In episode one, the band playing at John's governor's ball has been referenced on the show before.

Shane Smith and the Saints in "Yellowstone" season five. 

If the name Shane Smith & the Saints sounds faintly familiar to you, that's because they have been namechecked in the series before. 

The band from Texas, consisting of Bennet Brown, Chase Satterwhite, Dustin Schaefer, Zach Stover, and an ensemble of other musicians when touring and recording, was previously mentioned in season four, episode three.

Horse trader Travis Wheatley (played by series creator Taylor Sheridan) tells his crew he's going to play "Shane Smith and the fucking Saints" on the stereo for their journey back to the 6666 ranch. 

The flashback to the bunkhouse shows a young Lloyd Pierce. If you were thinking the actor looks like the spitting image of Forrie J. Smith, it's because he's his real son.

Forrie J. Smith and his son Forest Smith both play Lloyd in "Yellowstone." 

The younger version of Lloyd is played by Forest Smith, who bears such a strong resemblance to Forrie J.

Smith because he happens to be the son of the actor.

Before making several appearances in season five, he briefly appeared in the season two episode, "Touching Your Enemy," but didn't have a lot of screen time.

At the end of the first episode, Rip hints at John's downfall by comparing the governor's ball to the last days of Rome.

At the end of the first episode, Rip (Cole Hauser) hints at John's downfall by comparing the governor's ball to the last days of Rome, and John himself to the infamous emperor Nero.  

"What was the name of the emperor who played the fiddle while Rome was burning?" Rip (Cole Hauser) asks Beth (Kelly Reilly) when she finds him not enjoying the party like everyone else but sitting on some grass nearby.

"Nero?" she answers, to which Rip responds: "This reminds me of that."

As Beth contemplates what he means by this, Rip wastes no time in spelling it out for her: "He's going to lose this place."

The comparison is a fitting one given that Nero was the fifth emperor of Rome, who essentially wiped out the Julio-Claudian dynasty as a result of his ineffectual leadership. 

Meanwhile, John — as viewers were reminded by Jamie earlier on in the episode — is a fifth-generation rancher whose family had always had a stake in Montana, even before it was recognized as a state. 

Nero used the resources of the mighty Roman Empire for his own indulgences and, as the famous expression goes, "fiddled while Rome burned."

We'll have to see whether John does lose it all, but it does appear that, like Nero, he only seems to care about pushing for policies that benefit himself.