Yellowstone Season 2 ‘Premiere’ Recap: Beth Plots to Ruin Both Jamie and Dan — Plus, John Collapses
In CBS’ repeat of Yellowstone’s Season 2 premiere Sunday, Beth hit the ground running, not only finding a pretty former rodeo queen to vie with Jamie for the AG position but coming up with a brilliant scheme to bankrupt Dan and, in the process, make boss Bob stinkin’ rich. (Stinkin’ richer?)
The plot: They buy a crap-ton of land, put it in a conservation easement, then get the government to pay them not to farm it. In short, Schwartz & Meyer becomes a landlord without ever renting one square foot. As for Beth, she gets to build a giant moat around Daddy’s ranch.
‘ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, YOU DON’T HAVE CANCER’ | Speaking of John, he spent “A Thundering” looking for trouble. First, he set up more conflict between Kayce and Rip by bypassing his current foreman to have his son give the OK to hire a day worker named Cowboy. (Not that the rivals didn’t come together to unleash a bull – yes, an actual bull — on the bar at which the hands had gotten their asses served to them!)
John also took the bait when Dan taunted him about Lee, warning the developer, “You ain’t gettin’ cut down [from the noose] next time… ’cause next time, I’m doin’ it myself.” By the end of the episode, John had collapsed — not from colon cancer but from a ruptured ulcer, which the veterinarian who just happened to be at the ranch cauterized on the spot!
In other developments, off a nightmare in which Dan shot him, Rainwater managed to convince the council to back his plan to partner with Paradise Valley (even though he could show no numbers indicating how it would benefit the reservation). New wrangler Cowboy, it turned out, had been acquainted once upon a time with Walker, who was quick to warn him against sticking around the Yellowstone. In fact, when Cowboy moved on, Walker said, he’d be going with him (brand be damned).
Too late to seize the opportunity that John had gotten her to teach Native-American studies, Monica accepted a job as a college American history professor, which she’d work in the afternoons while continuing to teach at the reservation in the mornings. Heaven knows she needed a distraction from the heartbreak of her separation from Kayce!
