Yellowstone Stars Shed Mysterious Light On Beth And Jamie's Past

Yellowstone Beth Dutton Kelly Reilly Paramount Network
(Image credit: Yellowstone Screenshot / Paramount Network)
(Image credit: Yellowstone Screenshot / Paramount Network)

Spoilers ahead for Episode 8 of Yellowstone Season 2.

The stars of Yellowstone have shed more intriguing light on Beth and Jamie’s mysterious past. For two seasons, fans have watched as the Dutton siblings sparred with one another. In the latest episode, Beth (Kelly Reilly) unleashed more harsh words on her brother. This time with the added flourish of a threat.

Beth’s hatred of Jamie (Wes Bentley) is showing no signs of cooling. In fact, I think it has intensified to its highest point in Season 2. What has brought on Beth’s seething hatred for her brother? It turns out, Yellowstone gave its considerable viewership some clues. Kelly Reilly told the episode’s Behind the Story featurette:

After Beth's been messed up, after seeing episode seven, she watches Rip in the ring with Tate, and you see there's an emotional reaction. And then she goes to see Jamie and she says, "There's going to be a day when someone's going to love you and I cannot wait to take that from you." I think there's clues in there. . . There's a lot of clues in the show. You got to pay attention. It's all there.

It is all there! It is up to Yellowstone viewers to snap all of the clues into place. Last night’s episode contained yet another explosive moment between Beth and Jamie.

They had not seen each other the entire episode when Beth sought him out. After deriding him yet again, she added a threat into the mix. She told Jamie that when someone loved him someday, she would take that love away from him, even if she had to kill it with her “bare hands.”

Jamie had no verbal response. He just looked on a little sad and confused as Beth broke down a bit after she said it. She then exited the stables. As a viewer, I find it interesting that Kelly Reilly confirmed there were clues in their latest Yellowstone scenes. Were there more than a few?

While questions remain, I believe viewers are closer than ever to learning the truth about why Beth hates Jamie. Wes Bentley provides some telling hints of what Jamie was thinking in those scenes. Bentley weighed in on Beth’s threat against Jamie, saying:

I think Jamie's got assumptions about that, that may have to do with the death of their mother. . . Or it could have been an incident that happened, or a few incidents that happened. They are very close in age. . .And I think at one point we're left to look out after each other, in a way. And that doesn't always go well with teenagers and some terrible things happen. And I think there's obviously something big for Beth that Jamie did that I'm not fully certain Jamie's aware of.

Wait, did the damage between Beth and Jamie occur when they were teens? Maybe. Between what Kelly Reilly and Wes Bentley have said here and previously about Beth and Jamie’s past, there are a lot of potential clues. That Beth targeted Jamie after seeing Rip (Cole Hauser) with her nephew, Tate, is telling.

Considering that Beth managed to smile after everything that was done to her, it is evident that Rip bonding with Tate meant a lot to her. However, it also seemed to remind her of something that she holds Jamie responsible for. Hence, her targeting him shortly after. Is he to blame for this loss?

Beth seems to believe that Jamie took something away from her. The warning she gave Jamie is apparently her way of threatening revenge. Did he inadvertently cause or make it possible for something to get taken away from Beth when they were teens? It seems feasible.

That Beth goes after Jamie right after seeing Tate and Rip bond indicates that it may be connected to kids.

I'm curious if their father, John (Kevin Costner), knows what the full story is between his children. He just seems to accept their dynamic without any questions.

There are really no limits at this point as to what happened between Beth and Jamie. The clues are there, though. It is just a matter of putting them together and finding the answer.

Tune in to see if Season 2 unravels the Beth/Jamie mystery when new episodes of Yellowstone air Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on the Paramount Network. Following Yellowstone’s second season, there will be many fall premieres to help fill the void.

Britt Lawrence

Like a contented Hallmark movie character, Britt happily lives in the same city she grew up in. Along with movies and television, she is passionate about competitive figure skating. She has been writing about entertainment for 5 years, and as you may suspect, still finds it as entertaining to do as when she began.