Will the feud between these characters turn deadly?
Taylor Sheridan’s growing Yellowstone cinematic universe is an ever-expanding place filled with interesting stories and compelling characters that weave together to take the audience on an emotional journey of power struggles, love, and pain. As these stories progress, we are greeted with the idea that characters must die to continue weaving this story.
Death changes everything, impacting the relationships that fans have come to love and hate on the show. The relationship dynamics in Yellowstone are some of the most interesting pieces of the Dutton family puzzle, and are undeniably a big part of why fans continue to follow Taylor Sheridan’s expanding universe. These characters exist in a moral gray area (to put it mildly), but they still choose to find reason and honor amid the violent ups and downs. They’re also quick to point out the flaws of anyone who would harm them, even if those people are their own family.
Rip Wheeler and Jamie aren’t blood related, and if we’re being honest, they don’t have much in common other than the name Dutton. One thing they do have in common is that they both swear an oath to John Dutton to protect their family and their family name. Being a Dutton means holding power, but also knowing that a target will forever be on your back for it. The price of prestige in the world of Yellowstone is often death, and you never know when it will happen.
The mix of death, oaths, and family promises has created a series based on passionate and tumultuous relationships. One is between Rip and Jamie, although you might not initially put the pieces together. Jamie is the (adopted) son of John Dutton, who he never showed or told Jamie about; it was John and Evelyn’s decision to give the boy a chance at a better life. Rip Wheeler could also be considered John’s adopted son, while there is no legal documentation to do so; he took the boy under his wing and gave him a second chance as well.
So why are fans asking if Rip killed Jamie in Yellowstone? What could cause these two to come from such a similar place and evolve into something where killing might be an issue? Is it possible that Yellowstone will end with “friends” and family crowding around a Jamie-sized coffin, regardless of who kills him? You know what to do, grab your Yellowstone-loving best friend and let’s go.
Did Rip Kill Jamie in ‘Yellowstone’?
As mentioned above, Jamie is at war with the Dutton family, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Rip were the one to put an end to this madness. Rip is the person he usually turns to for problems, so why wouldn’t he call in someone he respects and trusts if Jamie’s life needed to end?
Of course, we’re not sure John would be the one to make that decision, even if Jamie had impeached him; even if Jamie had given up the Dutton name, John still cared about him. Even after his conversation with Beth, even after he didn’t speak up for Jamie, it was clear on his face that this was a place he never wanted to be. He never expected things to get to this point—a point of no return. The moment John might have to make the most devastating decision of his life might come when Yellowstone returns.
If we had to guess, we’d still say Beth will be the one to “hit” Jamie, and once again, Rip will be the one to answer her. Rip is smart, and he knows what Jamie’s latest raid on the Dutton family means, especially now that John is in power; he won’t let their family’s enemies continue to thrive. While we haven’t seen it happen yet, we do know that after John, Rip is the next person Beth talks to, and for Rip, Beth has the moon and the stars hanging over her—he’ll do anything she asks, especially if her life is on the line.
Of course, it wasn’t just this latest move that made Rip so angry that he felt the need to end Jamie. Beth and Rip got married at the end of season four, and both Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser have spoken out about their relationship this season and how they’ll need to work through everything together to succeed. Beth has nightmares and painful flashbacks about their past, and it’s only a matter of time before she opens up to Rip about what she went through with Jamie.
If not for himself, because Rip is not someone who acts out of selfish interests, we could see him taking Jamie out for the pain he has caused Beth alone. He has changed her on a fundamental level, and Rip would want some resolution to that.
For now, the world continues on for Rip and Jamie, but with the final half of the season approaching, the stakes are higher than ever. Yellowstone comes to an end with the season five finale, and we’re more certain than ever that the Dutton family cemetery will only get bigger and bigger as the episodes continue.
Why did Rip want to kill Jamie?
You might wonder why Rip killed Jamie; what was their motive? These two shared a similar background, a perspective that could only come from a place of loneliness and devastating abandonment; shouldn’t they have formed a bond instead of standing on opposite sides of the fence? The truth is, the pieces of their story brought them together in an unspeakable bond. Yet there was something that could tear them apart more violently than anything they’d ever experienced: Beth Dutton.
Beth, the love of Rip’s life and Jamie’s obsession. She is a multi-layered character, strong and bold, beautiful yet haunted, intelligent and brave; she is also tormented and still clings to the hope that one day it will all be for something. She will keep the farm in the family name, repair the broken pieces of her father’s legacy, and live out the rest of her days with her husband—finding a peace she has never felt before.
So why did Beth cause such a huge rift between them? The answer is complicated, but the story has been told from the beginning, in various flashbacks and emotional revelations. Jamie took something from Beth that changed her life and her future, including Rip’s. When Beth was a child, she discovered she was pregnant with Rip’s child. Fearing the consequences of revealing this to her father and the potential consequences she might face, she asked Jamie for help.
Jamie takes her to find a clinic, but fearing that everyone in town will recognize the name Dutton, he takes her to a clinic to have the procedure done. Jamie is then informed that this is where the life-changing moment will take place. The woman at the front desk recognizes him as a Dutton and tells him that he needs to take Beth somewhere else; the policy at their clinic is that abortions must be accompanied by sterilization. Yes, having the procedure done at that time means that Beth will never be pregnant again, and Jamie doesn’t tell Beth that when he tells her to go inside.
This has left fans wondering if Jamie is entirely to blame, and some have even questioned why Beth holds so much resentment towards Jamie. The truth is, she came to him for help, but she didn’t ask him to take something away from her forever. Jamie knew what he was doing when he took Beth in, and he didn’t give her a say in that decision. He took away Beth’s future so she could have a child, which causes her pain every day.
The story becomes even more difficult when fans realize that Beth has never told Rip any of this; he doesn’t know that she was pregnant with his child, and she never told him that she couldn’t get pregnant again because Jamie chose to take her to the sanctuary. She’s afraid that he won’t understand, that he’ll blame her for taking something from him, and she’s afraid of all the ways he’ll hurt her, just like she did.
Rip had no idea about that fateful day for those reasons, but that explains why fans wouldn’t be surprised if Rip took Jamie’s life one day. As a man, Rip says that having children was never important to him, but he didn’t know the other side of the coin, and Jamie would surely be terrified to find out.
