Beth Dutton has done a lot of questionable stuff on “Yellowstone”, which most recently involved blackmailing her half-brother Jamie into murdering his biological father and then taking pictures of it from afar. But, that didn’t seem to really phase “Yellowstone” fans. What really got their ire up, was when Beth basically refused to be Carter’s new mom.
Granted, she did it in a way that was kind of, shall we say, not great. He tried to call her “mama” and she shut that down real quick, forbidding him from calling her mom at all. First, when he greeted her with the name, she replied, “Hey, baby,” almost on instinct. But, then, she backtracked. It was a tense moment, and the scene left us crying in frustration right along with Carter.
In a recent interview with TV Line, “Yellowstone” star Kelly Reilly revealed that fans were very upset by that scene. “America went after me for that!” she laughed. “I was like, ‘That’s the character, not me!’ But I get it. I wish she would [let herself be a mother to him], too.”
But, she explained, Beth–who we’re going to see much more of in season 5–was just doing it to be honest and open with Carter. “But think about it,” she said, “If she’s telling this kid that she’s just met, ‘Yeah, I’ll be your mom,’ that’s not truthful to him. She goes, ‘You had a mom. She died. I can’t replace that. But I’ll be your friend.’ I think there’s something honorable about that.”
‘Yellowstone’ Fans Disagreed With How Beth Dutton Handled the Carter Situation
It was the way Beth did it, though, that got fans’ hackles up. Nearly everyone was hoping Beth and Rip would adopt Carter by the end of season 4; and then, in that wild finale, Beth goes and does that. It kind of disappointed “Yellowstone” fans everywhere.
But, Beth is really struggling with a lot of personal issues, and I, for one, don’t think she’s ready to be a mother to someone. She has to learn to mother herself, first, and forgive herself the fact that she can’t give Rip a child of their own. Kelly Reilly commented on Beth’s guilt, as well. “I hope that eventually she forgives herself, because I think she’ll be even more powerful then,” she said. Though, she added, not just yet. “There’s too much fun to be had before that!”
Even though we all collectively hated how Beth handled the situation, there’s something to be said for Kelly Reilly’s amazing acting. “Yellowstone” director Stephen Kay had praise for Reilly in a recent interview with TV Line: “She can act forever.”
Kay went on to explain that, even though Reilly has a lot of pressure on her as lead actress, she’s like the Energizer bunny when it comes to performing. “I can’t count how many times I’ve said, ‘We’ve got it,’ then wanted to do another take just to mess with it,” he said. “Kelly is like that. She can keep going.”
