They ended up using the satellite phone in Clara’s saddlebag. After an idyllic day on the Range in yellowstone Season 5 Episode 6 (“Cigarettes, Whiskey, The Meadow, And You”), collecting all the cattle and even finishing the first phase with some time left, a day of excitement doing cowboy shit on an epic level, an experienced rancher and John Dutton’s old pal Emmett Walsh sat back in his saddle, closed his eyes and died on the trail. The governor could only look at his friend with wistful resignation. “I couldn’t have thought of a better death if you’d paid me.”
As the thousand-strong herd descends on the ranch and the gatherers return with them to the wagon hut set up in preparation for the fire festivities, John rides ahead so he can break the bad news to Emmett’s wife. It’s a moment captured for the news crew’s cameras, and while it wasn’t John’s intention to use it to generate political capital, that’s exactly what’s happening. The President of the United States is in Montana — Angela Blue Thunder is his director of affairs Native Americans and even organized an event with the Prez right under their opponent Thomas Rainwater’s nose, forcing the chief to shake hands with Martin Kills Many (Christian Wassana), Blue Thunder’s personally nurtured candidate – and while John says, he has “nothing to say to that idiot,” the branding and comfort of Emmett’s widow allows him to play his roots as the icing on the cake -Earth Montanan does important work for the state and its constituents.
And that’s exactly the kind of Teflon touch that will complicate Sarah Atwood’s nascent plan. Last week’s hanky panky in the Attorney General’s office resulted in her spending the night and a full day at Jamie’s home, where she told him that Montana is burying his head in the sand, along with John’s campaign promise “progress is stopping.” with me”. that she will pledge to put Jamie in the governor’s seat. With another Dutton at the helm, the market-share airport contract would resume, and Montana would presumably move toward a different kind of progression. Jamie, whose deep inhibition still forces him to analyze why Sarah would even be in his bed in the first place, can’t at first imagine how his ambition could be supercharged by the addition of Sarah’s tactics. But when they watch the news footage of his father comforting Emmett’s widow, they see him falling through the lens. Teflon? Yes. Luck seems to find John Dutton. But he can’t win if he’s not there. “I don’t think we can let him show up for a fight, Jamie.” Sarah Atwood will pose difficulties for John’s ongoing political fortunes.
“Is that more your kind of beauty?” Rip has shown Beth a beautiful piece of secluded meadow where she says it’s all she ever needed. Well, the Meadow and Rip and Whiskey and Cigarettes, two things her resourceful husband so thoughtfully packed. “You’re a perfect motherfucker,” Beth tells Rip while taking a sip from his bottle and shaking one of Marlboro Red. This meeting revealed a different side of Beth. Out here she is free to explore, free to immerse herself in work, free to ride alongside her husband and not constantly plotting to destroy an enemy. The light of the meadow has done her soul good.
From Kayce, who can teach Tate the intricacies of rounding up the herd, to Clara’s heart that beats twice as fast when it comes to being a part of this traditional cowboy activity, the coming together becomes a celebration for all who participate. One of the last things John said to Emmett was about perfection that so often exists in an instant like “little slow motion” and that that perfect day at the range proved otherwise. Even the elderly man’s death became part of the lore of the congregation, part of how much they all needed the event as a reminder of why they live and work where they do. And to that end, Monica says something really interesting to Summer while they’re peeling potatoes at the ranch. “Cities are the opposite of nature. They defy him, which is why they always crumble.” No matter who owns the Duttons’ land, it will continue to exist, just as it did when Monica’s people were his stewards. Life in Montana is no less ephemeral than anywhere else. But its majesty and splendor reminds the people who live there of their own humanity.
At the Hoedown, Gator has prepared a feast of roasted and smoked meats, mashed potatoes with lots of butter and bacon fat – Summer learns that vegans are encouraged to have a cheat day – and heaps of corn on the cob. Emmett’s widow helps serve. “She said it would embarrass Emmett to an end if his death cast a shadow on that branding,” says Senator John Perry when she points this out to her. “She’s just as cowboy as he is.” Abby and her band play a few tunes and Walker, the singing cowboy, performs a song that evokes the spirit of John Prine. Carter’s cowboy training continues as he helps steady a calf for the coming of hot poker, and Rip and Beth take it all in over a round of Coors Banquets. It’s almost as idyllic as the time spent at the actual gathering, and another reminder of life on the ranch, among the cowboys. So why does it feel like this yellowstone speeding toward tragedy? Almost every time this show leans into the homegrown beauty of everyday life on the ranch, it’s with a sense of melancholy, as if they were moments in the fading light of a day that no one can ever get back. And given her conversations with Jamie, it seems Sarah Atwood is primed to become the poison of Montana’s idyll.
Hooked Rocking Y’s:
- With Abby’s gig at the Hoedown, Lainey Wilson provided a big spark for this week’s yellowstone music clock. The singer-songwriter got a little closer to Ryan — they don’t know where their relationship is going, but they’ll ride it for as long as possible — and dedicated the cheeky country-rocker “Hold My Halo” to her husband. .
- Elsewhere on “Cigarettes, Whiskey, A Meadow and You” we also heard Michigan-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Myron Elkins perform “Factories, Farms & Amphetamines,” which is the kind of song title that really fits yellowstone‘s philosophies of land value and local way of life in relation to all the crazy shit that happens around town.
Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @Glenganges
