Yellowstone delivered on a heartbreaking twist ahead of the Season 2 finale, leaving the Dutton family in shambles after one of their own was kidnapped at the end of Wednesday night’s episode. As the family prepared to take down Malcolm Beck (Neal McDonough) once and for all, the villainous man hit them at their most vulnerable taking one of the show’s most beloved characters.
Spoilers ahead for Yellowstone Season 2, Episode 9: “Enemies by Monday”
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The penultimate episode of the season started with Kayce (Luke Grimes) making some plans to take down the Beck brothers including putting a device inside their plane to sabotage it on its next flight.
While the group was on high alert at the beginning of the episode, the death of Jimmy’s (Jefferson White) grandfather at the hands of his former drug addict foes led to a hole in the Dutton’s line of defense.
The hour also saw Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Beth (Kelly Reilly) bond after Kayce’s wife was caught in the middle of a racist encounter with a boutique employee and local police. Beth arrived just as Monica was being asked to strip down after being accused of shoplifting, when the store employee had only hid some of the merchandise to frame the Native American.
Beth quickly shut down the police’s involvement and proceeded to destroy the boutique as the employee stood helpless to the Dutton’s power. In the end she admitted she had judged Monica for the color of her skin and aimed to sabotage her and the sisters-in-law left together to get a drink.
At the bar, Beth and Monica have a serious conversation about the state of the Dutton family and all the dangers that surround their ranch. Despite Monica having just come back to Kayce after some time apart, Beth tells Monica that she will leave the ranch again, and this time she better take Kayce with her because he is too good for that life anyways. That night, Monica brings up the subject to Kayce that if he loves working on a ranch so much, he could find another one that is less dangerous. Kayce doesn’t listen to her words too much before heading out on another mission.
Kayce, Rip (Cole Hauser) and the rest of the wranglers later go on a mission to avenge Jimmy’s father’s death by blowing up the drug addicts’ RV with them inside.
Back at the ranch, John and Tate (Brecken Merrill) are having dinner when John reminds his grandson that he hasn’t fed his new horse, Lucky, and it wouldn not be fair for him to get his dessert before the horse eats. Tate proceeds to quickly walk to the barn and give his horse some food, before mistakenly leaving the gate open.
As he walks back, the gate flings open. Viewers last see Tate turning around after hearing a noise before the screen goes too black.
Later, John notices that Tate is taking too long and looks for him in the house, causing Monica to start to worry. Kayce and John argue about letting the young boy venture on his own, with John unaware that all the wranglers were out of the ranch at the time. The entire family and the crew then spends all night looking for the missing child.
The episode ends on a grim note when John notices tire tracks in the outskirts of the ranch. Kayce walks forward and eventually finds one of Tate’s boots. As Monica realizes her son has been taken, she lets out a loud scream as Beth hugs her.
Will Tate be a casualty of the war against Malcolm Beck? Yellowstone will air its Season 2 finale Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 10 p.m. ET on Paramount Network.
