Yellowstone

count coup

Season 5

Episode 12

Editor’s Rating

3 stars

***

Photo: Paramount

With the investigation into John Dutton’s murder plot taking up most of the narrative in this final half of the season, the ranch hands and their stories feel more disjointed and irrelevant than ever. But as the Duttons slowly lose control of the only home they’ve ever known and the old-timers are forced to reckon with the possibility of leaving, there’s a welcome melancholy in the air. I’m not exactly looking for more scenes from the Four Sixes – last week’s outright firing of the ranch hands resulted in the best episode of the season – but it’s good to feel like the entire cast is integrated, all part of one Story.

In “Counting Coup,” Rip and Travis set out to sell the entire Yellowstone herd in a desperate attempt to maintain control of the ranch, while Lloyd considers other companies he could work for. But the biggest moment of the entire episode belongs to Colby, of all people, probably the most lovable and least obnoxious ranch hand (and the only black character for most of the series). He is there to intervene and save Carter when he is kicked and cornered in the stall by a shy stallion. Carter manages to put the horse down, but not before Colby is killed.

Based on the episode’s manipulatively charming opening scene, in which Colby tells Teeter he loves her on the phone, I probably should have known this was going to happen. But we’ve seen almost nothing of Colby in the last four episodes, aside from a brief check-in with the remaining ranch hands early on, so it’s hard to know what to make of it. I’ve always enjoyed the character so I’m sad to see him go. Honestly, I would have rather lost Ryan or Jake or even Carter, even though we only have two episodes left with this cast anyway. But I think sacrificing a character with some emotional impact is a good thing, and it’s touching to see Teeter and Ryan grieve. (The way Ian Bohen matter-of-factly delivers the sentence “I just lost my best friend Jake” hits particularly hard.)

The story of Colby’s death is not Really a lot about Colby, although the incident illustrates his courage and selflessness. Rather, it is an illustration of the risks of a life like this, where “suffering is the task,” as Teeter bitterly put it. And it’s also a vehicle for Carter, who is understandably wracked with guilt in the long, grim aftermath. Beth is the one who comforts the child and tells him that he is not to blame; Eventually everyone blames themselves, including Rip and Lloyd, but the truth is that sometimes these things happen on a ranch. Now it’s time for him to turn to his family for comfort – and as Beth reminds Carter, he has family here.

I’m glad this scene acknowledges the relationship between these two, because season four puts a lot of emphasis on their quasi-mother-son bond (and how it affects Beth’s own trauma of having children). But a lot of this story seems to just be about taking time to do and give to the ranch hands, aside from general petulance about the state of the ranch. It also suffers from its placement in the season: “Three Fifty-Three” really upped the drama when it came to the investigation into John’s murder and the war between the Dutton siblings, and this time around it doesn’t really come into its own until the first part in focus half (and the end) of the episode.

However, these parts are quite entertaining, especially when Detective Dillard puts pressure on Jamie after Sarah’s death (which is referred to as car theft, even though it doesn’t resemble one at all). Jamie flounders as only Jamie can, insisting that his relationship with the late Sarah Atwood is purely personal. But it’s a ridiculous idea; There’s plenty of evidence of their legitimate business, no matter how many pages he destroys. It’s all too fishy: the Attorney General had a romantic relationship with an outside consultant for the development project that his father had canceled shortly before his assassination. Jamie barely manages to keep the detectives out of the bedroom, but his panic and obvious desperation only confirms Dillard’s suspicions. (“You’re treating me like I was a suspect.” “I wasn’t, but I will now.”)

News of Sarah’s death confirms Kayce’s theory from last episode that John’s killers are targeting the person who paid her. Luckily, Kayce’s old military buddy’s efforts to track down the man responsible for the operation pay off pretty quickly. After the long Colby interlude, the episode returns to Kayce packing her bag for a night and heading to confront Grant Horton.

Shortly after Grant’s daughter’s soccer game, Kayce slips into the backseat of her car and delivers his threats. Pointing a gun at a nine-year-old’s head conveys the message quite effectively: Kayce knows everything about this man and the people he loves, and he can kill them all if he ever wants to. It’s rare to see Kayce in this mode these days. As he settles into the life of a family man, violence becomes less frequent in his story, but this scene is a brutal reminder of how dangerous he can be.

By hitting Grant in the head with his gun, Kayce is following a warrior tradition that originated with the Plains Indians: “Counting Coups,” which he explains to Grant and then mentions to Mo, his getaway driver. By merely intimidating and slightly injuring the man who killed his father, Kayce has defeated his enemy without actually killing him. It may be an act of mercy, but it is also a move of power. It’s hard to imagine Grant going after any of the Duttons again after this threat, except maybe Jamie.

Now there are only two episodes left and there are few ways the story could continue from here. Sometimes with this show all I can really hope for is that something happens happen – and luckily there Are Things are happening now, even if the urgency is not as great as it once was. The great loss at the heart of this episode may have given me mixed emotions, but at least I felt something.

• The Travis and Jimmy scene isn’t bad, I guess, but I can’t say I particularly cared about Jimmy’s reaction to John’s death. They had a bond in the first few seasons, but we’re so far removed from that time that you can hardly feel the resonance here. Maybe Jimmy going right back to work shows how much he’s matured since his early days – there’s nothing more noble and manly on this show than pushing away your feelings and going back to work – but we’ve got several now Seasons spent learning about Jimmy’s growth, so I really don’t need to see more.

• It feels really nostalgic to see the bunkhouse again in this episode, especially when Beth comes by to pack up Colby’s few belongings to send to his mother.

• “If I’m in the position of a therapist, this family is pretty screwed.” Gotta love some self-awareness from Beth.

• I understand some viewers’ frustration that Beth couldn’t kill Sarah herself, but I still find it more surprising and interesting this way.

• Beth now says that arresting Jamie wouldn’t really help them because he would reveal John’s secrets and ruin the Dutton legacy to save himself. But for someone who keeps insisting that she’s “dealing with it,” Beth doesn’t seem to be really coping! I get that she can’t slit Jamie’s throat until the finale, but come on, do your Beth thing.

• Damn, this supposedly professional elite assassin company really isn’t very good at remaining anonymous, is it?

• Kudos to Denim Richards, who has been with the show since the beginning. I wish he had shined a few more scenes in the final episodes.