Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 12.With only a few more episodes left, Yellowstone is taking some dark turns as the Taylor Sheridan-created series comes to its inevitable end. If you thought that Kayce (Luke Grimes), Beth (Kelly Reilly), and Rip (Cole Hauser) had gone through enough in the wake of John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) murder, then the Paramount drama might disagree with you. Season 5’s “Counting Coup” takes everything another fateful step forward, and the Dutton Ranch will no longer be the same.

The Dutton Ranch Struggles to Remain Afloat in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Episode 12
Image via Paramount Network

“Counting Coup” opens with the Dutton cowboys, both in Montana and Texas, getting a start on the day. As Teeter (Jennifer Landon) and Colby Mayfield (Denim Richards) talk on the phone, the latter lets it slip that he actually loves Teeter. Despite their separation, she returns the sentiment as they join their respective outfits. As Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) and Carter (Finn Little) discuss the ranch’s future, Rip arrives and reveals his intention to sell some bulls and auction some horses. Though Lloyd wrestles with the news, wondering if they’re going out of business, Rip believes that he’s trying to save it. “Uncle Sam wants his pound of flesh,” he explains. “And we don’t want to give it to him in land.”

Rip immediately calls Travis Wheatley (Sheridan), who has been teaching Jimmy Hurdstrom (Jefferson White) how to become a horse trainer. Rip asks Travis to help him sell a considerable number of the Dutton Ranch’s horses for “top dollar,” a task Travis wants to do the right way rather than an impromptu fire sale. But things get a bit tougher when Rip asks Travis to tell Jimmy about John Dutton’s death, knowing that Jimmy had a special kinship with the landowner (Jimmy was one of the only branded cowboys John ever allowed to leave the Yellowstone). Heartbroken by the news, Jimmy is told to take a week off to spend time with his bride, Emily (Kathryn Kelly), but instead, he gets right back on the horse.

The Investigation into John Dutton’s Death Continues in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Episode 12
Image via Paramount Network

Back in Bozeman, Jamie (Wes Bentley) is interviewed by Detective Dillard (Rory Cochrane) after Sarah Atwood’s (Dawn Olivieri) murder in the previous episode. Dillard (who was last seen in Helena, making us wonder where his jurisdiction actually lies) questions Jamie about Sarah’s death, telling him that it looks as if she was targeted. But when the detective asks Jamie if he can search through some of Sarah’s things, the Attorney General gets incredibly defensive. “You’re treating me like I’m a suspect,” Jamie cries. “No, I wasn’t,” Dillard responds. “But I will now.” As Dillard leaves to secure a warrant for a search of Jamie’s home, the adopted Dutton rushes upstairs to shred legal documents from Sarah’s bag, which may expose his conflict of interest with Market Equities’ airport project.

At the Dutton Ranch, Monica (Kelsey Asbille) makes breakfast for everyone when Beth arrives, vowing never to step foot in that dining room ever again. Instead, they eat in the kitchen. But when Monica asks Tate (Brecken Merrill) to get his father, Kayce is interrupted by an incoming call from Dillard. The detective tells Kayce that Jamie was acting terribly suspicious, but that doesn’t surprise the younger Dutton. Kayce reveals that Jamie may be connected to both Sarah’s murder and his father’s, and Dillard makes it clear to Kayce that Jamie is currently in “the blast radius.” “He put himself there,” Kayce replies.

From there, Kayce calls Cade McPherson (Jake McLaughlin), who gives him Grant Horton’s (Matt Gerald) home address. It’s clear that Kayce has plans to deal with avenging his father’s murder. But before those plans can be carried out, Kayce wastes no time showing Beth a news article about Sarah’s death. “The police are circling Jamie,” he explains. “This is all gonna come to a head real quick.” “He will ruin this family’s name to save his own,” Beth replies, asking Kayce to leave Jamie to her to deal with.

Related John Dutton’s Death and Kevin Costner’s Exit From ‘Yellowstone,’ Explained Why didn’t Kevin Costner return? Well, it’s complicated.

Another Cowboy Dies in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Episode 12

If you thought that the Duttons had gone through enough this season, then prepare for more tragedy. As Rip and Lloyd do some ranching on the Yellowstone, and the ranch hands down in Texas continue to round up their stock for sale, things get a bit dicey in Montana as Carter checks on one of the horses in the barn. After it knocks down its water bowl, Carter tries to help when he’s soon cornered by the wild animal. When Colby finds Carter, the pair come up with a plan to get him out of there. As Colby enters, he’ll distract the horse while Carter scrambles out. Well, it works, and Carter makes it out, only for the horse to stomp on Colby. Things get violent fast as Colby is trampled, forcing Carter to have to shoot the horse dead. But it’s too little, too late, as Colby has been killed. By the time Rip and Lloyd find Carter, the boy is heartbroken, standing over Colby’s lifeless corpse and blaming himself. “It’s not your fault,” Rip tells him. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.”

Rather than keep Colby’s death from the rest of his outfit, Rip immediately calls Ryan (Ian Bohen) and asks him to relay the news to Teeter. When Ryan — who was Colby’s best friend — delivers the news, it doesn’t go well. Teeter cries out as that powerful Yellowstone score booms. When Ethan (Ethan Lee) asks Rip if everything’s okay, the Yellowstone foreman tells him, “Nothing’s okay, Ethan. Not anymore.” As Rip, Lloyd, and Ethan move Colby’s body to the truck, they drive off, leaving Carter behind to mourn. In Texas, Teeter, Ryan, and the gang grieve in their own way as they load up their horses and set off for Montana. “It was quick,” Ryan tells Teeter. “He never saw it coming.” Though he and the rest of the crew take comfort in the fact that Colby didn’t suffer, Teeter reacts a bit differently. “He’s a cowboy, suffering’s the job,” she posits. “I just wish he would’ve suffered a little longer, so I could say goodbye.”

Following Colby’s death, Kayce and Tate wander the Dutton family graveyard — the same one where John will be buried, and the same one where Kayce and Monica’s other son is buried as well. “This where you wanna be buried?” Tate asks his father, but Kayce tells him it’s for him to decide, saying that he wants to be buried wherever Tate is. “Here is not our home,” Kayce concludes. “Not anymore.” Though Tate tells his father that he doesn’t want to bury him anywhere, Kayce quickly disagrees. “Well, I sure hope you do, son, because I couldn’t survive the alternative.” Just then, Kayce gets a call that gives him the green light for his secret covert operation.

Beth Plays Family Therapist for the First Time in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Episode 12
Image via Paramount Network

“Counting Coup” offers us a look at Beth Dutton’s softer side this week following Colby’s death. As she enters the bunkhouse hoping to collect some of Colby’s things for his grieving mother, she packs everything of Colby’s except his hat, per Lloyd’s request. In the old cowboy’s mind, Teeter will “need something to cling to.” Afterward, Beth goes to see Carter, and the boy is struggling to come to terms with his part in Colby’s death. As she mothers him, she explains that he has no reason to blame himself. “Colby made a choice. He saw you in trouble, and he chose to help you,” Beth notes. “And I’m sure glad he did.” Beth tells her surrogate child that he shouldn’t wrestle with this without his family. “I don’t got a family,” he tells her. “Sure you do,” she replies.

As Beth continues to make her rounds around the ranch, she finds her husband in the main house. Beth, who has been through enough tragedy herself to know, lights a fire and tells Rip that he needs to throw something. “I’m not gonna watch you bottle this up all night,” she tells him, noting that she knows he’s blaming himself. Throwing a glass into the fire generates an eruption that proves satisfactory, though it doesn’t make Rip’s pain go away. “You know, when I find myself in the position of therapist, this family’s pretty f**ked,” Beth tells him before asking what it is he needs to get through this. “All I ever need is time and you, Beth,” he admits. “It’s a dangerous job, and one day it’ll kill me too.” Hopefully, that isn’t foreshadowing Rip’s fate in the finale…

Kayce Finally Makes a Choice in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Episode 12
Image via Paramount Network

That night, Kayce prepares for whatever operation that he and Cade have put together, though Monica wishes that he wouldn’t go. “What I’m doing isn’t best for the ranch,” Kayce tells her. “It’s for you, it’s for us.” Though he refuses to tell her what exactly he’s up to, he does explain that his actions here are associated with the vision he once had that marked the end of his family. “I can see it now. I know what to do. Believe in me,” Kayce says. “I’ve always believed in you, Kayce,” Monica responds, forcing him to promise to come back to them. “You have my word,” he replies. The next morning, Monica makes breakfast for the family once again, but when Beth arrives and asks about Kayce, he’s nowhere to be found.

We cut down to Texas, where Grant Horton is coaching his daughter’s soccer game. Unlike the man we met in “Desire Is All You Need,” Grant appears to be a normal father and a family man. But Kayce knows better. When Grant and his daughter get in the car, Kayce hops in and points a gun at the girl, forcing Grant to drive. “Do you know who I am?” Kayce asks. Grant tries to deny it, but Kayce makes it clear that he knows that Grant is, in part, responsible for his father’s death. He tells him that he should kill him in front of his family for what he did to John, but that he won’t. Kayce makes it clear that he can “touch” Grant wherever he wants to, but chooses to let him (and his family) go, for now. Kayce tells Grant that he ought to watch his back and exits the vehicle. When Mo (Moses Brings Plenty) picks Kayce up, they call the Dutton’s actions a “counting coup,” believing that the assassin got the message.

Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 airs Sundays on Paramount Network. Previous seasons can be streamed on Peacock.

The Dutton Ranch struggles to remain afloat amidst even more tragedy.ProsKayce proves he can be scarier than even his father’s killers.Beth had some heartfelt moments playing family therapist.Finally more material for Carter (and Jimmy)! ConsWe didn’t expect another Dutton-related death so soon…It feels a bit like we’re dragging out the inevitable here with Jamie.

A ranching family in Montana faces off against others encroaching on their land.Release Date June 20, 2018 Creator Cast Kevin Costner , Finn Little , Brecken Merrill , Gil Birmingham , Denim Richards , Ian Bohen , Danny Huston , Kelly Reilly , Forrie J. Smith , Cole Hauser , Kelsey Asbille , Wes Bentley , Jefferson White , Luke Grimes , Ryan Bingham Seasons 5 Story By Taylor Sheridan Network Paramount Streaming Service(s) Paramount+ , Peacock Franchise(s) Yellowstone Expand

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