'Yellowstone' Season 3 Episode 7 Review: Kayce might do better than his father if he follows his reckoning
Spoilers for 'Yellowstone' Season 3 Episode 7 'The Beating'
It looks like there are a lot of secrets on the Dutton ranch that we are still to find out. In a startling revelation made this season, 'Yellowstone' let in its audiences in another one of its secrets, which was neatly tucked in for years, lying undisturbed in the vastness of the land until it wriggled its way out into the open as a result of seemingly inconsequential events.
Turns out, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) is adopted. Fans who had long predicted this can finally pump their fist in the air victoriously. Yes, that right there is the root of his father John's (Kevin Costner) misplaced feelings of dislike and hatred towards Jamie. But John seems indifferent to that as he ruthlessly brings Jamie's entire world crashing down.
Elsewhere on the ranch, Beth (Kelly Reilly) asks her father to give her hand to Rip (Cole Hauser) in marriage much to the liking of Beth-Rip fans. Their scenes are rather heartwarming as the two finally make it official, not that they ever needed to. Theirs is a relationship that goes beyond the formalities of the world. As they promise each other a lifetime of happiness and togetherness, it feels like a foreshadowing of the near future.
Beth and Rip are both embroiled in deadly, vicious battles of their own that leave only one victor. Both of them, who swear loyalty to John Dutton, are fighting in their own way to protect what is their own. And with the number of threats around them, it could be predicted that something is going to go wrong soon. At the same time, we can't tell if these plotlines (Beth's abortion gone wrong and Jamie's role in it along with Jamie's adoption) are sheer fan service or a consequence of the original draft of the series.
The better parts of the episode, however, did not involve family drama. It saw Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) in pure action. There was a time when we did not get to see Kayce on the ranch at all, which seems like forever now. As the Livestock Commissioner now, he has a lot more on his plate than ever before. This episode, he is tracking down stolen cattle. Investigations lead him to a man who occasionally steals cattle eventually ensuing into a bloodthirsty track down in which Kayce ends up killing him.
When Kayce sees a young child crying over the dead body of the thief, he is filled with guilt for the quality of life at the ranch. At the time of swearing-in as Livestock Commissioner — something he did not want to do in the first place but had to because this shift in power would mean the Duttons make their position stronger — he had expressed his doubts to John. But now, this might be his ticket to do better than his father, provided he sees it as an opportunity.
This gives us hope. If his son Tate (Brecken Merrill) is to take over the ranch from him, this is going to be Kayce's chance to do better than his own father John. 'The Beating' marks the benchmark in 'Yellowstone' when the season picks up pace. Going forward, the show is likely to play dirtier. Combined with Kayce's new job and Roarke Morris' (Josh Holloway) constant encroaching on the land, there is no chance that things won't mess up further.
'Yellowstone' airs on Sundays at 9 pm ET/ PT on Paramount Network.