There’s no doubt that Jimmy is by far the most lovable character on . This may seem like a bold claim at first, but when you consider that your only other options are really only John, , Rip ( Cole Houser), Jamie ( Wes Bentley), Monica ( Kelsey Asbille), or Kayce ( Luke Grimes), not only is Jimmy the most consistently likable (and, you know, not straight-up psychotic or consistently inconsistent), but his story feels the most down-to-earth and human.
He feels like a real person, and that's part of the reason we love him. Over the years, Jimmy has learned to develop his own clear-cut dreams, be it to become a rodeo champion or the new life he's planning to build with his new fiancée Emily ( Kathryn Kelly) in Texas. Having your own personal dreams outside the ranch is something struggle with, which makes Jimmy stand out.In a show littered with angry cowboys, corporate greed, loads of Western violence, and plenty of characters who seem to remain pretty much the same, Jimmy is the show’s heart and conscience. Sure, he’s not innocent himself (he was a drug dealer when we first met him), but he’s learned a lot since his criminal days and grown into a truly decent man.
Rather than focusing Jimmy’s story around (like every other character), has provided him with his own focused arc, building him into a real-life cowboy with his own dreams, something he’d never even considered before. Of course, it took him a long time to get there. When the show began, Jimmy sort of went with the flow, and it wasn't until around the third season that he began to really develop on his own, but once he did, we couldn't help but root for him.
Another factor that makes Jimmy the show's most easily lovable character is his need for a father figure. While that's a recurring theme in the series often met by John and Rip's dynamic, Jimmy's relationship with the senior ranch hand Lloyd Pierce ( Forrie J. Smith) is one of the most heartfelt components of the show. Lloyd is something of the show's resident foster father, having previously taken Rip under his wing when he was a boy and now helping the young Carter ( Finn Little) find his place on the Ranch, it's no wonder he'd do the same for Jimmy. In fact, it's Lloyd who encouraged Jimmy to pursue rodeo in the first place, helping him recognize his
. While rodeo didn't last, the lessons that Jimmy learned from Lloyd did, and their gut-wrenching goodbye in the Season 4 finale proved their devotion to one another. We can't help but feel it in our bones.
Jimmy and Mia's relationship might've begun pretty innocently, but the truth is that over time it became clear that Mia, well, kind of saw Jimmy as a "pet project." That isn't to say that she didn't genuinely care about him, or vice-versa, but her constant push for him to pursue rodeo (making him fit better into her life) only caused Jimmy more pain in the long run. Don't get us wrong, Mia sticking by Jimmy after both injuries isn't something to just ignore (even if Jimmy wrongly did), but the way they ended things before his move to Texas was pretty bad (and both their faults). They clearly just weren't meant to be, and there's nothing more tragically human than that.
