Yellowstone Season 4, Episode 5, “Under a Blanket of Red,” saw huge strides for Beth Dutton. But how long can she keep it up? Be warned, major spoilers for Yellowstone are ahead.
She may not say it, but death feels around the corner for Beth Dutton. For every episode, Kelly Reilly imbues her with the aura of a woman walking on dynamite and thin glass at the same time. Which is exactly why when she was blown sky-high at the end of Season 3, we all thought she might actually die. Not in that exact moment, but perhaps in the fallout.
Yet here she is still wrestling her way over the suffering of her enemies. And through it, her biggest strength and weakness are revealed as the same thing: Beth feels invulnerable.
In Season 4, Episode 5, she even goes as far as to state her own immortality. “Under a Blanket of Red” opens with her father alone in the family ranch. Or so he thinks. After a shower and an unwanted “anatomy lesson” for his daughter, John discovers Beth sitting by his fireside.
There, the two share a drink and ponder their lives on the ranch. Specifically, solace – the ultimate unobtainable for both of them – comes up. Through this, John reminds his daughter that she alone is what fills his heart. In fact, he tells her he’s not sure he could stomach this world without her. But as far as Beth is concerned, she’s not going anywhere.
Check out our podcast breaking down Episode 5:
Beth and the Cockroaches: ‘Only the Good Die Young’ on ‘Yellowstone’
Quickly, Beth reminds the patriarch that “Only the good die young, daddy.” But she doesn’t stop there.
“If a meteor strikes this planet tomorrow night, it’s me and the cockroaches running this motherf*cker,” Beth smiles to her father.
“Well then, tomorrow’s my lucky day,” John smiles.
It’s not entirely true that only the good die young on Yellowstone. Lee Dutton, the eldest sibling, may have been an example of this. But Beth’s mother, Evelyn, was not an example to hold up this rule. She was a cruel and manipulative mother to Beth and is largely responsible for this invincible “monster.”
Yet with every new development in her story, Beth feels to be burying herself deeper and deeper into a hole. A hole that might as well be her own grave. She makes a new powerful enemy every day; drinking and smoking like a train all the while. Is her own veil of immortality going to be her undoing? Or is the only Dutton daughter destined to outlive and, as she has said, watch everything she loves die?
John Dutton foresaw his own near-death experience in a dream and told it to his grandson before it happened beat-for-beat. Perhaps Beth has done the same, and will truly be the last one standing on Paramount‘s Yellowstone.
