’s been the one characteristic that has separated them from the other Dutton generations we’ve seen. Their struggle has not been the struggle for survival from the original Duttons in 1883, it hasn’t been the struggle to keep a family together and fight for love and honor as seen in 1923.
The struggle of the modern Duttons has become less and less relatable because of how often they are literally above the law. Why not give us something to cheer for that we can also relate to? For a show that touts how black collar workers such as cowboys and farmhands are the salt of the earth, it has built itself around a predominantly white-collar family full of well-educated white people who tote a lot of political power.
Have Beth and Rip build their own ranch. Fans enjoy when the Duttons are the underdogs and the new show needs to have them be true underdogs.
The Yellowstone season 5 (and probable series) finale airs Sunday, December 15 at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount Network.
The post A Beth and Rip Spinoff Is a Chance for Much-Needed Change on Yellowstone appeared first on Den of Geek.
