3 Ways Jamie Might Handle That Twist on ‘Yellowstone’

Meredith Jacobs August 3, 2020, 11:45 am

Comments

Wes Bentley Yellowstone Season 3 Jamie Dutton Adopted — Paramount Network

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 3, Episode 7 of Yellowstone, “The Beating.”]

Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) thought picking up his birth certificate would just be a time-consuming errand in Sunday’s episode of Yellowstone. Oh, was he wrong.

Instead, he learned he was adopted (birth name James Michael Randall), and his biological father, Garrett Randall, killed his mother. The Duttons brought him into their family when he was only three months old. So, while Jamie might see John (Kevin Costner) calling him “son” as a lie, his father explained it’s not; he and his wife Evelyn cared for, loved, and protected Jamie, and so they earned the right to be called his parents.

Ask Matt: PBS's Vacated 'House,' Jimmy Kimmel's Hiatus, 'Yellowstone,' What's Canceled or Not & More

However, it’s up to Jamie what he does next with this information, John told him, and we have a few ideas about how this might play out.

Jamie Will Seek Out His Biological Father

Whether or not Garrett has been paroled, will Jamie be able to resist the temptation of meeting him? After finding out he was adopted, he asked his assistant to dig into Garrett and find out everything she could about him. If he’s anywhere nearby, it’s hard to imagine him not at least going to see who the guy is. Whether he’ll talk to him and what may come of that may or may not be part of this season.

Kevin Costner Wes Bentley Yellowstone Jamie Adopted John Dutton

(Paramount Network)

He’ll Turn on His Family

Isn’t it just so easy to imagine Jamie being petty and making a decision he’ll later regret but can’t take back? The episode actually began with Jamie going through the family’s files (and taking the Warranty Deed) and looking into the power of attorney of the ranch. As you’ll recall, though hedge fund manager Roarke Morris (Josh Holloway) and Market Equities CEO Willa Hayes (Karen Pittman) were not in this episode, they’d met with Jamie about buying the Duttons’ land—and Jamie had been very interested in the offer on the table (50,000 acres at $10,000 an acre).

Jamie lashed out at his father at the end of “The Beating,” and he knows where he stands with his sister Beth (Kelly Reilly), especially now that it’s out that when he took her for an abortion when she was younger, he didn’t tell her she would be sterilized. John had him become attorney general to give the family an advantage in the fight to keep their land from being turned into an airport, but will that backfire, especially now that Jamie’s dealing with this revelation about himself?

'Outlander,' 'Yellowstone' & More Shows Consistently Snubbed by the Emmys

Jamie Will Finally, Truly Become a Dutton

This is probably the least likely possibility—for this season. Biology and blood don’t make someone a member of a family, but Jamie has always been the outsider among the Duttons. While this could be what finally brings him into the fold as he chooses them even after his initial reaction, chances are he’s going to pull away even more and maybe even play up being the injured party. (We saw how he did just that when his brother, Kayce, played by Luke Grimes, interrupted John confronting him about the choice he made for Beth.)

But it is probable that at some point in the series, we will see Jamie embrace being a Dutton in a way he hasn’t yet and even see the rest of the family do the same with him.