It’s crazy to think that almost a year has passed since “Yellowstone” vacated our televisions for good — well, at least until those planned

spinoffs kick in. For a while there, it was the gnarliest show on TV, chock full of violence, bloodthirsty cowboys, and evil rich people vying

to attain as much money and power as possible — and that was just the behind-the-scenes drama.

 

 

At its best, “Yellowstone” was really about morally gray people doing bad things to protect their property — a battle of wits between embittered men and women who willingly circumvent the law to achieve what they perceive as the greater good. It wasn’t always perfect, and at times it resembled a cheesy soap opera. Still, there’s no denying that “Yellowstone” offered a thoroughly entertaining look at life on a ranch as seen through the eyes of John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and his fragmented batch of kids: Beth (Kelly Reilly), Jaime (Wes Bentley), and Kayce (Luke Grimes). The fact that all of them were about as far removed from perfection as Taylor Sheridan is from Shonda Rhimes actually made the series more enjoyable than it had any right to be.

 

 

But just how bad were the Duttons? Well, grab your cowboy hat, crack open some beer, and pull up that acoustic guitar as we explore the 10 worst things the “Yellowstone” main characters have done, listed by season.

“Yellowstone” kicks off with John Dutton’s cattle straying onto the Broken Rock Reservation after Robert Long (Jeremiah Bitsui) — brother of Kayce’s wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille) — cuts down the barbed wire fence to let the herd cross over, forcing the hard-nosed rancher to mount a nighttime operation to bring them home. Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) anticipates this move and ensures the

 

 

Broken Rock police are on the scene to protect the cattle, believing the herd now belongs to his people on the Reservation. A gunfight erupts, and in the chaos, Robert shoots and kills John’s eldest son, Lee (Dave Annable). Kayce then shoots Robert in retaliation, an action that forever fractures his relationship with his wife and establishes his conflict as a man torn between his family’s world and Monica.

 

 

In actuality, Rainwater set the whole conflict in motion. Rather than return John’s cattle to their rightful home, the newly anointed tribal chairman seizes the opportunity to make a political statement and publicly challenge John’s power. He aims to reclaim the ancestral land from the Duttons and delivers the first blow by deliberately creating a tense situation that quickly spirals out of control. He knew John would come for the cattle, and while he never intended for Lee to die, he must assume responsibility for lighting the fuse that set off the series’ ultimate war.

Early on, he’s little more than an annoying, albeit professional weasel. However, in season 2, episode 6 (“Blood the Boy”), he crosses the threshold into downright villainy and murders a reporter named Sarah Nguyen (Michaela Conlin). Back in season 1, the young woman planned to do an exposé on the Duttons, focusing on the family’s corruption, land grabs, and shady politics. Jamie, craving recognition in the political sphere and bitter toward his father, shares some dark secrets about his family. Later, in season 2, Sarah arrives to verify the information he gave her, but at this point, things have changed and Jamie regrets his actions. He eventually tells John and Beth, who order him to take care of the situation.

So Jamie meets Sarah in private under the pretense of another interview. He pleads with her to halt the story, and when she openly admits to feeling satisfaction at the prospect of exposing the Duttons, Jamie snaps and slams her head into a car. Then, weeping and apologizing profusely, he finishes the job by strangling her.

This event forever sullies Jamie’s character, though it is odd that no one inquired about Sarah after she disappears.