Yellowstone season 2 episode 3 review: Who Jamie wants to be

Jamie Dutton

Yellowstone season 2 episode 3 showed itself to be an episode that was about political maneuvering just as much as life on the ranch.

For Jamie Dutton, that meant making one of the most important decisions of his entire life — determining that running for Attorney General was not something that was in the cards. Right after Beth chose a different candidate for the office instead of her own brother, you knew that things were going to get messy. That became official the moment that Thomas Rainwater offered himself up to be a donor. This was a way in which for him to get in that office and have all the power that goes along with it.

Unfortunately for Jamie, the problem here is this: He’s not a politician. He’s got too much of a soul for it and he couldn’t stand the idea of partnering with his father’s own rival in order to win a mere election. At the end of the episode, he decided to go ahead and withdraw from the race — even at the expense of some other personal relationships along the way. At least he does have his family back, right? That’s what it seemed going into the family dinner scene at the end of the episode. They’re still dysfunctional, but they can be in the same room together.

Speaking of relationships, this episode presented plenty of them across. The board. Take, for example, Kayce trying to figure out where things stand with Monica, who is currently being hit on in the process of her physical therapy. She’s finding her way separate from her estranged husband, difficult as it may be.

John himself seemed to be moving towards more of a physical relationship himself, in this episode, at least before he realized this: He was still in mourning. He can’t quite get past where he is and the woman he’s loved. The end of the episode was a plea for the love of his life to magically come down from the Montana skies.

What other troubles are there?

For starters, there’s another power player in Malcolm Back (Neal McDonough), a man who’s looking to be involved in all of the power-broking going on around the ranch. His scenes were chaotic but definitely entertaining — he’s almost a Western version of his Arrow character of Damien Darhk.

Finally, who else appreciated the epic general-store fight scene featuring Jimmy at the center of it? While we’ll admit we were more of a sucker for some of the Dutton family stuff tonight, seeing him wander out of that store and perfectly nail one of his rivals in the face made for fantastic entertainment.

CarterMatt Verdict

Yellowstone season 2 episode 3 was most successful in reminding us who Jamie Dutton is — something that they haven’t taken on all that much so far this season. Here, though, they delivered it in successful fashion by showing that through all of the family discord, Jamie cares more about what Beth thinks of him than almost anything else in the world. Where the path takes him now remains to be seen — we don’t think that he is going to be moving away from the label of big city lawyer, but he will need to find a way to bridge the gap with his professional career and his family if he ever wants to be happy.

In terms of personal relationships, we’re not sure coming out of this episode that any of these characters are going to be lucky with love.

Related News Check out some more news on Yellowstone, including teases for what could be coming up next

What did you think about Yellowstone season 2 episode 3?

Be sure to share in the comments, and come back soon for some other news on the show. (Photo: Paramount Network.)

Love TV? Be sure to like Matt & Jess on Facebook for more updates!