Yellowstone Season 1, Episode 4, "The Long Black Train" leans back on story momentum for an episode, as characters' relationships are built in anticipation of what's to come next in the season. The first season of Yellowstone May not be everyone's favorite, but it is crucial to develop the characters that have just been introduced. Episode 4 puts an emphasis on slowing things down and exploring just who the Duttons, their friends and their enemies are. The previous episode, "No Good Horse", was full of backstory and violence, Making this episode a reset.
In the previous episode, Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and John Dutton (Kevin Costner) finally have a face-to-face and John realizes that Rainwater will prove a formidable opponent. Beth (Kelly Reilly) is told that John will support her to run for state assembly over her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) and she has a chance meeting with Dan Jenkins (Danny Huston). Kayce (Luke Grimes) saves a young girl, killing a man in the process, and his hands just get dirty. Yellowstone Season 1, Episode 4 takes a long look at what the previous episode led to.
John struggles with health complications while spending the day with Dad
John's colon cancer left him in pain
At the beginning of the episode, John tries to ride a horse but begins to suffer from abdominal pains. It was then revealed that John not only had colon cancer, but he had recently had two feet removed from his colon. Despite his pain and growing illness, John is still considering whether he should continue to be a commissioner. The day begins to look a little brighter when Kayce arrives at the ranch with Tate (Brecken Merrill) and asks his father to take care of Tate for the afternoon. John is very happy to spend time with his grandson and takes him hiking.
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When John and Dad come to a river, they dismount their horses and start setting a fire. John begins to display his usual parenting style, telling Dad to do everything and encouraging him to be a man by not asking for help. After Dad goes to the river to collect some rocks, he falls into the water and is knocked unconscious. John dives in to save him, and he returns the injured, but smiling, father to Kayse. However, John's son will not even look at him, once again disappointed with his father, Show how uncertain the relationship between them is.
Jimmy struggles to fit in at Yellowstone Ranch
Rip and John send a ranch hand to the train station
Jimmy Herstrom (Jefferson White) is a new ranch hand in Yellowstone, and he struggles to fit in with the more veteran workers, even though he has the Yellowstone brand on his chest. While searching for a herd of cattle lost in the woods, a helicopter spots Jimmy's horse, and he is thrown from it, leaving him battered, dirty, and now certain that he is not cut out for the job. Just as he considers his place on the ranch, he finds a forgotten calf stuck in the roots and bushes around a tree.
Alone, Jimmy manages to tie the calf to his saddle and return it to the ranch, even managing a smile as he does so. His luck doesn't last long as another big ranch hand named Fred (Luke Peckinpah), decides he doesn't appreciate Jimmy's good mood and picks a fight with him. Fred easily knocks Jimmy into the dirt, but he is saved by Rip (Cole Houser), who throws Fred to the ground and warns him to never touch a person with a Yellowstone brand.
Fred doesn't get the chance though, because after John suggests that he fire him, Rip goes a step further and says that instead of the bus station, Fred should be taken to the train station. It is the first mention of the evil stationAnd it was quickly revealed there were no trains there. Lloyd (Farry Smith) drives the ignorant Fred to a large cliff overlooking a mountain, and before he knows what's happening, Lloyd shoots him and kicks him off the ridge. It's clearly not the first time it's happened and it won't be the last.
Beth and Dan Jenkins have an unusual meeting in a bar
Bed and Rip share a kiss
Beth has her own separate storyline Yellowstone Season 1, Episode 4. While hanging out at a bar, Beth finally runs into the man she's been tailing, Dan Jenkins. Dan is surprised to see her there, and as a married man, he's nervous about his wife and family seeing them together, so Beth takes him to a bar more off the beaten path. Beth sets out to get punched by people in the other bar and Dan bravely stands up for her, first earning a punch to the neck and then two more to the face. Having had enough, Dan leaves furiously.
Beth hangs around, continues to drink, smoke and dance until Rip comes. He easily pushes away the men chasing Beth and takes a seat right next to her. Rip is the first person to make you smile all night After telling her she looks good, the two have a dance together, eventually kissing.
Kayce and Monica Grieve and Thomas Rainwater continue his investigation
Monica realizes how toxic the Dutons are
In other news in Yellowstone Season 1, Episode 4, Kayce and Monica (Kelsey Asbille) are still reeling from Monica's sister-in-law's suicide. Samantha Long (Morningstar Angeline) took her own life after her husband was killed by the Duttons in a shootout. Monica now believes she took her own life because she believed her estranged parents would take care of her children when Samantha was gone, as she would not be able to do so financially.
He eventually goes to Monica with his suspicions, warning her about the men she was involved with.
This is just another reason why Monica has lost respect and trust for Kayce. When Dad turns up injured after spending the day with John, her dislike of the Duttons grows even more. The end of the episode sees Kayce arrested by the police. He tells Monica he loves her before he drives off. Thomas Rainwater is getting even closer to discovering who Kayce killed and where the bodies are buried, and he sees a construction work stoppage after uncovering some bones. He eventually goes to Monica with his suspicions, warning her about the men she was involved with.
What's next for Yellowstone
Season 1, episode 4 gives insight into the minds of the characters
Yellowstone Season 1, episode 4, "The Long Black Train", doesn't see a lot of plot happeningBut it does reveal some important things about the characters. Beth and Rip grow closer, John is very sick and thinking about his inheritance, Case's sins come back to haunt him, Monica can't keep a blind eye to the Duttons anymore, Jimmy has his work cut out for him, Danny. Realizing how great an opponent the Dutons will be, Rainwater is proving to the Dutons that he can be just as smart and terrifying as they can be.
The main conflict in the US Yellowstone Season 1 are set in this episode and each character must figure out how they fit in with the Duttons or with the Yellowstone Ranch. Yellowstone Season 1, episode 4, may be slow, but it starts the timer on the explosive events to come.