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‘Yellowstone’ TV: Tate Actor Brecken Merrill Posts ‘Traditional Birthday Hat Pic’ on His 13th Birthday

Yellowstone star Brecken Merrill has grown up before our eyes, but now he’s a teenager? Who allowed this to happen?

It still feels like yesterday that we Yellowstone fans were meeting a tiny Tate Dutton for the first time. So much rides on his adorable little shoulders within our favorite modern Western, and Brecken Merrill makes it all work through a fantastic mix of charm, cuteness, and talent.

But can we even call him cute anymore? Has that time now gone the way of the dinosaurs he and Grandpa John are so fond of? Will we at least get one more season of Tiny Tate with Yellowstone Season 4 whenever the hell it shows up? Is time even real or simply a construct of human ingenuity existing only to grasp at order while instead making us rush into the ground!?

These are all fair questions, as that photo, right there, is a photo of now 13-year-old Brecken Merrill. He’s now officially a teenager. A young man, if you will (we won’t). And all jokes aside, we here at Outsider want to wish young master Merrill a very happy 13th birthday, as Yellowstone wouldn’t be the same without him!

“The traditional birthday hat pic. 13 dots,” his official Instagram captions of the celebratory post. While Brecken’s Instagram account is “managed by mom,” something tells us he’s gained control on his 13th birthday – as this is the most unenthusiastic, teenage-like caption for a birthday I’ve ever read in my life. Zero exclamation points – all cool business. They grow up so fast.

“Thank you all for the nice birthday wishes,” Merrill concludes with another period.

Here’s to a future even brighter than your many accomplishments so far, Brecken! (That exclamation point is how you’ll show excitement in text again someday).

‘Yellowstone’ Season 4 Will Have to Show Tate Growing Up

At this rate, Yellowstone Season 4 will have to feature Tate Dutton‘s path from child to teenager in some capacity. If not, then audiences will be in for a jarring change come Season 5 as Merrill continues to sprout like a weed.

Indeed, Yellowstone‘s youngest star looks far more grown up in other recent posts to Instagram, too. No one becomes a teenager overnight, after all. Though, in this birthday post’s case, it does feel that way by the caption alone.

When looking at older posts, we see plenty of exclamation points and some very mom-sounding captions, such as:

“Ya gotta incorporate the lip-bite more! We love your TikTok!” reads a previous post that was 100% not written by a teenage boy. C’mon.

But at the end of the day, Tate Dutton’s Brecken Merrill is as perfectly cast as his adult co-stars, and we can’t wait for more from his character come Yellowstone Season 4!