‘Yellowstone’: Beth & Summer’s Rivalry Gets Bloody (RECAP)

The Dish on the Duttons

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 5 “Watch ‘Em Ride Away.”]

Honestly? We’re not surprised that Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Summer (Piper Perabo) might have just reached somewhat of an understanding after exchanging punches in the Duttons’ front yard on Yellowstone.

Most of “Watch ‘Em Ride Away” is spent preparing for the upcoming branding of the ranch’s cattle — it’s two days, on horseback, no tents, no bedrolls, no bathrooms — and pretty much everyone’s going. John (Kevin Costner) has his assistant Clara (Lilli Kay) cancel his meetings; she’s joining them on the trip and will be the one holding the satellite phone since he can’t be completely out of reach as governor. Monica (Kelsey Asbille) encourages Kayce (Luke Grimes) to go since they and Tate (Brecken Merrill) could use the break after their loss.

Even Beth, to Rip’s (Cole Hauser) shock, is joining them, once she secures a sweet invite from her husband: “Beth, love of my life, I don’t think I can survive two days alone. And God knows that you hate horses and cattle and being dirty and cold and especially being told what to do, all of which is going to happen tomorrow, but would you consider coming and sparing me the misery of being without you?”

The only ones not going? Monica and Summer, whose presence on the ranch John must defend to Beth. He tries to explain that he needs her to understand the people running the environmental groups with whom the state is tied up in lawsuits, but as Beth sees it, it’s simple. Just like Dan wanted a private club and Market Equities the airport, those groups want John’s land.

It all comes to a head when John makes everyone — yes, meaning Beth, who arms herself with a couple drinks, and Summer — have dinner together. “I’m going to regret the s**t out of this,” he knows. And he’s right, considering that soon after sitting at the table, Beth remarks they’re “one big happy family and an assistant and a hooker. I don’t know what could make this any better. Unsurprisingly, Summer takes issue with the food served, especially the doves. After Kayce remarks they’re good, Monica starts laughing because “this is just so f**king uncomfortable,” but we can’t complain about anything that brings her any joy given what she just lost. The solution? Beth decides she and Summer need to take a walk… and Rip is very concerned when they head outside.

In fact, he eventually follows them and finds them fighting — and neither’s holding back — in the yard. He intervenes, calling Beth out on the manners she’s trying to teach Carter (Finn Little) and Summer out on trying to convince others to think like her by insulting them in their own houses and the people starving around the world. They’re going to have to find some way to get along if they don’t want to be fighting every night, and it comes down to the two standing there and exchanging punches until one (Summer) has had enough. On their way back inside, Beth even apologizes for a barb she throws her way once she realizes they’ve moved past that. But John is none too pleased to see the two bloody and bruised.

He admits to Rip as they sit down to have a drink that he thought Beth would calm down as she got older, but she just gets wilder every year. “What it must feel like to be that free,” John says. “I got one child I miss, one child I pity, one I regret, but that girl, that child I envy.”

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The next day, everyone heads out for the branding. Beth recommends Summer use her time on the ranch to walk around so she can understand them better. As Monica sees Kayce off, she tells him to take care of their boy, since he’s the only one they’ve got; he says they’ll fix that.

Elsewhere in “Watch ‘Em Ride Away”:

• When Clara asks if Kayce’s John’s youngest son, he corrects her: “That’s my only son.” Poor Jamie (Wes Bentley)? Maybe not after everything; besides, he probably had some fun in his office with Sarah (Dawn Olivieri), despite calling what they did the night before unprofessional.
• Beth once again thinks about how she treated Rip when they were younger. When she asks if he ever thinks about them, he tells her, “Us is all I think about.” As for past them? “I think about now,” he says.

Yellowstone, Sundays, 8/7c, Paramount Network