It’s Hard To Be Excited About Beth and Rip’s New Yellowstone Spinoff, But There Are Causes For Optimism

Whatever happens on the Yellowstone season 5 finale, Beth and Rip will be back on our screens soon.

While there were rumors for a while that they would be heading a proposed sixth season of Yellowstone, Deadline is reporting that they will instead be the leads in a new Yellowstone spinoff.

Six months ago, I’d have been ecstatic about this news, but now I’m not so sure, given how lackluster Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 has been.

Beth and Rip Have Had Better Writing Than The Rest of Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2

While Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 has been all over the place, to say the least, Rip and Beth have had better writing than most.

In retrospect, could the entire meandering final part of the fifth season have been a backdoor pilot for Rip and Beth’s new Yellowstone spinoff?

Many of the flashback scenes involved Beth’s difficulty functioning while Rip was in Texas overseeing the movement of cattle who had been exposed to a deadly disease on the Yellowstone Ranch.

Before John’s death, Beth made the surprising announcement that she didn’t care that much for her father’s ranch and would rather be in Texas with Rip, and after she came home to find out her father had been murdered, Rip rushed back to support her.

These scenes, along with Beth’s support of RIp after Colby’s death, were among the strongest scenes in the new season.

Though they didn’t make up for putting Beth’s feud with Jamie on the back burner, they did demonstrate that SOMETIMES the neo-Western could still be what made everyone fall in love with it.

That bodes well for a new Yellowstone spinoff featuring the couple, though it’s not yet clear what they will be doing.

Beth and Rip Could Continue Their Storyline With Carter In A New Yellowstone Spinoff

There is plenty of room for Beth and RIp to focus on their family storyline in a new spinoff.

Yellowstone fans would not be happy with a show that focuses only on the couple’s domestic life (and that wouldn’t fit the franchise’s neo-Western brand, anyway).

However, the backstory of Beth not being able to have children because of the botched abortion when she was a teenager and her conflicted feelings about Carter could still lead to a meaty subplot.

Beth has kept Carter at arm’s length ever since he was young enough to call her Mama, which she didn’t want him to do.

However, after Colby’s death, she showed a softer, more maternal side, reassuring Carter that the accident wasn’t his fault and telling him that she and Rip were his family.

Carter has grown considerably since he first appeared as an about-to-be-orphaned kid at the hospital, but there’s still plenty to be learned about his past, how it affects him, and his dreams for the future.

He’s been a background character in Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2, but he could have a bigger role if there were to be a new Yellowstone spinoff.

This subplot might also make it clear why Colby had to die on Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 12.

I really hope so because right now, that seemed like a gratuitous death that wasted time in a short season that was already failing to wrap things up effectively.

Beth and Rip’s Story On The New Yellowstone Spinoff Depends On What Happens In The Yellowstone Season 5 Finale

The sheer amount of scenes at Texas’ 6666 Ranch makes me wonder if Rip and Beth will move to Texas in the new Yellowstone spinoff.

That wouldn’t make a lot of sense right now. Rip has been trying to convince Beth to stop selling off all their livestock while Beth and Kayce are fighting to preserve the Yellowstone Ranch.

However, that could change if things work out the way I suspect they will in the finale.

Kayce’s plan to save the ranch involves giving it away and buying it back cheaply, and if his plan works, there’s no reason he can’t manage the ranch while Beth and Rip leave town.

That would make Beth the happiest since she already said she doesn’t like working on the ranch. It would also let her, Rip, and possibly Carter have a fresh start.

Beth has been supporting Teeter since Colby’s death, so maybe she could come with them and they could all make a success out of the 6666.

Of course, Beth and RIp might not have a choice if the promised war with Jamie actually materializes during the Yellowstone Season 5 finale.

Supposedly, the siblings were going to fight to the death. There’s been no evidence of that so far, but I guess it could happen.

If Beth doesn’t kill Jamie, he could spill secrets that force her and Rip to go on the run, though this is a less likely outcome.

That would mean Jamie lives, and I don’t expect Beth to give him the opportunity to ruin the Duttons’ lives any more than he already has.

Plus, Beth doesn’t seem the type to go on the run, even if that would fit perfectly with the traditional Western trope of the hero(ine) who lives by their own moral code and exists outside the law.

Rip and Beth’s Relationship Could Be Tested In Original Ways On The New Yellowstone Spinoff

Rip and Beth are a solid couple, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things that could threaten to tear them apart temporarily.

During Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2, Beth wasn’t happy with how much time Rip needed to spend on the Texas ranch. She kept begging him to take time off to focus on her.

That problem won’t go away if they move to Texas together (or decide to keep running the Yellowstone).

Additionally, Rip still doesn’t know the truth about why Beth can’t have children, and if that comes out someday, it could create a rift between them.

The new Yellowstone spinoff doesn’t need to go the route of a break-up/make-up merry-go-round.

All that nonsense with Kayce and Monica’s Yellowstone relationship was bad enough!

Still, whatever conflicts there are on the ranch should spill over into conflicts in their marriage. There’s plenty of drama to be had there!

The one thing I’ll miss if they do move to Texas is the frenemy relationship between the Duttons and the local Indigenous population. Lines such as Rainwater’s, “We’ve been at war for 160 years,” sent chills down my spine each and every time.

Yellowstone gave Indigenous people the respect and meaty storylines that the Western genre originally denied them, and I hope that continues in the new Yellowstone spinoff.

If Beth and Rip move to Texas, they will need a new supporting cast, and there are several Indigenous tribes in Texas, so this aspect could continue in a different form.

Alternatively, the new Yellowstone spinoff could split its time between the 6666 Ranch and whatever Kayce is dealing with at the Dutton ranch, assuming that Beth goes and he stays — and if Luke Grimes remains with the franchise.

Over to you, Yellowstone fanatics!

What are your thoughts on the new Yellowstone spinoff? Are you ready to get back in the saddle with this new series?

What should Beth and Rip be doing during it? And where should they live?

Hit the comments with your thoughts.

Yellowstone Season 5’s finale will air on the Paramount Network on December 15, 2024 at 8/7c.

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