The “Yellowstone” Season 5 premiere happens this weekend, and if you’re fuzzy on what happened in earlier seasons or maybe just want to jump in with the current season of America’s most popular show, well, you’re in luck. Paramount Network has just released an exhaustive, half-hour recap of the first four seasons to freshen you up. (Watch it above.)
If, for some reason, you haven’t watched “Yellowstone” yet, it traces the very dramatic story of the Dutton Family, led by John Dutton (Kevin Costner). They own a sprawling ranch in Montana, one in which the land is constantly under fire from the government, greedy land developers and the local indigenous population (who wish to build a new casino nearby).
In the first season John’s eldest son Lee (Dave Annable) is killed, leading to the other family members to rally at the ranch, including youngest son Kayce (Luke Grimes), cutthroat daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) and lawyerly middle son Jamie (Wes Bentley). The ranch itself attracts a colorful selection of characters, led by cowboy Rip (Cole Hauser), who has become a fan favorite for his macho attitude and his remorseless attitude toward the ranch’s various threats.
As we near the beginning of Season 5, the show is going through its biggest shakeup yet. Instead of merely a landowner and rancher, Costner’s John Dutton is now the governor of Montana. Beth thinks this could be great; they can now crush their enemies even more handily. But his new role as a civil servant comes with a bigger target on his back. And while he might be able to establish sweeping legislation to keep developers away from his land, he has also made himself more vulnerable (especially dangerous given how many skeletons are in John Dutton’s closet).
Meanwhile, Kayce is expecting his second child with Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and trying to figure out his life following Season 4’s trippy vision quest. And Rip and Beth seem happy – or at least relatively happy. (This couldn’t possibly last.) At the same time, Native leader Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) is feeling the pressure to do something – anything! – to move their project forward, potentially moving him into much darker territory. Ditto Market Equities CEO Caroline Warner (Jacki Weaver), who is coming for Beth’s head.
If the premiere episode is any indication, there are big things coming to “Yellowstone” and the entire Dutton family. And this is just the beginning. The new “Yellowstone” spinoff “1923” premieres next month. We’ll get even more details about where Montana’s (least?) favorite family came from. When it comes to “Yellowstone,” more is never enough.
