'Yellowstone' Season 3 Episode 7: Jamie and Rip would have lived the same life if not for John Dutton
Spoilers for 'Yellowstone' Season 3 Episode 7 'The Beating'
In a surprising turn of events, hit Paramount show 'Yellowstone' revealed that Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley), the most hated of all the Dutton family is actually adopted. As the episode progresses, it looks like apart from John, his dead wife Evelyn and dead son Lee, no one else is on this secret. Concluding on a morbid note, John Dutton (Kevin Costner) brought Jamie's entire world crashing down.
For ardent fans of the show, this reveal is not all that surprising, especially considering how this theory has been doing the rounds for years. The hate Jamie has received from his entire family in unwarranted. While Beth's (Kelly Reilly) reasons were only recently revealed, John's reasons — and this is solely our theory — are an amalgamation of his own self and his projections.
John tells Jamie how his father had beat his mother to death and had it not been for him, he would have probably turned out like his own father. This is exactly the same backstory as that of Rip's (Cole Hauser), John's closest aide and Beth's current-fiance. Years ago, John has taken in Rip as a young boy after he killed his father for killing his mother. Perhaps the then-young John Dutton thought that he needed to rescue Rip but the only way that he could have successfully done it was by giving him shelter and a second chance.
The only difference here is that John gave his name to Jamie and not to Rip. It is only because of the Dutton name that Jamie has the opportunities that he has had and the power and position that he enjoys today. Rip lovers, on the other hand, could argue that he is more of a son to John than Jamie would ever be.
Rip and Jamie both work hard for John's approval and the Dutton patriarch has only ever approved of Rip. This too was expressed in a letter he wrote him last season. Jamie, on the other hand, spent a lot of time in the bunkhouse last season after one too many bad decisions. A way of reprimanding him, John eventually took him back into the house. In Season 3, Jamie goes on to be the Attorney General and Rip gets Beth's hand in marriage.
Now if it weren't for John Dutton, frankly, both Rip and Jamie would have been devoured raw by the wilderness of Montana. 'Yellowstone' airs on Sundays at 9 PM ET/ PT on Paramount Network.
