5 Kayce's Vision Of Lee In Season 4
Kayce's tribal initiation into his wife Monica's tribe happens in Yellowstone season 4, episode 10 "Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops." During the Hanbleceya - which in Lakota means "to cry for a vision" - Kayce stays alone in the wild for days, waiting for the spirits to grant him insight about his path. In one of the darkest moments in Yellowstone, Kayce gets a nightmarish visit from his dead brother Lee. After failing to get Kayce to leave the prayer circle, which would've left Kayce vulnerable to the spirits, Lee spits blood as he blames Kayce for his death, underscoring Kayce's guilt over his past.
Yellowstone season 5, episode 2, "The Sting of Wisdom" ends with a dark glimpse into the history of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. In the present, Rip gets rid of the evidence of Yellowstone ranch hands killing protected wolves. This is followed by a flashback, in which young John Dutton discovers dead animals near a stream on the ranch. Later, John traces the deaths to an EPA-approved weed killer used by a nearby construction site. The Yellowstone ranch hands then spray the weed killer on the house and entire property of the site foreman, who gets knocked out. He awakens around dead birds and grass, soaked with the poisonous chemical himself.
The following entry contains discussion of suicide.
Yellowstone season 1, episode 3, "No Good Horses" reveals a shocking consequence of the death of Monica's brother Robert Long during the pilot episode. At the Broken Rock Reservation, Robert's wife Samantha takes her own life, knowing that she can't take care of her two sons and daughter on her own. One of the darkest moments in Yellowstone, this scene touches on the reality of high suicide rates among Indigenous American women. With Robert's death being caused by the feud between the Duttons and Broken Rock, Samantha's actions also underscore the real cost of the Duttons' combative and territorial attitude towards their Indigenous neighbors.
The following entry discusses rape and sexual abuse.
Yellowstone season 3, episode 8, "I Killed A Man Today" sees Monica at the center of one of the darkest moments in Yellowstone. After Monica's car breaks down, she's picked up by a driver who takes her to an isolated dirt road. The driver assaults Monica, who runs out of the car and into the plains, where she is pinned down by her attacker. Just as the man is about to choke Monica unconscious, he gets shot in the head. With Monica still covered in blood, it's revealed that Mo shot Monica's attacker and that Monica was part of a plan to catch a predator who's been attacking Indigenous women.
The feud between John and Wade Morrow finally ends in Yellowstone season 3, episode 9, "Meaner Than Evil." Teeter and Ryan receive the Yellowstone brand and are then called upon to perform their duty. To prove his loyalty, Walker accompanies John, Rip, and the other ranch hands as they round up Wade Morrow and his men. In the dead of night, the Duttons execute Wade by hanging - but not before John cuts off the Yellowstone brand from Wade's chest. This is one of the darkest moments in Yellowstone not just for its brutality, but also for how it reveals what it really means to ride for the Yellowstone brand.
