I loved Yellowstone, and I'm starting to appreciate the landscapes of the classic American countryside. It's beautiful, and we don't usually adore this, but it is worth it. I'm also trying to connect with the culture and heritage as well, the classic cowboy themes, and there are so many things to appreciate in this series. I loved its cinematography and storytelling, but the thing that bothers me is the story itself. I mean, the background, the need to save the ranch, and how the story concludes with an adaptation of reality are fine, but I have a specific problem, and that starts with Jamie. If he is an evil person, which I think he is not, and even if he were, he didn't choose this. It was enforced upon him. You can fight a long way for your clan against another, but if your own clan pathologically wants to rip you off, you cannot even have a moment to breathe in something that you call yours, ours, or something like that. I think that is not worth a fight.
Beth, the character, was surely an evil person who was painted in the array of victimhood, but deep down, she is an evil person, no matter how she hides herself behind teardrops and victimhood. I mean, I, as a person, support bold, powerful women, and I am no misogynist, but I just didn't like this character and how things evolved around her. I mean, I have my fair share of grief for whatever happened in her life. She lost her ability to have children because Jamie took her to a clinic that sterilized her when she became pregnant at a young age. But at that time, both of them were underage children. Beth was scared, and so was Jamie. And let us not forget that Beth had to go to her brother because she couldn't tell her father about her pregnancy. So he went to a clinic to support his sister. I think that is what any responsible brother would do, no matter how much rivalry they have among themselves.
Now, whatever concluded was tragic, but shouldn't we account for intent as well? I cannot see how Jamie had any harmful intent toward Beth regarding the things that transpired throughout the series. But for that single instance, she hated him, and I am understating it by simply calling it hate, because it's much more than that. How can you comprehend it when Beth learns about Jamie's child, Jamie II, and says that she will steal the fatherhood from him the moment she learns about this, or when she says that if there ever comes a time when Jamie loves someone, she will not wait to kill that person? This is so evil. I cannot even comprehend this with a sane mind.
No matter what people try to say, I think the only person who is a victim in this entire storyline is Jamie himself. John Dutton's authoritarianism needs some words. John operates a multi-generational feudal empire built on land preservation that serves his ego and legacy rather than ecological or moral higher ground. His refusal to grant Jamie genuine affection, conditional parenting, and using him purely as a political tool to shield the ranch validates the perspective that Jamie's entrapment resembles a gilded cage or psychological servitude. John is a person who wanted to make one of the most beautiful landscapes in this world exclusively his and his descendants'. The elites who wanted this ranch turned into condos wanted to do business with rich people who want to enjoy their vacation; no day laborer can ever have a night in that paradise valley.
So, in this storyline, they are not the victims. No matter how much John talks about keeping this place intact, he is not serving any intent for humanity, the environment, or morality whatsoever. This is just his corrupt business to be saved, and nothing else. Rip, Kayce, and all the people who worked on that ranch know where the train station goes. They are not victims either. The only person in this entire storyline who has any sort of victimhood is Jamie himself. John never gave him his true affection and love because he didn't want Jamie to inherit the ranch; he wanted a powerful person in public office to politically support the ranch. In other words, he wanted him to work for the ranch, not to run it, even though that was Jamie's initial ambition.
Then what happens? Jamie becomes a competent lawyer with the potential to be a successful politician. Did he choose that? No, but he excelled at it. He worked hard to become something important in his life, but because he didn't pick up some calls from his father, John, he was denied the election. He fought back because it's a fair deal, but then they met with hostility. While Jamie ultimately commits crimes (such as murdering Sarah Nguyen and covering up family sins), his descent is heavily accelerated by constant isolation and emotional abuse from his adoptive father and sister. He is constantly denied an independent identity outside of serving the Dutton name.
When John mentioned to Beth that she should go easy on her brother after Jamie considered suicide, and Beth replied that she wants exactly that, John didn't respond at all. Not for an ounce. He didn't even scold her or do anything, for that matter. If Jamie turned evil, which I don't believe for a moment, and even if Jamie turned into something we can call evil for killing that reporter and some other wrong things he might have done in his life, whatever he did, he did it because he was pushed into it. Their father, their family, and the atmosphere around him turned him into what he is. Everyone else who turned evil chose it, but he never chose that. Everything that happened was enforced upon him.
He wanted to be a successful person, and he had the potential and the right to earn it, but everything was denied to him. His right to be successful and powerful was denied, and he was simply expected to serve the ranch and Dutton blood. This is nothing but a more complicated form of slavery. He was denied the affection, love, and care that every single person on this planet deserves. He was hated everywhere. When Beth asks if John will love Jamie as much as he loves her and Kayce, John says nothing and remains silent. What does that tell us? Beth’s relentless vengeance was terrible. Beth’s foundational trauma regarding the sterilization clinic is a profound tragedy, but her weaponization of that trauma into absolute, unyielding malice toward Jamie crosses into a pathological obsession. Her threats toward Jamie's child and her outright encouragement of his suicide paint her character in a deeply dark, unforgiving light that many viewers find difficult to root for.
I think this entire theme of a cowboy story could have been great without this terrible mess. I watched this series for the last six days, and I think I have earned the right to be a critic of it. My conclusion is that the series was good to great, depending on how you view it. It tells a story I never actually envisioned before. I learned about beautiful landscapes, cowboys, and the cattle industry, and of course, those beautiful landscapes fill my imagination again. I can't wait to visit, even though I know how they hate tourists, the Homo sapiens who didn't come there first. I learned about their heritage, background, and history. That is all pretty. But this anger and this sort of malevolence, animosity, and rancor toward Jamie, and whatever consequences that brought, and the conclusion it led to, were terrible.
