Beth Dutton is by her own definition a "tornado” in a world ruled by men. Love her or hate her, the Dutton daughter will do anything for the ones she loves. Some think Beth can be a little too harsh – it was recently revealed that Kelly Reilly has even received death threats while playing this role. Personally, I love Beth and have since the first episode. During our first introduction to her, she threatens to destroy a company in a matter of minutes like it's nothing. She fears no-one and will stop at nothing to succeed in her plans. Exactly my kind of fictional character, as they make for excellent television.
Narrowing down my top 10 moments was difficult as Beth is often the highlight of the episode for me – whether she’s ruining the lives of businessmen all over the country or letting us see a rare glimpse into her soft side when she’s with her husband, Rip Wheeler. Seeing their relationship grow throughout the show has been a particular series highlight. I’m so disappointed Kelly Reilly was once again snubbed for an Emmy nomination this year, as she’s well overdue for the honor.
This should go without saying, but SPOILER warning for seasons 1-4 of Yellowstone ahead!
10. Season 3, Episode 2 “Freight Trains and Monsters” - Beth & Rip’s Dirt Dance
A wolf howl breaks the silence during a peaceful night on the ranch. Hearing the strange noises, Rip rushes down to the barn to find Beth howling at the night sky before collapsing into the dirt. “In 35 years, I have never been alone on this ranch,” Beth explains, while Rip still looks confused as to what the howling has to do with this. Beth suggests they could take off all their clothes and run naked through the field while nobody else is home to see them. Not thrilled about the idea of a naked field run, Rip declines the offer but offers to keep watch while Beth does so. “Is there anything you ever wanted to do but you didn’t do, because everybody would watch you?” Beth asks, attempting to get Rip to loosen up a little. Rip thinks for a second, then hits the lights and
Lady May (Tyler Childers) drifts through the outdoor speakers. The horse arena turns into their own private dancefloor under the stars. Rip helps Beth to her feet and the two share an intimate slow dance. Moments like this where Beth lets her guard down are some of her best ones.
9. Season 4, Episode 10 “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops” - Mama Beth
Motherhood is a sore subject for Beth, given her ability to have children was taken from her without her permission and she carries the burden of feeling responsible for her own mother’s death. As she strides through the barn on a mission to speak to Walker, her mind is distracted when Carter calls out “Morning, Mama.” Beth replies “Hey baby,” without thinking, then freezes in horror. She tells Carter he can’t call her that, because it’s not true. He is visibly hurt by Beth’s rejection, explaining that she’d been acting like a mom to him so he thought she could be one. “I’ve been acting like your friend, which is what I am,” Beth replies. “You lost your mother, kid. You don’t get another. I lost mine. Same goes for me.” You can see the pain in Beth’s expression as she doesn’t want to hurt Carter, but perhaps realizes she’s been too soft with him. Destroying companies is Beth’s forte, but parenting a teenage boy is not. She drives her point home with a blunt “I’m nobody’s mother. Ever. You got it?” A heartbreaking scene, but one that reminds us that Beth is still coming to terms with her old wounds.
8. Season 4, Episode 8 “No Kindness for the Coward” - The Dinner Scene
Beth never finishes a meal at the dining room table due to her long-standing hatred of it, but this dinner might be her personal best. She delights in taunting John by informing Rip and Carter about fruits that are good for the prostate, a holistic doctor that specializes in tantric healing and the erogenous zones of the body. John finally takes the bait and accuses Beth of getting her revenge at the dinner table. “How is me trying to prevent you from getting prostate cancer revenge?” Beth deadpans, while an oblivious Carter questions what the revenge is meant to be for. When Rip asks “Beth, you’re not gonna do this at breakfast, are you?” Beth finally gives up on her prostate health lesson and storms out. It takes Rip half a meal to pinpoint what nobody else has in 25 years: Beth’s problem is the table. The dining room. The empty chairs that to Beth, represent dead family members and the pain those memories bring. Rip listens to his angry fiancée as she rants that they have four different forks and spoons laid out, including an oyster spoon. “DO WE EAT OYSTERS? No.” Rip then suggests they can eat in another room, at a different table, and you can see Beth’s pain and anger levels drop instantly as she realizes that sometimes, the most practical solution is the easiest one.
7. Season 2, Episode 9 “Enemies by Monday” - Beth Rescues Monica
A racist shop owner tries to frame Monica (Beth’s sister-in-law) for theft. When Beth arrives, it becomes clear to the shop owner and two local cops that they’ve made a very big mistake. After taking photographic evidence and reminding the cops of Monica’s rights, Beth points out that she went to high school with one of them that the other was Kayce’s babysitter, many years ago. The cops quietly leave before Beth makes their lives worse. Shop owner Veronica isn’t getting off that easy, though. “Wait, don’t go,” Beth says to Monica as she locks the shop door. “You’ll miss all the fun.” Two shop assistants slip out the back, not wanting to stick around for the carnage Beth is about to cause. Beth picks up a necklace stand and smashes the glass countertops one by one. “I remember when you gave out hand jobs for lunch money, Veronica. That was before the boob job.” More countertops smash. “And the dermabrasion. And the doctor dumb enough to marry you.” At this point, Beth is single-handedly keeping the local glaziers in business. After Beth humiliates Veronica a little longer, Monica finally steps in. Veronica admits she judged Monica’s skin and apologizes. Satisfied that she has inflicted an appropriate punishment, Beth exits with Monica, leaving behind an expensive reminder for the locals not to cross the Dutton family.
6. Season 4, Episode 10 “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops” - The Wedding
Only Beth Dutton could kidnap a priest at gunpoint and throw herself an impromptu wedding while wearing a shiny gold dress and a fur coat. After throwing the lawn furniture out of her chosen spot, she informs Rip they’re getting married right then and there. Rip smiles and shakes his head at Beth’s antics before quickly retrieving his mother’s ring and his best man, Lloyd. An exasperated John tries to be the voice of reason “Beth, you can’t wear that dress at your wedding.” Beth simply replies, “Don’t worry Dad, I won’t be wearing it long.” As Beth walks down the non-existent aisle towards the love of her life, the picturesque mountains provide a beautiful backdrop – just as she decided they would during her proposal. Rip says his vows first, followed by an impatient “Fuck yes, I do” from Beth. Rip then presents her with the ring. “We didn’t have much Beth, we were poor. But it’s yours, and so am I.” This is the happiest I’ve ever seen Beth. The priest asks John for a ride home, revealing exactly how Beth kidnapped him: “Pistol.” Beth quickly interjects “It was just little one. Tiny.” The newlyweds disappear into the house as Lloyd and Carter watch on, laughing. After multiple tragedies in her life, it’s about time Beth had a little happiness.
5. Season 3, Episode 5 “Cowboys and Dreamers” - Beth vs Roarke
Beth is enjoying a drink at a bar when an irate Roarke arrives to accuse Beth of shorting his stock and disrupting his fishing time. “You don’t keep ‘em when you catch ‘em.” Beth points out, not a fan of Roarke’s choice of hobby. “I could respect you if you ate ‘em, that makes sense to me. But of all the shit a trout has to go through in a day...” Roarke plays Beth’s mind games for a while then manages to get the conversation back to Schwartz & Meyer shorting Market Equities stock. He warns Beth that Market Equities can and will hurt Schwartz & Meyer. “Fight us and you’ll lose all your money, and you’ll lose the land.” Beth admits that she agrees with Roarke: that one day, the Dutton family will lose the land. Beth only continues to fight for the land because it’s what John wants, and she will fight for his wishes until the day he dies. After trading a few more insults, the two come to a compromise that Beth will only short Market Equities stock in after-hours trading, so Roarke can fish in peace. “You think you’re up for this fight, Beth. You have no idea how wrong you are,” Roarke says. Not a great decision on his part, as provoking Beth has never ended well for anyone. “Well, right back at you,” Beth responds, closing with a fan favorite line “You are the trailer park. I am the tornado.” Roarke storms out of the bar, leaving the two at an impasse, for now. (Well, we all know how it ended for Roarke.)
4. Season 1, Episode 5 “Coming Home” - Beth & Jamie’s Traumatic Ride Home
While Beth and Jamie have had many disagreements, this one stands out to me because it’s one of very few times we see Beth vulnerable in front of Jamie. After he is summoned to pick up a drunk Beth from the Deerfield Club, the siblings taunt each other in the car until it escalates to punches and slaps. Beth reminds Jamie the reason he’s so soft is because he’s never lost. While he may have physically lost Evelyn and Lee, Beth is adamant it’s not the same as the pain she went through. “I’ll show you the difference,” Beth says, pulling a gun from the glove compartment and pointing it at her own head. The pain and anger is visible in her eyes as she explains “You gotta watch ‘em die to lose ‘em.” Jamie taunts her, thinking she won’t pull the trigger. He should know better than to provoke Beth, yet he looks straight at her and tells her to do it. She pulls the trigger. A shot rings out as Jamie slams on the brakes, the shot having missed Beth’s head. Beth nearly killing herself stuns the siblings into a tense silence before she reiterates her point of having to watch them die to lose them. Jamie manages to take the gun from Beth when she starts to cry, and he tells her, “If hating me keeps you from hating yourself, I’ll be that for you.” He wipes her tears, and the siblings drive home in silence. I think of this scene each time Beth fights with Jamie.
3. Season 4, Episode 6 “I Want to Be Him” - Beth vs Summer
Beth has had plenty of enemies throughout the seasons, but Summer seems to get under Beth’s skin in an entirely new way. After Summer is bailed out of jail by John, Beth is surprised to meet her in the kitchen at breakfast. Beth instantly perceives Summer as a threat and goes full attack mode, grabbing a kitchen knife while a terrified Summer presumes Beth is John’s angry wife and arms herself with a milk bottle. Summer is saved when John enters the kitchen, takes one look at the stand-off and sighs. He attempts to introduce the women, but Beth assumes Summer is a hooker (not even “a good one”) and the two circle each other like sharks while trading insults. After disarming both women, John explains exactly how Summer got there. Naturally, Beth isn’t prepared to let it slide just yet. While the three share an awkward breakfast, Beth manages to get a few more verbal jabs in about Summer’s diet and medical beliefs. After Summer informs Beth she should get a new doctor, Beth snaps “you should get tested for chlamydia, you fucking hippie.” Following one last exchange, she finally leaves John and Summer to enjoy what’s left of their breakfast, having ruined their morning.
2. Season 2, Episode 7 “Resurrection Day” - The Attack at Schwartz & Meyer
This moment technically begins with Beth and Rip on a rooftop date, when she cuts him off as he’s about to tell Beth he loves her. “Tell me when it saves me,” she says, an ominous feeling of what’s to come. The next day, two armed men enter Beth’s office at Schwartz and Meyer. Beth manages to send a quick text to Rip for help before the men begin their assault. Throughout the show, this is one of the most brutal, terrifying moments but Beth refuses to give her attackers the satisfaction of seeing her scared. She manages to stab one of her attackers in the chest and the other in the leg with a letter opener before the two men beat her up, along with her assistant Jason. “They wanna see you scared. Don’t give ‘em the satisfaction,” Beth says moments before one of the men shoots Jason in the head. This only enrages Beth further and I’m in awe of Kelly Reilly’s performance during this scene. After taunting her attackers further “You want me to cry, huh? Cry and scream and try to get away?” Beth comes dangerously close to being shot herself before Rip explodes into the room, killing both men. It’s only then that Beth lets her guard down and we see her fear and panic. Still furious, she grabs a large ashtray off the shelf and smashes one of the men in the face with it before Rip picks her up and tries to calm her down. “I love you,” Rip whisperers, holding a battered Beth in his arms as the moment comes full circle.
1. Season 3, Episode 7 “The Beating” - Beth Proposes to Rip
In a show full of tough cowboys and murder, this quiet moment where Beth proposes to Rip is my number one. Reminiscent of the beautiful scene in season 2, episode 10 where Beth reads John’s letter to Rip, this time Beth hands him a black ring box while the pair sit on the porch of their little ranch house. “I didn’t think you were a diamonds and gold kinda girl,” she quips as Rip tries to work out exactly what she’s up to this time. “It means that you have me, that I’m yours. It means “come live your life with me,” only thing I ask is that you outlive me, so I never have to spend another day without you,” Beth explains. Rip sits quietly for a moment, processing, before responding “I can try and do that.” After confirming it’s a yes, Beth informs Rip she’s already settled the matter with her father and that it won’t be a courthouse affair. She decides it will just be the two of them, their family and friends (should Beth make one) in front of the mountains. “There is no more you and I, there is only us.” Beth being brave enough to push past her fear of commitment and ask the man she loves to marry her – and making sure there wouldn’t be any issues with John, saving Rip the indignity of asking – makes this my top Beth moment.
Honorable Mentions: Beth making her way out of the ruined Schwartz & Meyer building in the season 4 premiere and promptly asking someone for a cigarette? Classic. Beth’s many run-ins with Dan (RIP), Roarke (RIP), Willa, Bob and Caroline are always fun to watch, but for me Beth really shines when she’s causing havoc or spending a quiet moment with the man she loves. Beth’s clashes with Jamie continue to escalate and are always fascinating to me. Walker has also helped Beth when she felt she had no one else to turn to – he helped Beth ride a horse in season 1 and gave her a space to get her emotions out after a disagreement with John in season 4. Carter has also made an impact on Beth’s life in season 4, and I look forward to seeing more of how he fits into Beth’s world in season 5.
Thoughts, fellow Yellowstone fans? Have any personal favorites that didn’t quite make this list? Comment below!
Yellowstone Season 5 premieres Sunday, November 13 on the Paramount Network.
