NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Yellowstone season 1 episode 4, "The Long Black Train."
Yellowstone doesn't draw out the tension from episode 3's cliffhanger, as Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and the tribal police look over the bodies Kayce (Luke Grimes) helped bury. They don't know Kayce is involved for sure yet, but Rainwater is sealing off the entire area to investigate.
As for what else happens in the episode, let's recap.
The cowboy life
Rip (Cole Hauser) leads the cowboys on horseback to wrangle the cattle back to the ranch, while John (Kevin Costner) looks over everything from the helicopter. He spots a group of cattle breaking off into the trees. Rip brings Jimmy (Jefferson White) along to help.
Jimmy is still struggling with adapting to his new job. He gets thrown from his horse and loses his hat, which catches the ire of Rip. Jimmy tells Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) he doesn't think he's cut out for this way of life. Lloyd says no one is, it cuts its way into you. Lloyd tells Jimmy not to come back to the ranch without his hat.
While looking for it, Jimmy hears the cries of a calf. He finds it trapped in some brush. With the other cowboys taking the herd back to the ranch unaware that it's missing, Jimmy debates whether it's worth it or not to just leave the calf.
A sacrifice
Monica (Kelsey Asbille) cleans the blood-soaked trailer after Samantha's suicide. She sees the water is tainted and there is practically no food in the house. She tells Kayce this wasn't a suicide, it was a sacrifice. Samantha had been estranged from her parents, who wouldn't help her and her kids, now they have no choice.
Monica worries if she, Kayce and Tate (Brecken Merrill) are going to make it as a family, they are going to have to leave the reservation. But where they'd go she doesn't know.
She asks Kayce to take Tate somewhere so he doesn't have to see his cousins leave, so they head up to the Yellowstone.
John's secret
John rides the stallion as he helps the cowboys load the cattle into trucks. However, the stallion is still bucking incessantly. Two other older cowboys, Emmett (Buck Taylor) and Mickey (Wally Welch), watch John from afar. Mickey reveals his son recently treated John for colon cancer.
Emmett goes to talk about this to John, wanting to know if he is still up to the task of being Livestock commissioner. John doesn't take the question too kindly. He confirms he had cancer, but says the doctor removed it all in surgery. Emmett throws out the idea of someone else taking over for John, but John reminds him that there's no one else ready to take his place. That satisfies Emmett for now. John asks him not to tell people about it.
Kayce arrives at the end of the conversation, but it's unclear if he heard any of it. He asks John to help out with Tate.
John takes Tate to the river and teaches him to build a campfire. As Tate is gathering branches, he slips and falls into the river. John rushes after him, dives in and grabs him out of the water. John quickly gets a fire going to warm Tate up, who besides a cut is OK.
Later, Tate notices John's scar and asks him about it. John comes up with a fun story to not worry his grandson. However, John can't help but get a bit sentimental, saying Tate is going to grow up and John will be gone (at some point if not from this cancer). Tate reminds him that they'll always have today.
A spider's web
Rainwater visits Monica, specifically looking for Kayce. He brings up how there have been all these seemingly random acts of violence on the reservation, but he thinks they are not random at all, with a spider linking all of them together. He asks that Monica have Kayce come see him when he gets back.
Meaning of the brand
Jimmy thankfully does not leave the calf behind, bringing him back to the ranch to reunite with its mama. Lloyd gives Jimmy a pat on the back, saying that's as cowboy as it gets.
Not everyone wants Jimmy to have his moment in the sun. Another cowboy, Fred (Luke Peckinpah), trips Jimmy, which leads to the two fighting. Fred is much bigger than Jimmy and easily beats him up, but Jimmy keeps coming after him. Rip comes to break it up, reminding Fred there's no fighting on the ranch, unless they want to come through him. Jimmy tries to take the blame for the fight, but Rip doesn't buy it. He reminds everyone Jimmy is a branded man, which means he can't be touched. When Fred is still upset, Rip fires him.
Rip explains to Jimmy thousands of cowboys like Fred are going to come through the ranch, but branded men like them will die on the ranch. Which means they're each other's family now.
When John and Tate aren't back, Kayce and Rip go out to look for them. They find them riding back to the ranch. As Kayce rides back with Tate, Rip lets John know he fired Fred. With Fred having been there a long time, Rip suggests they take him to the train station. To replace Fred, John tells Rip to get someone from the local prison and make them wear the brand.
Beth's night out
Beth (Kelly Reilly) spends her day hanging out at Dan's resort, making life difficult for the staff until Dan (Danny Huston) shows up and she invites him out to a bar. It's a cowboy bar, not Dan's kind of scene. Beth continuously invites trouble, which results in Dan getting punched multiple times. This is all part of Beth's plan to break Dan. He leaves and offers to drive her home, but she opts to stay.
Later, Rip joins Beth at the bar. She's very pleased with herself getting Dan emotional as they prepare for battle, knowing the more he feels the less he'll think. With her good mood, she and Rip enjoy a dance.
The train station
Lloyd is driving an agitated Fred to the train station. However, shortly after crossing off into Wyoming, Lloyd pulls to the side of a road by a cliff. Fred is confused, noting this isn't the train station. Lloyd says, "Sure it is. The long black train," and shoots Fred in the head. His body falls into the canyon and Lloyd tosses the rest of his stuff after him.
Nowhere to run
Monica and Kayce are driving Tate home after getting him some stitches. As soon as he arrives on the reservation, the tribal police pull him over. Kayce asks Monica to get him his gun out of the glove box, but Monica says they are out of options. Kayce gives himself up and is arrested.
Yellowstone season 1 episodes air Sundays on CBS. They are available to watch on-demand on Peacock.
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