The last Dutton standing in Yellowstone Season 3’s bloody finale was brooding lawyer Jamie (Wes Bentley, above), who’d recently learned he was adopted by the cattle-ranching clan. Could that discovery have driven him to orchestrate the violent incidents that may have mortally wounded patriarch John (Kevin Costner), heir apparent Kayce (Luke Grimes) and daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly)?
“He’s killed before. He’s deeply hurt. It’s possible,” says Bentley, who promises the two-hour premiere reveals a lot (but not quite everything) about the bullets that flew at John and Kayce and the bomb that exploded near Beth. “In that first hour especially, it’s an energy level we don’t always have in the show,” he adds. That’s saying something considering the contemporary Western is riddled with shoot-outs and chases on everything from helicopters to horseback.
Whoever survives will face a powerful pair: Jamie and his cynical biological father, Garrett Randall (Will Patton, one of Bentley’s idols), who offers the connection Jamie craves. “Jamie’s looking for what he didn’t get out of the Duttons: actual familial love,” the actor says. “He resents being useful. He resents being smart. I don’t think he enjoys his life behind the desk anymore.”
So what will an unleashed Jamie and devious Garrett (who served time for murdering Jamie’s mom) get up to in Season 4? Probably trying to get their hands on the Dutton land, we’d bet. Bentley’s answer: “Trouble.”
Yellowstone, Season 4 Premiere, Sunday, November 7, 8/7c, Paramount Network
