Yellowstone's Season 4 finale couldn't live up to the explosive final moments of Season 3

The Ringer

"Season 4 of Yellowstone probably wasn’t what many expected it to be," says Alex Siquig. "But in retrospect, there was no way these 10 episodes could live up to the final minutes of Season 3, a finale that tore across our screens with no fewer than four 'Wow, did this super-beloved character really just die?' cliff-hangers. When John, Kayce, Beth, and Jimmy were all confirmed alive within the first 10 minutes of Season 4, a sinking feeling of being toyed with began to set in. Are the Duttons (and by extension their servant, Jimmy) superheroes? Immortal? Too big to fail? Will this world ever demand consequences for anyone that matters? Does it not have the requisite will to go for the jugular? And leaving aside my bloodlust, the finale of the previous season seemed to work toward a massive reordering of the chessboard: Roarke and Market Equities, the Broken Rock Reservation (at the urging of Angela Blue Thunder), and Jamie’s newly revealed biological father, Garrett Randall, were now all in the hideous mix, leaving the Duttons in the face of multiple existential threats." Siquig adds: "If you love you some Beth Dutton, Season 4 of Yellowstone was probably the best thing you’ve ever seen."

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• Has Yellowstone become too Beth-dependent?: "We need to reckon with Beth, both because 'Grass On The Streets' is very Beth-centric and because whether or not casual Yellowstone viewers stick with this crazy show often comes down to whether or not they can handle Beth’s whole deal," says Noel Murray. "And I should say straight out: The success or failure of any Beth-related storyline has only a little to do with Kelly Reilly’s performance, which is consistently electrifying… even when her character is doing and saying things that don’t make any damn sense. But the entertainment value of Beth’s chaos is mitigated by the general ludicrousness of who she’s reputed to be and why she seems to get away with everything."
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