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‘Yellowstone’ TV: Fans Debate Whether Evelyn Dutton Was Too Hard on Beth

“No wonder Beth is a mess.” Yellowstone fans are coming to the Dutton daughter’s defense after re-watching flashbacks with her mother, Evelyn.

“So I just binged the first three seasons and have a few questions,” begins Yellowstone fan tomcookgod over on Reddit. The show’s board on the social media platform continues to prompt thought-provoking discussion on our favorite characters. And any Yellowstone diehard knows there’s none more intriguing than Beth Dutton.

After mulling over why everyone hates Jamie as much as they do (again), the Redditor moves to Beth’s deep emotional scarring by matriarch Evelyn Dutton.

“Also is it just me or was Beth’s mother a bit of a b****?” shoots tomcookgod. “When the horse fell on her she straight up told a 10 year old that it was her fault if she died, while basically saying that Kayce was the child she loved most. No wonder Beth is a mess.”

No wonder, indeed. It’s a storyline Yellowstone would shed significant light on throughout the first three seasons, with flashbacks in Season 3 lending harsh weight specifically to the Beth & Jamie dynamic. Some fans, however, still don’t think enough has been said on the matter.

Redditor iheartsev agrees “that Beth’s mother seemed way too nasty b****y to her during that last ride with Kayce and Beth. That whole scenario still seems so out of place to me,” they cite, calling it “jarring.”

That’s an excellent one-word description of the flashback, to be sure. Fan Mi-Ofelia takes it a step further by noting they “couldn’t stand Evelyn from the very beginning and had no empathy for her when she fell off her horse. Karma.”

‘Yellowstone’ Showcases the Strength it Takes to Not Appear ‘Broken’

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(Photo Credit: Yellowstone Gallery, Paramount Network Press Center, Viacom)

But it’s u/meemf that gets to the core of Beth Dutton, adding “I often think she acts so emotionless and distant because she is trying to reject her own emotions and appear unbreakable.”

It’s a life choice many are familiar with. A past as “broken” as that of the Dutton family would scar anyone for life. And Beth has clearly made the choice to bottle it up and channel that anger and hurt into strength. It’s not an advisable emotional strategy at all, but it’s the reality of the character.

Yet as Redditor AmericanWanderlust cites: “Wasn’t the mom trying to “toughen” Beth up? She seemed compassionate to her at Xmas and warned her after her first period she was going to have be hard on her. (Not an excuse, I just remember that from those flashbacks).”

Iheartsev replies with the perfect answer, however. “You don’t toughen your daughter by sneering, mocking, cold-eyed dislike. Maybe it was the writer’s fault, that’s what I assume, but that scene did not fit with Evelyn’s previous dealings with Beth,” they add. All too true.

In the end, it all makes for excellent fictional drama. And for that, we can’t fault Yellowstone‘s writers at all.