NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Yellowstone season 5 episode 2. Catch up with our Yellowstone season 5 premiere recap.
A popular expression in script writing is "show, don't tell." Well, it probably would have been fine not showing the opening moments of Yellowstone season 5 episode 2, showing the immediate aftermath of the car accident Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Brecken Merrill) got in on the way to the hospital. Had episode 1 ended before we learned Monica tragically lost her baby and Tate walked away with a broken arm this would have made sense, but we did, so at least right now not sure what of this scene's purpose.
Things pick up a few days later, with Tate, Monica and Kacee (Luke Grimes) back home. Tate asks his dad if Monica is going to be OK? He says she lost a piece of her, so it'll take her longer to recover. Tate says he hopes they try again someday.
While Kacee is sympathetic with his son, Rip (Cole Hauser) takes a different approach with his adoptive kid Carter (Finn Little). He is tough and critical as he watches Carter saddle Mr. Dutton's horse, as tough love is the only way he seems to know how to deal with him.
John (Kevin Costner), meanwhile, is not in the mood for adhering to anyone's feelings as he dives into his role as governor. When told he has things on his schedule that he has no idea about, he calls in his chief of staff (who was appointed for him) and fires him on the spot, giving Beth (Kelly Reilly) the job. She attempts to say no, but John says she got him into this and she's going to ride it out with him.
With that out of the way, he turns their attention to his number one priority, canceling Market Equities project, saying he is also going to kill their lease. Jamie (Wes Bentley) tell him they'll sue and win, but Beth points out that the area is actually zoned for agriculture and they can refuse to waive Market Equities rezoning request, they just need to get a government board to side with them.
After the meeting, Beth makes sure to stress to Jamie that she is in total of control of him and that he needs to do what she says or she is going to send him to jail for killing his father (Will Patton).
Lynelle (Wendy Moniz) also warns John that he needs to play the political game to make real change and pass laws. This seems counter to what she told him in episode 1, though, when she said his plan to only hold one term gave him a freedom to act as he sees fit.
Later, John hosts a press conference announcing his moves against Market Equities. Market Equities watches with their hired fixer, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) in tow. Atwood certainly is going to be an interesting character to watch this season; she appears to see the potential in Montana immediately and has a killer instinct that seems to be on par with Beth. While watching the press conference, she picks out Jamie as an early target. The two could be heading into a battle for Jamie's loyalty.
Checking back in with Monica and Kacee, they discuss losing the baby, with Monica saying that despite everything, she's not going to let them blame one another for what happened. She asks if this was the end that Kacee saw in his vision in the season 4 finale. He says no, that he has to choose the thing their end and he would never choose this.
At the ranch, it turns into a rough day for Rip and company. First, they find a dead cow and believe that wolves did it, meaning they need to hunt and kill them. Then, Carter has an accident riding John's horse, with the horse breaking its leg and having to be put down. Rip continues to be hard on him, but manages a bit of empathy to a discouraged Carter.
Regarding the wolves, Ryan (Ian Bohen) and Colby (Denim Richards) stake out for them and shoot them. Unfortunately, the wolves have tracking collars that mean they are from the Yellowstone Park. If people find out they killed the wolves, even accidently, it could threaten the ranch. Rip tells them to put the collars on logs and throw them into the river so they'll come off and look like the wolves drowned. There's just one problem, one log gets stuck in some brush and doesn't look like the collar will be coming off anytime soon.
Toward the end of the episode, John shows he is capable of playing the political game. He and Beth meet with two of the board members he needs to convince to deny Market Equities rezoning request, telling them he is going to put the land into a conservation easement to protect from possible litigation, while also promising to get them the revenue they would have had from the development. Beth is shocked by the move though, saying it prevents the Duttons from selling any bit of the land if need be, but John doesn't care. He says this keeps the land whole, "and that matters more than any name on a deed."
We also get one flashback in the episode with young John Dutton (Josh Lucas), showing how he previously dealt with people trying to build on his land. When chemicals in the water are killing his cattle, despite the overseer saying the product is harmless to things besides weeds. John proves to him it isn't by dousing the overseer's house with it, which kills just about everything in the area.
John's methods may be questionable, but at least so far they have proven to be right. Whether or not that holds true moving forward is going to be a big question.
New episodes of Yellowstone air Sundays on Paramount Network in the US and Mondays on Paramount Plus in the UK.
