Reviewer Rating: 4.5/5.0
4.5
I was about to complain again about Yellowstone wasting time on pointless flashback scenes, but then things took a surprising turn.
The first third of the show could be the cold open for the first episode of Yellowstone season five, followed by the reveal that the murdered man was John Dutton. That would be explosive.
Unfortunately, we had to live with it, but now that we’re firmly back in the present, everything is moving quickly toward the violent power struggle that was supposed to be the centerpiece of the final season.
Flashbacks become more meaningful after witnessing John’s death
I still don’t understand why we needed a half-hour flashback to Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 10, but now that the full timeline has been revealed, I understand why we needed this flashback.
Beth was driving home when John was murdered, which made both her and Kathy realize something was wrong.
Interestingly, Jamie didn’t feel the same way and seemed completely dumbfounded.
This goes beyond the fact that he is not related to John. He was so focused on his mission that he had no idea what was going on around him.
It doesn’t take a lot of thought to realize that if you talk about how to kill someone who gets in your way, the person you’re talking to will probably carry out that plan. Only Jamie would think this was just talk.
John’s death didn’t happen the way I expected. I think he was killed while preparing for the impeachment hearing, not the night before.
These scenes were made harder to film because Kevin Costner couldn’t film his death scene, so they had to use a dark room and a stunt double who we could only see from behind.
The guy they showed didn’t really look like John, but that didn’t matter. I knew immediately what was going on because I recognized John’s bedroom.
The brutal scene in which three men dragged him from his bed and killed him in the bathroom shook Yellowstone National Park to a higher level.
The past has caught up with the present, which means no more time-wasting flashbacks to life on the 6666 ranch, but that’s not all.
The rest of Yellowstone Season 1 Episode 11 has a darker tone.
Gone are the scenes of cattle walking across the land and ranchers riding horses under blue skies.
Instead, the event takes place primarily in offices: the coroner’s office on the ranch, Jamie’s office, and Beth’s office.
Apart from Beth’s final scene with Rainwater and Sarah’s death scene, there are no outdoor scenes, which adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere as Cassie inches closer to the truth.
Case does solid investigative work that will lead him to dark places
He, Monica, and Tate finally become a family doing normal things, before the realization of John’s death jolts Keith awake.
Tate teases Monica about her tears of joy because she believes they have put all the craziness associated with John and the poverty of the reservation behind them.
Even if I didn’t know yet that John’s murder would set this whole thing to hell, I would have known something was wrong.
Happiness on a show like Yellowstone usually means something is going to happen that leads to heartbreak.
Keith provides the calm, rational half as he teams up with Beth to get to the bottom of things (at least until he gets to Jamie’s office.)
CORONER: Case, right? I did not order an invasive autopsy out of respect for the family, or for you. If you want to preserve the body for burial.
Case: I’m more concerned about why he was buried.
The coroner refused to tell Kathy anything and she insisted it wasn’t murder which made me suspicious but she calmed down when she realized Kathy was right all along so I guess it was a false alarm.
Interestingly, Kathy kept calling the detective to get around her claim that she couldn’t do anything without his permission. She really didn’t know who she was dealing with!
Jamie and Sarah’s plan failed soon after Keith insisted on watching Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 11 again.
Keyes pieced together what happened based on his own experiences in Afghanistan, and then it was about convincing the coroner to take more than just a cursory look at the body.
However, I don’t agree with Case that she was “meant to miss it.”
Sarah was counting on that, but she didn’t have to do anything special to spot those bruises.
All she had to do was examine the body thoroughly, not just look at the gunshot wounds.
I’m less convinced by her explanation that a gunshot wound was such an obvious cause of death that she didn’t need to look any further. How come she didn’t notice the scar on his neck?
CORONER: He was a 68-year-old man. Maybe it was the bruise on his forehead from his fall.
Case: How did you end up falling on the sides of your neck and your forehead?
Her gross incompetence led me to think she was involved, until she apologized for missing the evidence in front of her.
Thankfully, Case came to the rescue with some common sense.
Does anyone else find it funny that he bursts into Jamie’s office and throws him on the table like a rag doll?
Something about Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 11 made me laugh.
Jamie’s passionate response to Beth being poison and his siding with the Dutton family is equally ridiculous.
He’s a smooth talker, and that’s all I’ll give him.
But how can he expect others to believe he wants to save the ranch after he helped restore the lease that took it from his siblings?
For a lawyer, Jamie doesn’t seem to have much of a sense for things like strategy. I also don’t know why he was shocked that the new governor asked him to recuse himself from the investigation into John’s death.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the governor is suspicious of him. Obviously, the son of a murder victim shouldn’t be suing his father’s killer, and Jamie should have thought of that possibility.
Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 11 Finale Offers Two What The F Moments
Most shocking was Sarah’s murder, although in retrospect, it makes sense.
People who hire killers end up being targeted on their backs. If Sarah is caught and a deal is struck, she could implicate a group of people who don’t want to be implicated.
This, of course, suggests that she is dealing with someone more powerful than she is.
The contract killer was a minor figure in her own right compared to the person who ordered the killing, and in any case, someone clearly gave her the order.
Her death means more questions will be asked and the clues will likely lead back to Jamie, which is why he’s panicking.
Ironically, he also contributed to the incident, because if he hadn’t called her to beg her to forgive him, she might not have been sitting at the stop sign when the killer pulled up next to her.
Beth’s dialogue with Rainwater is also surprising, especially Beth’s declaration that there’s nothing she can do to protect the ranch.
That sounds nothing like Beth. She’s always been the kind of badass woman who will do anything, no matter how crazy, to bring down her enemies.
Beth: This place is beyond protection. Its collapse will only prolong.
Will she try to lull Rainwater into a false sense of security for her own purposes? This alliance also seems a bit strange.
As Beth points out, Rainwater also dreamed of reclaiming the land that once belonged to his ancestors, so it’s hard to believe he had any reason to be close to Beth other than his own interests.
Over to you, Yellowstone fanatics.
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“Yellowstone” airs Sundays on Paramount Television at 8/7c.
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