As "The Beating" opens, the wranglers herd cattle into a trailer. A few hours later, with the sun still not up, Rip (Cole Hauser) wakes Beth (Kelly Reilly) to say he's leaving for what's destined to be a long day. Beth convinces Rip to get back in bed so they have can sex before he goes.
What happens to Rip and the rest of the Duttons in Yellowstone season 3 episode 7? Read on to find out.
Mia and Rip bond (sort of)
Rip heads down to the bunkhouse to find cowboys sharing their beds: Mia (Eden Brolin) with Jimmy (Jeferson White) and Laramie (Hassie Harrison) with Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith); meanwhile, Teeter (Jennier Landon) flirts with Colby (Denim Richards). Rip lays down the law to the rest of the wranglers, worried the bunkhouse is becoming Paradise Island.
Mia wants to prove she's not a freeloader. With Jimmie still incapacitated, she vows to help Rip. After loading the trailer with an overly rambunctious horse, she tries to start various conversations in the long car ride to sell the animal, all of which Rip ignores. Mia then changes tactics and sings her favorite song aloud. Rip tells Jimmy he's going to kill him when they get home.
At their destination, Rip, Mia and Jimmy are greeted by world champion rodeo-rider Sid Steiner, who Mia instantly recognizes. Sid's young son tests out the horse with Jimmy watching. Sid seemingly holds on and doesn't fall off the horse as it bucks.
Sid tells Rip they won't buy it because it doesn't buck hard enough. This shocks Jimmy, who has been thrown off the same horse twice. Rip tells Jimmy the kid has already been riding for years, has three world champions who are teaching him "and he could still die." Jimmy realizes this is Rip's way of warning him not to return to rodeoing. But Rip insists to Jimmy it is still his choice.
Beth does what Rip can't
Beth walks in on John (Kevin Costner) thinking, something she's been seeing him do a lot of recently. John has a lot of decisions to make.
Having noticed just how much time Beth has been spending with Rip, he asks her if they're going to get married. Beth says if Rip asks her. But John knows Rip won't do that out of respect for him, she'll have to do the asking. So Beth asks for John's approval on behalf of Rip, which, after checking she is happy and in love, he grants.
As Beth leaves, John apologizes to Beth. He wishes she'd been able to come to him when she was pregnant as a teenager and is sorry he made her too scared or feel like she couldn't. Through tears, she says she can come to him now and that's all that matters.
After Rip returns home from his day with Jimmy and Mia, he quickly makes his way through a six-pack. He stops when Beth proposes, though. She wants him to live his life with her. Rip mentions asking for John's approval, but Beth says she handled it.
Rip notes they can't technically get married because there's no evidence in the courthouse that he even exists. Beth tells Rip they don't need an official service. They can do it in front of the mountains and on the ranch so that they can prove, "there's no more you and I, just us."
Beth meets Thunder
Back to business, Beth walks into her office to meet Angela Blue Thunder (Q'orianka Kilcher). After being brought together by John and Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) to halt Market Equities' plans, Angela explains that CEO Willa Hays will try to get Beth fired. Beth isn't worried. When Angela asks about Jamie, Beth says they can't trust her brother at all. As Angela leaves, she tells Beth they'll have to get dirty.
John and Kayce get into fights
Eating at the local diner, John is interrupted by Wade Morrow (Boots Southerland) and his son. After making a joke about what Wade endured in prison, Wade's son tries to attack John, who easily puts him down. John reminds Wade he stole "the one thing a cowboy doesn't steal." Wade says he's willing to fight John wherever and whenever. John tells Wade he has something of his he's going to get back, then leaves.
Elsewhere, after finding their unbranded and untagged cattle have been stolen, Kayce (Luke Grimes), Hendon (James Jordan) and Ryan (Ian Bohen) visit ranches that might be selling them. At a livestock auction, Kayce spots a suspicious truck. When the driver sees Kayce he tries to drive away. But even on horseback, Kayce is able to lasso the driver around his neck and force him to stop. He gets the driver out of the car and begins to interrogate him with force.
Kayce, Ryan, and Hendon arrive at a trailer where their stolen cattle are in a pen. As they walk around, a shotgun blast hits Ryan in the chest, while the glass door near Hendon smashes, too. Kayce kills the shooter. He then turns his attention to the livestock agents. Ryan is winded, but was saved by his vest. Hendon has been punctured by various shards of glass and is bleeding profusely. Kayce urgently calls for an ambulance. A girl screams and Kayce turns to see her standing over her dead dad's body.
Jamie Dutton?
Ahead of a meeting with the governor, Jamie (Wes Bentley) needs to get his birth certificate. It takes the clerk a while to find it because … Jamie was adopted. The clerk tells a startled Jamie the files show his real father murdered his mother when he was just three months old. Jamie asks his assistant to find out if his father has been paroled.
Later that night, Jamie confronts John, who explains how his father killed his mum with a shower head. John says he has a right to call Jamie son because he has housed and taught him, and provided him with love and kindness. Jamie asks if John knew his birth dad. John says he did and he begged Jamie's mother not to marry him, but she did anyway.
He then tells Jamie he'll be able to find his birth dad. Once Jamie does, he can 'look into his black f***ing heart" and decide who he wants to call dad. John admits that, while his soul feels 16, his heart is tired. He never thought that he'd be tired of living while his body was still strong enough to do so. John goes to bed, telling Jamie, "Good night, son." Jamie stays and thinks.
Stream all Yellowstone episodes on Peacock in the US and Paramount Plus in the UK.
