Episode 3 found Yellowstone in a melancholy mood after John and Kayce settled a score and Jimmy left for Texas.
Major spoilers follow for Yellowstone episodes 1 to 3. Turn back now if you’re not caught up. “Sometimes good men have to do real bad things.” It was this piece of grim wisdom, imparted by John to his son Kayce at the beginning of episode 2, that was grippingly realized throughout ‘All I See Is You’ – from the brutally efficient killing of the remaining militia, to John’s confrontation with Chester Spears, the mastermind behind the orchestrated assassinations last season. By the end of the episode, whether they could continue to think of themselves as “good” or rather as men willing to do anything to protect their land was brought into question. The inaugural episodes of Yellowstone season 4 had the difficult task of introducing new storylines while bringing a degree of resolution to old ones, and after the action-packed opening of the show, the drama stalled – jumping from incident to incident with little immediate connection. By episode 3, however, there’s an engagingly consistent timeframe, tone, and clarity of focus. The narrative threads from episode 2 are effortlessly picked up and woven together, with events unfolding over 24 hours – from dusk until nightfall – and concentrated around the Dutton ranch. In that time, Kayce met John after the swift and efficient retaliation on the militia, saddling up and lamenting the current uncertainty of their lives. The bunkhouse crew prepared to bid Jimmy farewell as he reluctantly departed with Travis to the Four Sixes ranch in Texas – leaving a disgruntled Mia behind – and Rip and Beth disagreed over the best approach to parenting 14-year-old Carter. Meanwhile, John had to “take out the trash” when Mo and Chief Rainwater disclosed who ordered the Dutton family hit. The opening 2-minute sequence was a barrage of violence without any dialogue or sound, save for Colter Wall’s Sleeper on the Blacktop on the soundtrack. During that time a SWAT team led by Kayce mercilessly took out the remaining members of the militia that had been hired to exterminate the Duttons. Cutting between events, there’s a breathless force to this depiction of retributive justice. One by one the perpetrators were gunned down in their homes or garrotted in their cars, while we repeatedly cut to John staring contemplatively into the fireplace: the “good man” whose will Kayce had ruthlessly enforced. Episode 3 repeatedly reminded us of the absolute power that the Duttons wield over Yellowstone, with John depicted as some kind of Godfather-like mafioso in the opening montage. This power is propped up by the local police force. Yet, aside from the authority their presence bestows, nothing else about their actions seems legal. A blur of red and blue dominated the highway as a police cordon blocked the passage of two of the perps; and, after one of them sneakily reached for a gun, Kasey unleashed a blast of bullets at the two guys like a scene from Scarface. There was no intention of taking anyone quietly down to the station: retribution, not justice, was the aim of the game. Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Perhaps. The show shakily maintained that Kayce and John were honorable men doing only what necessary to protect their land and their family. But we see Kayce abuse and even overestimate his authority in far less high-stakes situations too. The Livestock Commissioner has a surprising amount of sway over the Yellowstone police, which we saw in episode 1 as he barked orders to the sheriff to pursue his father’s attackers. Surely a Livestock Commissioner wouldn’t outrank a town sheriff? Later in episode 3, he’s visited in his office by Emmett Walsh. The man’s riled because his neighbor, a “son-of-a-bitch from calif-f**king-fornia,” has put cattle grids down all along his easement, making transporting his livestock a nightmare and costing him a fortune. He’s out of options. So, with a weight of expectation, Kayce asks what he would like him to do about it, and Emmet euphemistically says, “I don’t know. Something.” Like Rip, Kayce has become a bit of a fixer, and the reluctant expression on his face implies he knows that force will be required.
