Dismayed by the Duttons: Season five of “Yellowstone” fails to develop characters and storylines

If you ever walk into a bar in Montana, do NOT strike up a conversation with a blond lady wearing way too much mascara. After season five of Yellowstone copied and pasted their overused scene of protagonist Beth Dutton’s verbal brutality — along with every other stereotype from past seasons — I’m appalled that the entire state of Montana doesn’t know to avoid her by now.

Following the ever-sneering Beth and her family — the Duttons — as they fight to save their expansive Montana ranch (again), Yellowstone’s season five retains the same storyline as seasons one through four, with only a few new players. Since the two-episode season premiere on Nov. 13, I can predict each episode of Yellowstone just as I know it’ll air every Sunday at 7 p.m. The producers’ version of a plot twist was streaming on Paramount Network instead of Peacock.

That’s right, you can’t watch the Duttons fight to save their ranch with the $4.99-a-month Peacock subscription you bought last year solely for Yellowstone (or was that just my family?). But the predictable season isn’t worth the $9.99-a-month Paramount Plus subscription — opt for the free trial if anything.

As much as I adore watching Beth harass another unsuspecting man or Jamie cower behind his sister and dad, season five was a missed opportunity for their character development to propel the storyline. Instead, we get the same big-shot, corporate property developers smashing glasses into walls in frustration of the Duttons’ relentlessness. After the season four finale wrung in 9.3 million views, I’m sure the show’s producers thought the audience would eat up another formulaic season.

Well, I lost my appetite. 

Skittering far too close to the lengthy “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Friends” territory, Yellowstone has fallen into a trap of stereotypical characters. It’s their patented storyline: the family’s newest enemies conspire to take the ranch, the Duttons violate moral reasoning to protect their living and John Dutton — the father — wistfully gazes into his snow-capped mountains to remind us why he won’t just sell the land and retire.

On top of that, scenes attempting to add depth to backstories were needless and sloppily placed. Flashbacks of Beth and Rip’s past relationship and John’s early career reveal little about the characters and were flung randomly between scenes of John’s inauguration as governor and corporate villains’ scheme sessions to steal the ranch. 

To be fair, less than half of the season has aired — there’s still time for Jamie to grow a pair or John to take a nap. But the first four episodes haven’t provided much more than Kayce whispering his vague prophecy of “the end of the Duttons” and John desperately clinging to power he doesn’t want (*sigh*, life is so hard as the governor of Montana). Every viewer knows that the family will prevail again, so no amount of suspenseful country instrumentals will convince me that season five ends with a novel outcome.

Thankfully, the acting was just as compelling as past seasons. But actor Kelly Reilly’s ability to make us root for the narcissistic Beth and Wes Bentley’s convincing portrayal of the cowardly Jamie only make it even more frustrating that the directors didn’t further showcase their actors’ talent this season through character development.

Despite the season’s flaws, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching. I’m still drawn to the Montana ranch charm and the Dutton’s vanishing, traditional lifestyle that challenges our idea of modern progress. But I would’ve preferred the show’s creators to develop the story to remind me why I pressed play.