Top 10 Shocking Deaths in Yellowstone
#10: Teal Beck
“Sins of the Father” The ever-rising stakes on “Yellowstone” hit the fan when the Beck brothers came in. This duo of ambitious real estate businessmen came to blows with the Dutton family and ordered multiple attacks on their loved ones and allies. The result was a life-or-death showdown that marked the climax of Season 2. As the Duttons strike back, Kayce leads an attack that corners Teal Beck in the most vulnerable of positions: the porcelain throne. Teal’s response is disarmingly sympathetic, as he pleads for his life to end in a less-embarrassing position. He claims that previous victims of Beck-brother violence never retaliated, and he seems dumbfounded at the Dutton family’s bloody vengeance. However, his pitiful state doesn’t deter the bullet that Kayce buries into his heart.
#9: Donnie Haskell
“No Kindness for the Coward” John Dutton and Park County Sheriff Donnie Haskell had their differences, but both men held a resounding sense of skewed justice by which they lived their lives. The sheriff survived four seasons in the Montana wild west before finding himself in the midst of a happenstance diner robbery. Unfortunately, Haskell takes some fatal crossfire despite the arrival of John and Rip. In sorrowful final moments, Donnie expires during his last phone call to his daughter. “Yellowstone” repeatedly teaches its viewers that endings are seldom happy and that loose ends are frequently left untied. This moment represents the show's bravery to leave audiences thoughtful and stricken, rather than satisfied. That point is hammered home as John succinctly declares, “Everything’s not okay.”
#8: Roarke Morris
“Half the Money” We knew Sawyer survived the island! Josh Holloway makes a spirited “Yellowstone” addition as the charming and troublesome Roarke Morris. He’s an associate of Yellowstone Ranch enemy Market Equities, the invasive company seeking to build a harmful airport on Montana land. To that end, Morris happily takes time from leisurely fly fishing to hire violent cowboys that intimidate and brutalize loyal Dutton ranchers. But hell hath no fury like Rip Wheeler scorned. In Season 4’s premier, John Dutton’s number-one employee greets Roarke with a friendly ice cooler and a rattlesnake to-the-face. Fans expected this unpredictably quick demise about as much as Roarke did. It was an appetizing comeuppance for the slithery jerk, and as actor Cole Hauser commented, “Josh did a great job in dying.”
#7: Dirk Hurdstram
“Enemies by Monday” One of Yellowstone’s most endearing characters is rookie cowboy Jimmy Hurdstram. He was once on a dark path and in need of redemption. Jimmy’s grandfather, Dirk, convinced John Dutton to give him that. Jimmy turned his life around at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, until he ran into former criminal associates who weren’t done with him one day. To strongarm Jimmy, the delinquents ambushed Dirk, who would later succumb to his wounds. The news devastates Jimmy and throws him into a whirlwind of grief, anger and vindictiveness. Jimmy unravels into a subplot that nearly undoes all of the progressive steps he’d previously taken. What’s worse is that Jimmy had already paid his debt to the killers before Dirk’s death, making the man’s murder unnecessary and unfortunate collateral damage.
#6: Malcolm Beck
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‘Sins of the Father” The Lady Macbeth of the Beck kinsmen, Malcolm was the brains of the operation and final triggerman for their lethal decisions. In their nefarious insistence to eliminate competition, they declared all-out war on the Duttons. But the enemies of John’s enemies become his friends, and he finds himself victoriously standing over an injured Malcolm. Instead of finishing him off, John offers his adversary one last conversation in his final minutes. It’s a death that doesn’t go at all like we thought it would, displaying that the Dutton patriarch is a complicated man, capable of compassion for even those who wish him harm. John decides to leave Malcolm to cross over alone…though we never actually see him die. Could we expect a return in Season 5…?
#5: Sarah Ngyuen
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“Blood the Boy” It’s a bit surprising Jamie Dutton has yet to make this list himself, but his laundry list of mistakes have sure had repercussions for others. This adopted son’s desire for political success often puts him at odds with his own family, and investigative journalist Sarah Ngyuen took advantage of this. Aiming to shed light on the underhanded dealings of Jamie’s family, she convinces him to provide damning information about his father. After changing his mind, Jamie learns that Sarah’s tenacity cannot be quelled…until she’s out of the picture completely. As he strangles her in desperation, he seems disturbingly hesitant…as though he doesn’t fully comprehend what he’s doing. Sarah is survived by her girlfriend and a plotline that was forgotten too quickly. “Justice for Sarah,” anyone…?
#4: Wade Morrow
“Meaner Than Evil” Taking the Yellowstone brand is a lifetime blood oath, and Wade Morrow learns that the painful way. Morrow and his gang acted as hired guns for Roarke Morris, doing their dastardly best to push the Duttons into selling the ranch. After one particularly vicious onslaught against Rip’s cowherds, the Yellowstone clan strikes back. In a sequence sure to make you squirm, Rip’s men “remove” the brand from Wade’s chest, before hanging the traitor. That Wade deserves the torture doesn’t make his howls of pain any easier for an audience to bear. We may never know what made John Dutton and Wade Morrow enemies, but it would likely be overshadowed by the memory of his unforgettable death scene.
#3: Garrett Randall
“Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops” Perhaps the most twisted villain that “Yellowstone'' has yet seen is Garrett Randall. Jamie’s biological father and murderer of Jamie’s mother, Randall readily used his silver tongue to turn his son against John and his adoptive Dutton family. Alongside multiple manipulations, the ex-con also orchestrated the apocalyptic hit on the Duttons in the staggering Season 3 finale. When Beth challenges Jamie with an inescapable ultimatum, Jaimie chooses to take his wicked father’s life. Garrett’s final seconds are haunting, thanks to his corrupt declaration of love for Jaimie and Will Patton’s mesmerizing performance. This instant marks a major turning point for Jamie, and it buries a skeleton in his closet that we’re anxiously waiting to see resurface.
#2: Dan Jenkins
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“Sins of the Father” Depending on how you see it, this power-hungry rival actually has two shocking deaths. The land developer butted heads with the Duttons early on the show, and his neck ended up wrapped in a noose as a result. But since he didn’t die onscreen, Jenkins returned for Season 2 and went on to incur the wrath of the Beck brothers. Facing the mutual threat with John Dutton and Thomas Rainwater, Jenkins became an ally to his former foes, until Beck hitmen gunned him down in his home. Despite his aspirations, Dan was never truly a “bad” guy. His moving last monologue outlines a key “Yellowstone” theme: that he was nothing but another hopeful, searching for his piece of the American dream.
#1: Lee Dutton
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“Daybreak” This was the first and still most resonating “Yellowstone” death. Lee was Kayce’s beloved brother, John’s faithful son, and heir apparent to the Dutton dynasty. When a cattle dispute between Chief Rainwater and the Duttons results in an escalating power play, Lee leads their men into a showdown against Rainwater’s cow thieves. Struck by gunfire, Lee essentially expires his last living breath in the arms of his brother, Kayce. His absence has created an unfillable hole in the family foundation and has forced Kayce to fill his executive shoes. Lee’s ghost has left Kayce with burdens of guilt and responsibility, often leaving him torn between his married and fraternal family. Lee’s reappearance in Kayce’s vision reaffirms that some seeds planted by his death must still be sown.
