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‘Yellowstone’: Brecken Merrill Hints That the Show Is Adding a New ‘Cast Member’ in Episode 6

Yellowstone’s own Tate Dutton, Brecken Merrill, can barely contain his excitement for audiences to meet the newest addition to the Dutton family.

“Let’s goooooo! Excited for you all to meet the newest cast member this week on Yellowstone,” Merrill posts to his official Instagram Wednesday. The actor behind the youngest Dutton is ecstatic, to say the least. And why wouldn’t he be? Judging by this completely unexpected reveal – Tate is getting a dog!

“Raise your hand if you’ve been wanting Tate to get a dog,” he continues. According to Merrill, ” Her name is Lena. She was a working cattle dog before breaking into Hollywood.”

Whether her name will be Lena in Yellowstone proper, however, remains to be seen. For now, here she is romping about with Brecken Merrill on set:

By the looks of her, Lena is a lovely blue heeler, or Australian cattle dog. They’re about as smart as dogs come and make for incredible working companions.

As one Yellowstone fan asks, however… Where is Lucky?

“It’s great to have a dog. But what happened to Lucky?” asks follower Pam. Several echo the sentiment, with Instagram comments like “Yes!! What about Tate’s horse lucky, though?”

The latest happenings of Yellowstone Season 4 may give us some insight there. Be warned of major spoilers ahead, however.

‘Yellowstone’ Season 4 Sees Big Changes for Tate Dutton

We’ve yet to see too much of Tate in Season 4, but what we have seen has shaken things up for him considerably. Right off the bat, Tate has to kill a man to save his mother’s life. This understandably scars the young boy deeply.

As a result, Tate goes into hiding in his own home. After several confrontations with his father, Kayce finally decides it’s best to take his wife and child out of the Dutton homestead (a place of much trauma for them both of late).

They end up in the care of Monica’s elders on the Broken Rock Reservation, where Tate heals with their people.

“I feel better already. In my soul,” Monica tells Kayce as Tate is allowed to breathe fresh air. Patriarch Thomas Rainwater sees both Tate and Monica as warriors who did what needed to be done in the killing of their assailant. But Monica doesn’t feel a warrior herself. Rainwater disagrees. After asking her how she feels of the killing that played out in the Yellowstone Season 4 premiere, she answers him:

“My only regret is I didn’t kill him myself.”

“That is a warrior’s regret,” Rainwater replies.

Thankfully, we see Tate feeling much better in Season 4, Episode 5, “Under a Blanket of Red.” With this in mind, however, it’s a safe bet that his new cattle dog is one of two things:

  1. A new best friend to keep him on the Broken Rock Reservation, or
  2. A present to entice him back to the Dutton Yellowstone Ranch and keep him happy there

We’ll find out come Sunday, December 5 at 8 PM Eastern for Yellowstone Season 4, Episode 6: “I Want to Be Him.”