Yellowstone season 1 episode 5 recap: an awkward homecoming (2024)

NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Yellowstone season 1 episode 5, "Coming Home."

After John (Kevin Costner) sent Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) to jail for holding his cattle hostage, is Rainwater going to return the favor by putting Kayce (Luke Grimes) in legal jeopardy? Here's how it all played out in Yellowstone season 1 episode 5.

The wrong Dutton

John, Rip (Cole Hauser) and Jamie (Wes Bentley) look at some high-priced stallions being sold by Travis (Taylor Sheridan). Their shopping is put on hold when Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Brecken Merrill) show up.

After getting the basics of what happened with Kayce, John sends Jamie to the reservation, telling him not to come back without Kayce. John promises Monica they'll get Kayce back, but after that they need to think about their situation. "Living day to day isn't living, it's surviving," he tells her.

Rainwater and Police Chief Waters (Atticus Todd) question Kayce. They found the bodies with gunshot wounds that match the ballistics of the barrel Waters had previously given Kayce. In a tough situation, Kayce explains what happened with the girl, saying it wasn't his call not to tell the police, it was her father's. Rainwater reminds him what is right isn't always legal.

Jamie arrives. When he hears the ballistics match Waters' gun, he questions if there is any hard evidence against Kayce. Rainwater suggests they can find a more eloquent solution than dragging this out in court. Jamie makes sure Kayce gets his original barrel back and leaves with Kayce. Rainwater says they may have been worried about the wrong Dutton.

Walker, Texas rancher

Rip waits outside a prison to find a new ranch hand. He talks to a cowboy named Walker (Ryan Binghman), who has plenty of experience working ranches down in Texas. He was in prison for manslaughter, saying he got in a bar fight and the guy he punched just never got up. Rip says if he wants to work at the Yellowstone he has to pay a price. With no other prospects, Walker agrees.

Beth makes a new friend

Beth (Kelly Reilly) has drinks with her boss (Michael Nouri), who wants her to come back to Salt Lake, but she reaffirms she's staying in Montana, with eyes on killing Dan's (Danny Huston) company. When she sees him and his wife Victoria (Barret Swatek) arrive at the bar, she makes a move.

She joins the two of them at the bar and quickly buddies up to Victoria, promising to show her a good time. When Victoria steps away, Dan tries to get Beth to leave, but she says her job is to not just go after him, but to chop down his whole family tree.

That night, Dan makes a call to someone asking for them to come and help him.

Job offers

When John plays with Tate, Monica doesn't see the man she has heard stories about. John says being a grandparent gives him the chance to do the things he wished he did and did differently as a parent, though he admits it doesn't change the past.

Jamie and Kayce return, with Jamie confident it's behind them now. But John is worried that if Kayce goes back to the reservation, he'll only get in more trouble, so he wants to make them offers they can't refuse.

John tells Kayce no one can ride the stallion, so he needs Kayce to work on him at the ranch. Kayce is reluctant, but when John says if he doesn't he'll just give him the stallion back, Kayce says it was a gift, an apology for not being able to save Lee, so he'll help, but he won't let John pay him.

Then they bring an administration from Montana State University to offer Monica a job as an adjunct professor teaching Native American Studies. While Monica knows the money would be an improvement, she also knows if she leaves her teaching job on the reservation the position won't be filled and the kids will suffer, so she declines too.

John tells Monica he can't protect them on the reservation. Not only that, taking these opportunities is a wise decision for the future of their family. Monica tells him they make decisions about their family differently than John does.

What losing means

After her fun with Victoria, Beth is too drunk to drive herself. She calls Jamie to have Rip come get her, but Rip is busy, so Jamie has to do it. Jamie is critical of Beth getting drunk, thinking she isn't helping the family and she should go back to Salt Lake and leave things to him. Beth says Jamie is too soft to do what she's doing because he never lost anything. When he brings up that they lost the same mother, Beth is quick to correct him.

She takes Jamie's gun out of the glove box and points it at herself. She says to lose someone you have to watch them die, like Beth did with their mother. Jamie doesn't think she'll pull the trigger, goading her to do it. She fires the shot away from everything, but it still startles Jamie. She reveals their mother looked at Beth with no love just before she died, so she knows what it really means to lose.

Jamie shows Beth a rare moment of sympathy, saying if she needs to hate him to not hate herself, he can be that for her.

All under one roof

After Kayce works on the stallion, saying there's nothing wrong with the horse, John convinces them to stay the night. He'll watch Tate in the main house and Kayce and Monica can get some alone time in a guest house.

Beth arrives back at the house and sees John reading to Tate. This hits her hard, as she goes into her room, closes the doors and screams. John and Jamie still hear her though. Jamie tells John they should send her back to Salt Lake, again saying he can handle things. But John says he needs Beth because she can be what Jamie never can be, evil.

In the guest house, Kayce and Monica enjoy a kid-free night, until Monica wonders if it's fair for them to keep Tate away from a life at the ranch? Kayce thinks that sounds like John, which Monica admits to. Kayce doesn't want to hear anymore of it, ending the conversation.

Initiation

Jimmy (Jefferson White) is still struggling to adjust to the ranch, getting teased by the other ranch hands even as he recovers from getting beat up in the previous episode. Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) tells him it's the shame that hurts the most, but that's in his mind, meaning he can turn it off whenever he wants.

However, Jimmy is no longer the new man at the ranch, as Walker arrives in the bunkhouse. The others note his guitar and ask him to play something for them. He shows some talent, but it's short lived. Rip tells Walker and Jimmy to come with him. It's time for Walker’s branding.

Walker asks what happens if he says no? Rip says they'll take him back to town, but if he accepts it's basically tenure at the ranch. Walker agrees. Once he is branded, the others officially welcome him to the Yellowstone.

Monica, needing some air after her fight with Kayce, observes all of this.

Yellowstone season 1 airs on Sundays on CBS and is available to stream on Peaco*ck.

More on Yellowstone season 1

• Yellowstone season 1 episode 1 recap
• Yellowstone season 1 episode 2 recap
• Yellowstone season 3 episode 3 recap