All for Nothing

**lAll for Nothing** is the sixth episode of the third season of *Yellowstone*. The episode premiered on July 26, 2020.

## Outline

Beth reveals a secret to her father; John confronts two cowboys about old feuds; a search gets underway on the reservation.

## Summary

A normal morning routine of making breakfast for her kids suddenly takes a dramatic turn for a mother who realizes her daughter never came home the previous night. The girl’s bed is made and the mother begins calling around to see if her daughter might have spent the night with friends.

Hours tick by and no one has heard from the missing girl. As night begins to fall, her concerned brother spends time calling out into the surrounding wilderness with no luck. The mom finally calls 911 after trying her best to locate her missing daughter.

Later, officers locate an empty car abandoned on the road. They search the nearby area without any luck.

Thomas Rainwater and Mo arrive at the house which is now full of concerned friends and family members. Tribal police officer Ben Waters informs Thomas the car found abandoned 10 miles away was the missing girl’s. It had apparently run out of gas.

They believe she must have hitched a ride or attempted to walk home. They’re not sure which option is most likely. Officer Waters admits they don’t have the manpower for the search, and Thomas assures him he’ll make some calls.

Unfortunately, they both realize they’re most likely looking for a dead body at this point.

John joins Rip and Kayce at the spot Rip ran into the men with the buffaloes. John, wearing his Livestock Agent vest as are Kayce and Ryan, describes the man in charge as a horse trader who’s half a criminal. John gives an order to move the cattle to another field and Rip instructs the wranglers to ignore anything the strangers say.

“Cool heads, understood? This bastard will try and test you,” warns John.

John, Ryan, Kayce, and an officer ride up to the fence where John immediately breaks his own “cool heads” rule. John asks about the buffalo and Wade Morrow says he’s babysitting them for the resort which is charging people $600 to come out to the field and have pictures taken with the animals. Kayce asks if the buffalo have been tested for a specific disease and the men verify they have.

Kayce’s the next to stomp on the idea of cool heads prevailing. In a tense exchange, he assures the men that if they don’t keep the buffalo on their side of the fence, he’ll do it – and they definitely won’t like his solution to the problem.

Back at the ranch, Beth is working on her laptop while eating breakfast as Jamie walks in wearing a suit. Of course, Beth immediately puts him down, reminding him he’d never work for the family on Saturdays yet he’ll do it for himself.

Jamie wants to cut to the chase and address the real problem between them. Beth doesn’t want to right now but does describe her brother as never acknowledging the carnage his “help” brings with it. She calls him a broken man but says it’s not his fault.

“There’s just no right or wrong with you. Just his approval – that’s all that matters to you,” says Beth, acknowledging their father made him into something he never should have been. She knows just how much Jamie fears their dad’s disapproval and believes that’s what makes him truly evil.

Jamie has been standing there silently but finally speaks up for himself. He believes he’s always acted to protect this family from itself.

Beth warns her big brother, “The more you become what he wanted you to become, the more he’ll hate you for it. And he does hate you for it. We all do.”

And finally they get to the heart of the matter. Jamie thinks he should have said no to helping her all those years ago and only did what she asked him to do. Beth, tears in her eyes but in control, reminds him she never asked for a hysterectomy. Beth again tells her brother he’s evil since he can’t take responsibility for his own actions and blames her for the pain she continues to feel.

Lloyd and Jimmy relax and watch Mia and Laramie practice their barrel racing skills. Laramie calls Lloyd “Babe” and “Sugar” and he can’t believe after just two dances he’s a “buckle bunny.” He doesn’t need a barrel racer in his life, especially one who’s not even 25 years old.

Lloyd warns Jimmy that Mia will want more than a boyfriend who lives in a bunkhouse. Jimmy agrees and confesses he thought rodeoing would be his way out. Lloyd reveals John also told him years ago to give up rodeoing after an accident and after John paid his hospital bills. He knows only Jimmy can decide to give up rodeoing for himself – not because John has ordered him to do so.

Kayce returns Thomas’ phone call after making it back to his office. Thomas explains they have a missing person and Kayce offers to help by sending three agents. He also offers to make calls to round up more volunteers to assist with the search.

Meanwhile in town, Roarke introduces Jamie to Marketing Equities CEO Willa Hays who’s just flown in to sort out all the problems Roarke’s encountered. The meeting begins contentiously with Roarke revealing Beth has been shorting Market Equities stock. Willa believes Jamie’s going to be heavily involved in a conflict of interest moving forward when the state buys his family’s property. Jamie disagrees, reminding her the state hasn’t approved any such purchase.

Any purchase by the state needs to be approved by the assembly and then by voters if it moves forward and is placed on the fall ballot. Willa believes the development will bring in thousands of jobs, and Jamie fights back stating those will all be low-paying positions. Plus, those workers will be priced out of actually buying a home.

Willa thinks the community is already priced out of housing. She wants this deal done and makes Jamie an offer: $10,000 for 50,000 acres. That’s a whopping $500 million. Jamie doesn’t immediately respond and Willa suggests he let it sink in. She wants to discuss it further during their meeting with Governor Petty.

Kayce and his officers arrive to help Thomas’ men out with the search. Monica has managed to wrangle a bunch of volunteers to also help out.

The volunteers are given instructions to stay 10’ apart as they search. They need to be looking for not just the missing girl but also anything that could be connected to her such as clothing, a cell phone, or even footprints.

Hours pass as they carefully and methodically search the area. Mo whistles for the search to briefly pause as a coyote clears the area. Thomas walks toward where the coyote disappeared and then warns everyone to stay away. He’s spotted a dead body at the bottom of a ravine.

Thomas turns the site over to Officer Waters and his men to investigate.

After work hours the wranglers sit around the bunkhouse and watch this weird video called “Guy on a Buffalo” which is about a guy riding a buffalo. Everyone loves it but Jimmy who thinks it’s ridiculous. Lloyd explains buffalo can’t buck but can roll over on you and Teeter suggests they try riding the buffalo in the adjoining field.

When Ryan and Colby reveal the mean old dude watching those buffalo is named Wade Morrow, Lloyd is suddenly all in on riding one. Ryan won’t, Jimmy physically can’t, and Colby claims he’s not supposed to drink and ride one. “It’s a whole thing,” jokes Colby.

Mia, Laramie, and Teeter are totally into it. The wranglers head out in the darkness and Lloyd reveals in order to rope a buffalo, you have to catch them around their horns. The buffalo flee the wranglers but they still manage to get ropes around a few. Laramie hops on one and goes for a ride. She falls off fairly quickly but loves it, calling the experience “f\*cking awesome.”

Back at the main house, Monica and Kayce talk about the dead girl. Kayce believes there are monsters everywhere and you have to kill them when you find them. Monica feels guilty and wants to try to stop the world from being so dangerous.

In the morning Beth joins John outside while he drinks coffee. She wonders how he found this new inner peace and he doesn’t respond. She describes the current challenge the ranch is facing as a shift in values. “The world doesn’t value your way of life anymore, dad,” says Beth. John confirms he’s aware of that. She also warns him he can’t delegate the fight to Jamie and Kayce doesn’t have the skills.

Beth confesses she can’t do it alone. John believes she needs to teach Kayce and learn to trust Jamie. Beth is instantly angry and storms off while advising her dad he doesn’t know Jamie. John asks the right question: what is it she knows they don’t? John honestly and earnestly wants to know what Jamie did.

Beth finally turns toward her dad and appears ready to reveal exactly why she hates her brother.

Monica returns to the field and continues a search for clues. Thomas and Mo are driving by and Thomas spots her and stops to talk. She explains she’s trying to help and Thomas advises her she won’t find anything out there. Monica doesn’t think it’s fair and Thomas agrees. He believes they weren’t supposed to be there and reservations were supposed to be temporary. But they didn’t learn to be “white” and so here they are. He knows the government wants them to die because it wants the land. He wants the land back to build lives the government can’t take away.

Monica wants to help with that and Thomas explains he’s forming a council to take their story public and help combat violence against women on reservations. Thomas asks if Monica’s interested in leading that fight and she says yes.

John returns to the house and Jamie’s at the table with his laptop. Jamie attempts to discuss the Market Equities proposal but John cuts him off. John’s barely able to control his rage as he asks Jamie, “Who the f\*ck do you think you were to take that from her?”

Jamie stumbles on his words as he tries to explain she asked for his help and he was just a kid, too.

Kayce hears the argument and interrupts, asking what’s going on. John strides out of the room while telling Kayce to ask his brother. Jamie kicks a chair and then punches the glass in the front door. He completely loses control and while Jamie cries, Kayce wraps him up in a bear hug to keep him from following John.

“All I do is give! I hate him! I f\*\*king hate him. I f\*\*king hate you!” he screams as Kayce holds onto him.

Beth listens in secret as Jamie sobs uncontrollably in Kayce’s arms.

John leaves the house and angrily stalks toward the fence. He holds onto it as he says to himself, “It’s all for nothing. Everything I’ve done is all for nothing.”

## Cast

Main Cast* Kevin Costner as John Dutton
* Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton
* Kelly Reilly as Bethany Dutton
* Wes Bentley as Jamie Dutton
* Cole Hauser as Rip Wheeler
* Kelsey Asbille as Monica Dutton
* Brecken Merrill as Tate Dutton
* Jefferson White as Jimmy Hurdstram
* Denim Richards as Colby Mayfield
* Forrie J. Smith as Lloyd Pierce
* Gil Birmingham as Thomas Rainwater

Recurring Cast* Josh Holloway as Roarke Morris
* Atticus Todd as Ben Waters
* James Jordan as Steve Hendon
* Ian Bohen as Ryan
* Mo Brings Plenty as Mo
* Boots Southerland as Wade Morrow
* Brent Walker as Clint Morrow
* Jen Landon as Teeter
* Eden Brolin as Mia
* Karen Pittman as Willa Hayes
* Hassie Harrison as Laramie
* Ethan Lee as Ethan
* Amelia Rico as Dana Whitefeather
* Mosiah Silentwalker as Derek Whitefeather

## Music

* *Straight Up Sideways* by **Lainey Wilson**
* *Episode 3: Finale, Pt. 1 (Origins, Villains & the Like)* by **Jomo and the Possum Posse**
* *Kmag Yoyo* by **Hayes Carll**