'Yellowstone' episode 8 review: 'The Unravelling Part 1' is awfully undercooked
Recap: Episode 7, 'A Monster is Among Us'
As 'Yellowstone' barrels towards its season finale, the series is beginning to pick up the pace. Episode 6, 'The Remembering,' worked towards answering some of the questions that have plagued audiences since the premiere and the 'A Monster is Among Us' did one better: it laid bare the plot that could ostensibly bring about the downfall of John Dutton (Kevin Costner). The revelation came via a completely unexpected avenue as well — through the encroachment of a few brown bears into the ranch and John's cancer acting up once again.
Elsewhere, Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) found himself in a sort of ethical dilemma. Confronted with two Chinese tourists who are inexplicably hanging off a cliff side, Rip offers them the chance to save one for the sacrifice of the other. Both slip and fall 20-odd feet to their deaths, but not before the big brown bear Rip had been hunting all this while makes a surprise appearance and is dealt the death blow courtesy of two bullets to the head. It appeared as though Dan Jenkins' (Danny Huston) and Thomas Rainwater's (Gil Birmingham) plan to have federal authorities look into the ranch's breaching of the river course — the alteration had disturbed the area's endangered bear population — had inadvertently been set off by one of his most trusted men.