‘Yellowstone’: Which Enemies of the Dutton Family Have Already Been Eliminated as Suspects?

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Yellowstone season 4 premiere revealed that all of the Duttons survived the attacks.
• Beth thinks Jamie is behind the attacks, John and Kayce do not.
• The Duttons have a long list of enemies, so, which ones have been eliminated as suspects?

Yellowstone season 4 opened with more than 10 minutes of non-stop, real-time action that had fans on the edge of their seats. After the attacks on John (Kevin Costner), Beth (Kelly Reilly), and Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), the chaos continued on the Dutton ranch.

The first two episodes of the season ultimately revealed that everyone under attack was able to survive. But they didn’t answer the other big question fans had on their minds — who was behind the attacks? The episodes did, however, eliminate a few suspects.

All of the Duttons survived the attacks in the ‘Yellowstone’ season 3 finale

As the Yellowstone season 4 premiere unfolded, it was revealed that John, Beth, and Kayce all survived the attacks that happened at the end of season 3. But all three were left with both physical and emotional scars.

Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) found John on the side of the road after he had been shot multiple times. The ranch hand was able to get his boss medical care fast enough to save him. Meanwhile, Beth was in shock as she walked out of Schwartz & Meyer after a bomb went off. She was severely bloodied and injured, with multiple burns, bruises, and scrapes.

Kayce was armed and ready for the gunmen entering the Livestock Commissioner’s office. He tossed a grenade and took out the men coming after him, and then went on a rampage in search of the militiamen responsible.

Beth thinks Jamie is responsible, John and Kayce don’t

At the end of the season 4 premiere, Beth made it clear that she thought her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) was behind the attacks on the family. She also promised to kill him, and she said she would do it herself.

However, John and Kayce aren’t convinced. Kayce doesn’t think Jamie would be able to hire the militia because they wouldn’t want to work for him.

“You know he [Jamie] didn’t sell that land for the airport, he leased it to them. He did that to keep the ranch together, and he did that for you,” Kayce tells John. “Killers don’t seek their victim’s approval.”

Kayce believes the militia “did it for themselves” in retaliation for what happened at the end of season 2, when the Duttons rescued Tate. That incident ended with multiple militiamen dead.

Which Dutton enemies did ‘Yellowstone’ eliminate as suspects?

Jamie wasn’t necessarily eliminated as a suspect in the attacks on the Duttons, but Kayce did give a good argument as to why it wasn’t his estranged brother. The second episode of season 4 “Phantom Pain” did, however, reveal that Market Equities wasn’t behind the attacks.

Not only did Rip kill Roark (Josh Holloway) after Wade Morrow gave up his name at the end of season 3. But new character Caroline Walker (Jackie Weaver) — Market Equities CEO — was explicitly told by the company lawyer that the attack on the Duttons had nothing to do with them.

It wasn’t the Broken Rock Reservation

The Duttons and Chief Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) from the Broken Rock Reservation don’t get along. But sometimes, they are forced to work together against a common enemy. In episode 2, it was revealed that the rez had nothing to do with the attacks in a couple of different ways.

First, the overtly racist man playing blackjack at the casino claimed to be the “party planner” of the attack. Which indicated that Rainwater and Broken Rock had nothing to do with it. Second, Mo (Moses Brings Plenty) questioned the “party planner” about who he was working for. And finally, the post-episode promo featured a scene of Rainwater telling John that he knew who was responsible for the attack on his family.

‘Yellowstone’ fans theorize it was Malcolm Beck

With two major suspects cleared — and one more essentially ruled out — the fan theory that Malcolm Beck (Neal McDonough) was behind the attacks is starting to gain more steam. As Taste of Country points out, fans never saw a dead body. And the Beck Brothers had ties to the militia.

Kayce has already managed to track down and kill four of the militiamen responsible for shooting John. And as the promos have promised for weeks, season 4 is all about revenge. Fans will find out who that revenge will be against as the season unfolds.

New episodes of Yellowstone air Sunday nights on the Paramount Network.