15 Darkest Moments in Yellowstone (So Far)

From the thugs who beat Beth Dutton to the crimes committed by the Dutton family themselves, the darkest moments in Yellowstone Highlight the harsh realities of the neo-western genre. While traditional westerns more clearly delineate the lines between good and evil, neo-westerns bring these ideals to work in the context of the real world, as seen by Yellowstones protagonist John Dutton. John is a complex person with some ideals that is worth fighting for, even if the brutality of the fight cannot be justified. A complicated story of morality, Yellowstone Employs some of the darkest scenes in television history.

with the end of Yellowstone Seemingly on the horizon, there are dark moments that are bound to stay with viewers long after the Duttons’ story has ended. The legacy of YellowstoneS Dutons is soaked in blood – built on the countless corpses they dumped at the “train station.” From all the time John Dutton and his clan served as the judge, jury and executioner in Paradise Valley, to scenes that further confront viewers with the underlying social realities of Taylor Sheridan’s antihero crime drama, these moments show the dark side of Yellowstone.

15

Fred was taken to the train station

Season 1, Episode 4, “The Long Black Train”

Fred is a wrestler on the ranch in season 1 of Yellowstone who turns out to be a bully. After defeating Jimmy, Rip decides to get rid of him. However, when discussing it with John, Rip mentions that although he could take Fred to the bus station, he’s been around a long time and seen a lot of things, so the “train station” might be best. The truth behind this is revealed when Lloyd drives Fred past the border of Montana and Wyoming, shoots Fred in the head and lets his body fall into the canyon.

This is one of the darkest reveals in Yellowstone As it shows just how brutal John Dutton’s methods are to keep his ranch safe. Although he does not give the order himself, it is clear that John knows about the train station and all the bodies that are buried there. It will be interesting to see if Jamie follows through on his threat to expose Yellowstones train station and all the secrets it holds.

14

The deaths of Lee and Robert

Season 1, Episode 1, “Daybreak”

The first episode of the series establishes the tragic nature of the Dutton family and how the legacy of the ranch seems to be somewhat cursed. Lee Dutton was introduced as the eldest of John’s children and the one who was meant to inherit the ranch when John passed. However, when some of the ranch’s cattle are taken by the Broken Rock Reservation, Lee leads a team to take them back. This puts Kays between his own family and Monica’s family as her brother Robert fights off the ranchers.

The conflict eventually leads to Robert shooting Lee and then being shot by Kayce. In the final moments of the first episode, Both Case and Monica lose their brothers. It sets up a grim future for their relationship and puts Kayce between two worlds. Unfortunately, this is an aspect of the show that has been largely abandoned, but the deadly ending of the first episode still sets the tone for the dark story ahead.

13

Rip’s dark past revealed

Season 1. Episode 8, “The Unraveling: Part 1”

From the first moment Rip is introduced on the show, he is shown to be a man who is very comfortable with violence. A gruesome flashback helps give some insight into what made him this way and the dark journey he started at a young age. The sequence reveals that when Rip was a young boy, his abusive father flew into a storm and killed Rip’s mother and brother. Despite his young age, he went to brutally murder his father in revenge, and thus became an orphan.

The dark backstory puts a lot of Rip’s personality into perfect context. He is someone who learned how to kill at a young age and also proves to be a protector of those he loves. There is a feeling that, despite the love he finds with Beth Dutton, There is no way Rip can truly escape the trauma of that moment and the thought that he sees himself as a killer..

12

Young Rip Kills Rudy

Season 5, Episode 8, “A Knife and No Coin”

While Rip’s killing of his father was certainly a shocking early moment for the character, it didn’t take much longer for him to take on another life. Further flashbacks reveal a time when Rip was a teenager and working on the Yellowstone Ranch after John Dutton took him in. From that young age, Rip and Beth shared a connection, but Beth slept with another ranch hand, Rowdy, in order to make Rip jealous.

Rip was able to keep a level head until Rowdy started saying disrespectful things about Beth. This led to the two getting into a fight, and when Rudy pulled a knife, Rip hit him with a rock, killing him. With John covering for Rip and hiding the murder, it is revealed that this is why Rip has such loyalty to Yellowstone and John. However, it is also something of a tragic revelation as it feels like Rip made a mistake as a young man and John used it to trap him into a life of servitude in which he would be called upon to kill again and again..

11

Baby John Dutton dies

Season 5, Episode 1, “A Hundred Years Is Nothing,”

in Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 1, “A Hundred Years Ain’t Nothing,” Monica gets labor contractions three weeks before she’s due to give birth. Unable to wait for emergency services at home, Monica drives with Dad to the hospital, as Kayce arranges for an ambulance to meet them on the way. however, Monica and Dad get into a car accident, and although they survive, Monica and Kayce’s new baby does not. In the last scene of the episode, Tate reveals to John that they named the baby after the patriarch of the Dutton family.

Family and legacy are a huge part of the entire Yellowstone universe of stories, going back to when James Dutton claimed the land in Montana (as seen in 1883). Although the loss of the young baby is a loss for the next generation, the show makes it an intimate moment for the characters, depicting a death that strikes an emotional chord more than any other death in the series. Besides being one of the darkest moments in yellowstone, This may foreshadow the death of John Dutton in the show.

10

John Dutton puts down a horse

Season 1, Episode 1, “Daybreak”

YellowstoneThe pilot episode opens with John Dutton being the only survivor of a terrible accident and pileup on the highway. After discovering a fatally wounded horse stuck in a trailer, John gives the animal a moment of comfort, said “The best I can offer you is peace.” Using his revolver, John then put the animal down with one shot. Indeed, one of the darkest moments in Yellowstone Happens in the first three minutes of the show.

This moment is a shocking introduction to the series and the character of John Dutton. It also serves to warn audiences of the wrath of the story as well as the themes. John is a man without time, constantly seeing the modern world colliding with the way of life he prefers, and threatening to destroy it. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the first scene shows John confronted with such a situation and using a gun to sort it out.

9

Dad gets kidnapped

Season 2, Episode 10, “Sins of the Father”

Yellowstone Season 2, episode 10, “Sins of the Father” sees the Duttons’ rivalry with the Beck brothers escalating, as the Becks hire neo-Nazi thugs to kidnap Dad. The youngest of the Duttons survives and is rescued by his father Kayce – but not before the Duttons unleash hell on their enemies. While the Becks crossed the line first, the Duttons use state resources and abuse their power to carry out brutal revenge killings.

Despite the initially noble intentions of the Duttons, this was one of the first real clues that John Dutton is the real villain in Yellowstone. This is a great example of the conflict the show presents to audiences. On the one hand, they’re clearly rooting for the Duttons to save Dad and take down the bad guys. however, To see the terrible power that John can wield when pushed is disturbing and suggests that he might resort to such a thing at any moment..

8

Rip kills Roarke with a rattlesnake

Season 4, Episode 1 “Half the Money”

After the Dutons survive a series of coordinated attacks in Yellowstone season 3’s violent finale, Yellowstone Season 4, episode 1 “Half the Money” sees Rip Wheeler take immediate revenge against Roarke. At the river where Beth first meets Roarke, Rip sees Roarke fishing in his favorite spot, and Rip walks up to Roarke while holding an unassuming cooler. As revenge for Roarke trying to kill John and Beth Dutton, Rip opens the cooler to reveal a rattlesnake that he throws at Roarke’s face. After being bitten, Roarke succumbs to a painful death.

Not only is this one of the darkest moments in yellowstone, But it is Also possibly Rip’s most creative kill on the show. Josh Holloway, known best as Sawyer in the cast of Lostwas a big-name star to join the series in season 3 as this interesting new villain. To see him return in season 4 only to be immediately killed adds to the shock of the scene.

7

Beth Dutton gets beat up

Season 2, Episode 7, “Resurrection Day”

in Yellowstone Season 2, Episode 7, “Resurrection Day,” Beth Dutton is brutally attacked in her office as part of the Beck brothers’ escalating attacks against the Duttons. When two armed assailants fight and kill Beth’s assistant, Jason, she calls Rip for help. The men beat Beth and threaten to rape her – until Rip arrives to quickly free the two. As Rip calls for a doctor, Beth attacks the corpses until she is restrained by Rip.

Despite being undaunted by the ordeal, Beth breaks down and is only calmed down when Rip tells her he loves her – mixing in the dark moments of violence with a poignant moment of the love between Rip and Beth. In terms of the level and nature of the violence, this is the most brutal moment in the series. Although it is a relief to see Rip arrive to save Beth, The image of him shaving the eyes of one of the men shows the animalistic nature Rip can be pushed to when he is truly engaged..

6

Jamie kills Garrett

Season 4, Episode 10 “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops”

Jamie has always been the black sheep in the Dutton family and this has only been further confirmed with the revelation that John Dutton is not his biological father. Garrett is revealed to be Jamie’s real father, and while he has a dark past himself, he seems to provide Jamie with the support that he craves from John. This makes it more tragic and dark when Jamie is driven to kill Garrett when it becomes clear that he hired someone to kill the other Dutons.

Jamie is conflicted at the moment, torn between the two families, but ultimately chooses to execute the father he just learned about. However, that is only the beginning of the darkness of this moment Jamie then attempts to dispose of Garrett’s body, only for Beth to film him in the act. Beth manipulated Jamie into patricide in order to control him – foreshadowing a bleak finale to Beth and Jamie’s rivalry.

5

Kayce’s Vision Of Lee

Season 4, Episode 10 “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops.”

During the Hanbleceya – which in Lakota means “to cry for a vision” – Kayce stays alone in the wilderness for days, waiting for the spirits to give him insight about his path. During this experience, Kayce receives a nightmare visit from his dead brother Lee. After failing to get Kays to leave the prayer circle, which would leave Kays vulnerable to the spirits, Lee spits blood as he blames Kays for his death, underscoring Kays’s guilt over his past.

Lee is a somewhat forgotten member of the Dutton family tree who died so early in the story. Seeing him emerge here is a shocking revelation, especially with his haunting words to Kayce. Yellowstone does not venture into such areas as supernatural elements or dream sequences, so this moment and its nightmarish quality certainly stand out.

4

Young John Dutton poisons a land developer

Season 5, Episode 2, “The Sting of Wisdom”

There were various flashbacks in the Yellowstone Timeline Throughout the seasons, offer glimpses into the history of the Yellowstone Ranch with most of them showing the dark ways the empire was built. In the present, Rip gets rid of the evidence of Yellowstone Ranch hands killing protected wolves. This is followed by a flashback, in which young John Dutton discovers dead animals near a stream on the ranch.

The Yellowstone Ranch hands then spray the weed killer on the house and entire property of the site foreman, who is knocked out. He wakes up surrounded by dead birds and grass, soaked with the toxic chemical itself. John Dutton has a lot of enemies in the world, but the way he deals with them shows that he is a ruthless character like the likes of Walter White or Tony Soprano..

3

Samantha takes her own life

Season 1, Episode 3, “No Good Horse”

Yellowstone Season 1, Episode 3, “No Good Horses” reveals a shocking consequence of the death of Monica’s brother, Robert Long, during the pilot episode. At the Broken Rock Reservation, Robert’s wife, Samantha, takes her own life, knowing that she cannot care for her two sons and daughter alone. Along with being another one of the darkest moments in yellowstone, The scene touches on the reality of high suicide rates among Native American women.

With Robert’s death caused by the feud between the Duttons and Broken Rock, Samantha’s actions also highlight the real cost of the Duttons’ combative and territorial attitude towards their indigenous neighbors.. It is a topic that is touched on throughout Yellowstone And the various Yellowstone spinoff series that could indicate where the series will ultimately end and the idea that the Duttons are not meant to be the victors.

2

Monica and Mo kill a predator

Season 3, Episode 8, “I Killed a Man Today”

Taylor Sheridan tackles the issue of the killing of Indigenous women in his directorial debut, wind river. The issue resurfaces with the storyline involving a killer who is targeting women in the community and Monica’s efforts to help stop him. After Monica’s car breaks down, she is picked up by a driver who takes her to an isolated dirt road. The driver attacks Monika, who runs out of the car and into the fields, where she is caught by her attack.

Just as the man is about to strangle Monica unconscious, he is shot in the head, revealing it was all a trap to stop the killer. It’s a bit over-the-top thinking that Monica would be recruited to serve as bait because of the risks involved. However, this does not make the sequence any less harrowing because the reveal is hidden towards the end and there is a sense that Monica could suddenly be killed in this shocking way.

1

The lynching of Wade Morrow

Season 3, Episode 9, “Less Than Evil”

The feud between John and Wade Morrow finally ends Yellowstone Season 3, Episode 9, “Less Than Evil.” Wade Morrow was a former co-worker of John’s and a man who wore the iconic Yellowstone branding. However, despite the oath he took, he turned his back on John and Yellowstone, starting to work for some of their rivals. After Wade nearly kills several of the ranch hands, they join forces for revenge with Rip leading the charge. The Duttons execute Wade by hanging – but not before John cuts off the Yellowstone brand from Wade’s chest.

Loyalty is a big part of the Yellowstone Ranch and this is really a moment Highlights the high price John is willing to take from anyone who dares to betray his loyalty. The brutality of this moment is another example of the “heroes” of the story getting back at their enemies but making the audience question if they are the ones they should be cheering on.

Letters with the Yellowstone brand: