Spoilers ahead for season four of Yellowstone.
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If you're a fan of the Paramount Network's western series Yellowstone, you've now spent four seasons watching the Dutton family deal with the drama of protecting their land, the largest ranch in the entire country. Season four was full of exposition, each Dutton family member dealing with their own crisis while building towards an unexpected murder in the finale. As much as I love watching the dynamic of Beth and Jamie, I felt like there were so many things that didn't get addressed this season that I still want to see.
If you're a Beth Dutton fan (and who isn't?) this season was full of classic Beth moments as she continued to fight to keep her family's home intact. As much as I love Beth, John, and Jimmy, who all seemed to be the focus of this season, there are so many other characters in the Yellowstone world that I want to see more of next season -- Monica and Kayce as well as Broken Rock Reservation in general.
Here's everything we're hoping Yellowstone's creator Taylor Sheridan brings more of in season 5.
Read More: 'Yellowstone' Recap: The Dutton Family Feud Reaches a Tipping Point
1. A focus on the Broken Rock Reservation
While season four showed Kayce and Monica moving back to the reservation to give Tate a fresh start, we really didn't get much else. Chief Thomas Rainwater is such an interesting character and we didn't get much of him or see his lawyer, Angela Blue Thunder, in this season at all. In season three, Angela made it clear that she didn't think the Chief was being very aggressive in his ambitions to regain the Dutton's property for his people. We briefly got to see Rainwater engage with the new Market Equities CEO Caroline Warner, but I want to see more of his relationship with John Dutton moving forward.
Since the Yellowstone prequel series 1883 is currently underway, I'm thinking it will lead to flashbacks showing how James Dutton came to take over the indigenous land. This was a dynamic that was introduced with a bang in the series pilot and I think it's an important part of the show.
2. Carter and Beth
Carter, an orphan who Beth meets at the hospital while her father is healing from his attack was such a compelling character to introduce in season four.
Beth takes Carter in to give him a second chance working at the ranch. We know that Beth and Rip won't be able to have any children of their own (thanks to Jamie) and although Beth tells Carter that she'll never be his mother, I'm hoping we get to see Beth form more of a motherly relationship with Carter. It would also be interesting to see Rip take on more of a fatherly role instead of just the 'boss of the bunkhouse.'
3. The Bunkhouse
While we did get that crazy bunkhouse drama of Lloyd vs Walker, it seemed like the bunkhouse boys (and Teeter) were barely in season four. This is probably because there was so much of a focus on covering Jimmy down in Texas. It seems likely that Jimmy's exit at the end of the season is setting him up to star in the new spinoff set on the Four Sixes Ranch, so hopefully, that opens up some more time to show what the bunkhouse is up to. I love Lloyd, Colby and the rest of the gang. And they all wear the Yellowstone brand so they deserve a bit more coverage. I could do without the Walker and Laramie drama though...just saying.
4. Monica
Monica didn't get nearly enough screentime in season four. She's such an fascinating character, caught between two worlds (hers and her husband's). Not to mention she's a college professor at Montana State (at least I think she still is?). Outside of helping her son, Tate, as he struggled with the aftermath of killing a man in order to save Monica in the season premiere, and her move back to the reservation, we saw too little of Monica this season.
Season three showed us her strength and bravery; she even went undercover to help capture a rapist and murderer. I want to see more of Monica moving forward, especially now that she's back on the reservation. Not to mention, Kelsey Asbille is just a really great actor. Just watch Taylor Sheridan's Wind River and you'll agree.
5. Interesting Flashbacks
While I enjoyed seeing the 1883 flashbacks this season, I miss the flashbacks with Josh Lucas as young John Dutton...anyone else? I'm wondering if it could be interesting to show more of those, but I'm not quite sure what the story would be. It would be really cool to see more of John Dutton Sr, who Dabney Coleman played in a season two flashback.
6. New Villains
I totally understand that, realistically, we can't get rid of Market Equities overnight, but I'm ready for a new opponent. It's been two seasons of Market Equities so far, and I kind of liked how the first three seasons featured different villains. I'd like to see Beth finally crush Caroline Warner and get rid of the airport construction so that we can get back to the Duttons vs more scrappy bad guys dynamic. I also think that Taylor Sheridan has to have some more interesting characters up his sleeve...I'm just over here waiting for the next Beck brothers.
7. The Fight for Governor Finalized
With Beth now in control of Jamie, I'm not really sure what this means for his political career. This probably means he'll drop out of the race for governor. (Does he have a choice?) So does this mean John will have to deal with that position? Or is there a new opponent he'll be facing instead of Jamie? Either way, I'm hoping this gets resolved quickly because it didn't seem like much of anything happened in season four outside of the announcements. Also, if John becomes governor he can get rid of Market Equities and make room for new opponents. I'm ready for it!
8. Kayce and Jamie
I'm very anxious to see how Kayce and Jamie's relationship evolves now that Beth has blackmailed Jamie. He and Kayce seemed to still be on good brotherly terms (and Kayce doesn't know what Jamie did to Beth) but they barely got any screentime together this season. I'm wondering if Jamie will try to get close to his brother and father again in season five now that he has no one else on his side. I'm kind of assuming here that Christina won't stick around if Jamie's not able to win the governor seat. But then what does that mean for Jamie and his son? As a father himself, this is something that Kayce could probably help Jamie with, which would be fun to watch.
