Yellowstone's two-part season 5 premiere sets up what may be the show's most Game Of Thrones-like year so far

“I fight for what’s right. Don’t care who supports it.”

It doesn’t take long for John Dutton (Kevin Costner) to re-establish his character’s ethos and set the tone in Yellowstone’s two-part season five premiere, “One Hundred Years Ain’t Nothing.” Season four wrapped with John on the campaign trail for Montana’s governorship, with daughter and Yellowstone all-star Beth (Kelly Reilly) right alongside him. Showrunner and “One Hundred Years” writer Taylor Sheridan wastes no time making John governor to kick off the new season, pushing the family closer toward applying their unique problem-solving skills (read: fighting, shooting, and sometimes killing) to Montana’s fractured political lens. John boils down his politics to a vow to protect Montana (not to mention the interests of his vast ranch) from being a place that is a “New York novelty and California’s toy.” Framing his duty as governor in such a black-and-white way is ironic, given the moral and ethical grays that Dutton and his family traffic in.

What happened this week

John’s election victory, and a brief but stirring speech, kick off the premiere episode. Loyal Beth is so proud of her daddy that, in a private moment between the two while John secludes himself in a hotel suite’s bathroom, she cries tears of joy. “Tears is how I feel,” John replies, seemingly aware that he has positioned himself as both arsonist and fireman in the role of governor-elect. Among the political and personal infernos he and his clan will have to deal with is the simmering rivalry between Beth and her traitorous brother, Jamie (Wes Bentley). Sure, Jaime smiles nice for the camera and speechifies even nicer for the assembled crowds at his dad’s victory party, but Beth sees right through his selfish act.

So does John’s nemesis, Caroline Warner (the always great Jacki Weaver). Jamie’s lack of joy at his father’s victory, despite being directly downwind of whatever benefits that may bring, signals to Warner that Jamie is someone she can play against his dad’s interests in order to satisfy her own. The tension here is doubled by the post-election stress felt by Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham). As chief of the fictional Broken Rock Indian Reservation, Rainwater’s plan to work with Weaver to line their pockets with profits from building an airport and hotel on his people’s land is all but dead, thanks to Dutton’s rise to power.

What is still very much alive, and no doubt just as complicated, is the show’s central romance between Beth and John’s ranch hand enforcer, Rip (Cole Houser). A flashback to a formative date when they were young helps ground the state of their new-ish marriage, one whose future depends on how well Beth can let go of problematic things she did in their past. The state of one Dutton sibling’s marriage is followed by another, as the first hour ends with a somber visit by John and family to the hospital room of the battered and unconscious Monica (Kelsey Asbille). As her forlorn husband, Kayce (Luke Grimes), lays with her, mourning the loss of her pregnancy as a result of a violent car accident, he shares a loaded glance with his father. This will be one of many they will likely share as the consequences of Monica’s loss will no doubt ripple effect throughout the season.

All of this builds to an even more engaging and eventful second half, as “The Sting of Wisdom” finds each of the main characters struggling to navigate the respective fresh hells that are, in part, of their own making. The episode kicks off with a harrowing reveal about how Monica barely survived the accident that put her in the hospital. And it ends with Rip getting a call in the middle of the night to help cover up an accidental shooting that involves protected wolves with GPS trackers around their necks. After Rip tries to disappear the trackers by sending them downriver, one of them gets wedged in a place that makes it easy to find and even harder on the Duttons once it is found.

Big moment #1

The most impactful scene in “One Hundred Years” is arguably John’s victory speech and the side conversations leading up to it. Beth knows that Jamie, who spent the last season trying to usurp and kill their father, is only here to use the stage for himself. (“Aren’t we all,” muses John Dutton’s love interest, former Montana Governor-turned-Senator Lynelle Perry, played by Wendy Moniz.) John’s succinct but effective words—and the observations made by those in his circle before he says them—set the stage for this family’s Shakespearean power struggle, one that carves a bloody, path through the very soul of the land they care about.

Big moment #2

Yellowstone never shies away from finding new levels of bloody violence. However, the jolt of the car accident that causes Monica’s miscarriage—and the carnage left in its wake—show a surprising amount of restraint for this series. The “less-is-more” approach to this shocking event, especially with its hard-to-watch aftermath in “Sting of Wisdom,” provides Yellowstone with one of its most emotional moments.

This week’s MVP is…

I mean, c’mon, it’s Beth. Every day of the week and twice on Sunday. From her venom-laced delivery of any lines spewed about, or to, Jamie, to the quietly vulnerable moments she shares with Rip or her dad, Reilly steals every scene. (If the Emmys fail to acknowledge her with an acting nomination yet again, Rip may have to give them a ride on the Long, Black Train.)

Best line #1

“You know what your problem is? It’s this [Rip taps at Beth’s head]. It’s almost as big as this [he taps at her heart]. Now I’m the only one who knows that you have this [heart]. But you do. And, baby—it’s big.”
—Rip, “One Hundred Years Is Nothing”

Rip’s violent, murder-y side sometimes gives way to his gooey, romantic center, but Beth is often the only one to see this part of him. The only battle more difficult than the one Beth wages behind closed doors is the one between her heart and her brain. She often leads with the former and regrets not using the latter, and both get her in equal trouble. But only one will ever fully get her out of it, and season five may be when she finally figures out which one that is.

Best line #2

“When he says jump, you don’t ask how high. You just start f***ing hopping.”
—Beth, “The Sting of Wisdom”

Beth is never one to use 40 words when only four will do. Or, in this case, 14. She has little patience for Jamie’s attempts to mask his personal agenda for “protecting” his dad’s legacy—both the one built on his ranch and the one he’s building in politics. So when Jaime’s actions bump against what she perceives as what’s best for her dad, Beth reminds her brother of his role within her efforts to protect John from Jamie’s bullshit.

What’s in store next week

The two-parter concludes with a generous glimpse of what’s to come in episode three, with Walker insisting to someone off-screen to find things that she can use to “ruin this family.” Her threat will likely force Kayce to decide whether or not he will once again use his skills as a former Navy SEAL to help ensure his dad’s unique brand of “protecting what’s his” continues.

One of the wild cards hanging over this season is whatever uneasy alliance Jamie and Walker forge, or fail to lock down. Either outcome will be bad for them and the Duttons, as will Rainwater’s efforts to usurp the new Governor. Rainwater risks making John a martyr or, worse, compelling him to use the power of his office to tighten his vice grip on this conflict-rich state.