The 10 Most Ridiculous ‘Yellowstone’ Episodes, Ranked

People really love Yellowstone, but we can’t deny that the show just abandons all logic at certain points. Whether that’s Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) shooting an AR gun from the hip as a former Navy SEAL, or one other long episode filled with gratuitous violence, sometimes the show loses consistency and real-world plausibility. Of course, TV is here to entertain and help us leave the real world behind, so many people do feel like abandoning reason is normal at certain times.

The most ridiculous Yellowstone episodes can be called that because of some obvious campy fun, cringeworthy moments, and even self-parodying. When we say “ridiculous,” it doesn’t always have to be bad; however, most of these episodes are often cited by critics and fans as crossing the “oh, come on” line.

10. “Kill the Messenger”

Season 1, Episode 2

Season 1, Episode 2, “Kill the Messenger,” very early on, shows a sky-high body count for the Dutton family; even by the second episode of the entire show, corruption, cover-ups and death rates are high, including one of the Dutton family members who we only got to see for, like, two minutes. Also, John Dutton (Kevin Costner) tampers with medical evidence to protect his family brand, cremates his eldest son to destroy evidence, and bodies just disappear.

The episode is ridiculous because of this full-on escalation of things taking place almost immediately. You get one episode to warm up and learn who these people are; in Episode 2, you get their worst behavior patterns but have to go for the ride. The believability of the entire story is escalated to great heights, perhaps too early on. With this, you either fully immerse yourself in the tone of the show or spend five seasons asking why the FBI never arrives. Yellowstone told us in week two that realism was negotiable; it may be over the top, but it’s fun.

9. “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops”

Season 4, Episode 10

The ongoing clash between Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and her adopted brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) escalates several times; in one of those instances, Beth even goes too far in telling Jamie he should commit suicide, which he tries because, well, she told him to. In Season 4, Episode 10, “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops,” Beth blackmails Jamie with photos of him dumping the body of his biological father, who she forced him to personally kill. So, Beth’s deranged plan to blackmail her brother works out because Jamie still wants to be a Dutton, no matter what.

While Reilly is great in Yellowstone, it’s no wonder Beth is one of the show’s most hated characters. Her over-the-top antics are often ridiculous, and she’s a brooding type with whiskey and a gun in her hand, which is, admittedly, very badass, too. In many ways, Beth is also the show’s best character because she’s unafraid to go after what she wants. In this episode, in particular, she also kidnaps a Catholic priest at gunpoint and forces him to marry her and Rip (Cole Hauser); charming antics aren’t her forte, but she still manages to make it look cool somehow.

8. “The Long Black Train”

Season 1, Episode 4

Season 1, Episode 4, “The Long Black Train,” introduces viewers to “The Train Station”, a place where the Duttons dump the dead bodies of their many enemies throughout the course of the show. The Train Station is no-man’s land, an area between borders where no laws apply, which John Dutton deems the perfect place to dump dead bodies. In a way, it’s ingenious, but it’s also incredibly coincidental that it’s so close and convenient that no hikers, scavengers, tribal authorities, or federal agencies ever come by. As an extra-legal spot, it would make sense that this area is supervised for crime, regardless.

The Train Station is no-man’s land, an area between borders where no laws apply…

The episode also creates a sort of ethical black hole: the family’s willingness to murder whenever someone inconveniences them is quite crazy. The moral universe of the show gets quite skewed here, so later seasons feel like they absolutely have to one-up the body count constantly. Obviously, if the show was a bit more realistic, it would’ve been more thrilling with the fear of getting caught murdering half the population of Montana.

7. “Sins of the Father”

Season 2, Episode 10

While Season 2, Episode 10, “Sins of the Father,” is actually one of the highest-rated and best episodes of Yellowstone, it’s also pretty ridiculous. For one, the unused bomb on the Beck brothers’ plane just stays there. Kayce plants a bomb on their plane as a form of final revenge, and it just never pays off because the season ends in gun confrontations and executions. The planted explosive was expected to matter as a driving plot point, since a ticking device can complicate character choices; however, the bomb vanishes from the narrative.

The ignoring of this plot device is done in favor of Kayce, who executes a full-on Navy SEAL operation into Malcolm Beck’s (Neal McDonough) house. His son was kidnapped, so obviously Kayce would be more than ready to kill; still, the forgetting of a seemingly important plot point felt like it was just cheapening the tension. This narrative disorder happens more than once, but despite the forgotten plots and stuff, “Sins of the Father” is quite high-stakes and gripping. Yellowstone is more things at once, for sure.

6. “The World Is Purple”

Season 3, Episode 10

Public murders in broad daylight over a land dispute are so Montana-coded. Jokes aside, sorry to everyone in Montana, I don’t mean it. It is, in fact, and, for the most part, Yellowstone-coded, making the Duttons feel like the Kennedy family over in that part of the U.S. They’re so important and such nuisances that Season 3, Episode 10, “The World Is Purple” (another banger episode, nonetheless), sees a triple-coordinated attack on Beth, Kayce, and John. It’s a banger season-ending episode but somehow feels implausible and ridiculous considering the aftermath.

In “The World Is Purple,” a bomb is mailed to Beth’s office, an armed assault is started against Kayce, and roadside shooters spray bullets at John’s truck, wounding him. This was a pure cliffhanger moment, leaving people to speculate about the aftermath. This comic book supervillainy is executed all at the same time, which means it was premeditated, but the show here really focused on getting a massive cliffhanger moment. It was also exhausting for viewers to see another season-ending episode with a massive body count and an armed attack on the Duttons.

5. “Half the Money”

Season 4, Episode 1

The aftermath of “The World Is Purple” came in the form of Season 4, Episode 1, “Half the Money,” and it was one of the most anticlimactic aftermaths to an explosive, albeit implausible, cliffhanger. Beth strolls out of the office unharmed by the bomb, which essentially vaporizes her office; Kayce wins a shootout against a group of armed individuals; and John survives multiple gunshots, leaving the hospital after three days as if he got scratched. Even Kayce’s family gets attacked at the ranch and narrowly escapes.

The most ridiculous aspect of this episode, despite it being one of the highest-rated on IMDb, is Beth’s survival, considering the exposure she had to the bomb. Some important parts of her vulnerability were omitted, as if saying Beth couldn’t be harmed by something like this. Generally, suspension of disbelief is necessary here; all those meticulously coordinated killers couldn’t take down at least one Dutton? The point is, why make the attack feel so inescapable if it’s going to be escaped in the end?

4. “A Knife and No Coin”

Season 5, Episode 8

Season 5 is generally considered the weakest of all, since Costner departs it halfway through. Most episodes in this season were just there to end the story and move forward with new and fresher things, so an episode like Season 5, Episode 8, “A Knife and No Coin,” finds its way onto the most ridiculous list. It seems there’s a continuity implosion here, since Jamie reveals to Beth the facts about The Train Station; however, people were not buying the fact she didn’t know about it, considering she is, after all, a Dutton. She ambushed Jamie at the Train Station in Season 4 when she photographed him, but it could be argued she didn’t know that it was the exact same spot.

…Beth couldn’t be both unaware and having waited in the dark for Jamie in Season 4 at a random place…

We know, of course, that in a 50+ episode saga, writers can occasionally contort history to serve the new seasons’ stakes, but in this case, fans kept receipts and came throwing them at the narrative, saying Beth couldn’t be both unaware and having waited in the dark for Jamie in Season 4 at a random place; she obviously knew where bodies go. Making her naive feels like a protection of the character that’s been the most ruthless during the show.

3. “Watch ‘Em Ride Away”

Season 5, Episode 5

One of the truly most ridiculous episodes of the show is Season 5, Episode 5, “Watch ‘Em Ride Away,” with emotional and tonal inconsistencies so strong, John Dutton had to admit defeat. In this episode, vegan activist/house-arrest houseguest Summer (Piper Perabo) joins the Duttons for a family dinner; she is around Beth’s age and just so happens to be John’s newest love interest. Beth dislikes Summer, and the feeling seems to be mutual; they argue, and Rip just orders them to have a fistfight in the backyard of the Dutton home. And they do.

It’s an interesting way to ease tension, for sure, but it was also a “middle school boys behind the gym after class” kind of scene. After their brawl and punch exchange, the two women feel bonded, ending the bloody scene in a Hallmark-style manner. Many people find this particular scene not just overacted but overdramatic and completely unnecessary. This is another thing very mutual to most of Yellowstone—making toughness a bonding ritual as the only way to approach the rough world of the Duttons.

2. “Desire Is All You Need”

Season 5, Episode 9

After Season 5’s first part ends, we return after some time in Season 5, Episode 9, “Desire Is All You Need,” but something is off. The series lead, John Dutton, is dead. He is taken out of the show off-screen. After a nearly two-year production gap and months of industry drama over Costner’s status in the series, Yellowstone returns and drops the bomb before the opening credits: John Dutton is dead, and apparently, he has died by suicide. The facts are shown through exposition and some grief reactions, which feels ridiculous after glorifying one of the show’s biggest antiheroes for so long.

Eliminating the central patriarch, the gravitational field of the series, offscreen felt like a contractual workaround rather than storytelling. Viewers who actually liked John and became invested in his gubernatorial run and character arc in Season 5 were denied a certain catharsis, last words, or even clarity. Of course, the scapegoat for the murder was always going to be Jamie Dutton, which just felt like extra icing on the cake that tasted bitter. With such a delay in production, people felt this entire thing became ridiculous.

1. “Give the World Away”

Season 5, Episode 13

The award for the most ridiculous episode of Yellowstone officially went to Season 5, Episode 13, “Give the World Away,” but not for anything done with the Duttons. Rather, it was the appearance of Taylor Sheridan, the show’s creator, as Travis Wheatley, who was described as a sort of savior, cowboy demigod, poker expert, and supermodel wrangler. The vanity hour was painfully obvious to viewers, who, the minute they saw Bella Hadid open the door to Travis’ house and introduce herself as his girlfriend, knew what time it was. This little detour to Travis’ cowboy world was complete with characters giving speeches about how great he is.

Critics and fans alike derided this episode, naming it “vanity hour.” It’s OK for Sheridan to write himself into the show, but to make himself a star of a big part of the series’ penultimate episode felt off. The display of his ranching skills felt detrimental to the entire Dutton family plot, like they weren’t all that important anymore. Their urgent land deals and political and family arcs took a side step so we can watch the creator do a horsey spin. He doesn’t care, we know.