The fourth season of Yellowstone kicked off in dramatic fashion, and ended with a shocker. The season picked up right where Season 3 ended, showing the aftermath of the attacks on the Dutton family. The lives of John (Kevin Costner), Kayce (Luke Grimes), and Beth (Kelly Reilly) were all left hanging in the balance, inspiring Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) to exact revenge. That revenge came to a head with a shocking death near the end of the two-episode premiere that left fans shocked. Spoilers follow for the Season 4 episodes "Half the Money" and "Phantom Pain."
Towards the end of the first episode, Rip found Roarke Morris, played by Josh Holloway, while the former Market Equities rancher was fishing in a stream in a scene reminiscent of how Roarke was introduced during Season 3. Rip carried a cooler to Roarke, asking him if it was his. Roake insisted it was not, but Rip continued bringing it closer to the increasingly annoyed Roarke, who soon realized that something was very wrong.
It turns out there was a venomous snake in the cooler. Rip kepy shaking it to agitate the snake, which jumped right out at Roarke. After the snake bit Roarke, he began convulsing on the ground and foam came from his mouth. "Good riddance," Ripp said as Roarke died. The credits for "Half the Money" then began to roll.
Holloway joined Yellowstone during Season 3 as a new foil for the Duttons. He tried to take over some of John's land before he turned his sights on Beth. That started a trade war between them. In the Season 4 premiere, he learned the hard way that it's never a good idea to clash with the Duttons.
'Bye bye Roarke'
With Roarke out of the way, the new villain for the Duttons will be Caroline Warner, the CEO of an investment company who heads to Montana. The character is played by Australian star Jacki Weaver, who was nominated for Oscars for her roles in the movies Animal Kingdom and Silver Linings Playbook. Piper Perabo (Covert Affairs) also joined the show as activist Summer Higgins, and Finn Little (Those Who Wish Me Dead) was cast as Carter, a new kid the Duttons agree to take in.
'My dreams are coming true!'
Scroll on to see how fans reacted to the major surprise death in this week's episode.
'Adios Roarke!'
"At this point how does Roarke not know who Rip is? You see that big man in the #YellowstoneTV jacket walking toward you, you should know to run," one viewer wrote.
'Roarke deserved to suffer'
"Bada— way to kill that piece of s—, but I wish it was more drawn out. Roarke deserved to suffer," another fan wrote.
'Roarke removed'
"Now there's two snakes in the grass. Only difference is, one's dead and the other is set free," one viewer wrote.