The 10 Wildest Yellowstone Moments, Ranked

"Yellowstone" is a ridiculous show that lends itself to mayhem and absurdity. The story concerns a family, the Duttons, whose vast land is desired by ruthless capitalists who want to destroy it by building airports and such. Thus begins a never ending battle that forces the Duttons to get their hands dirty everywhere from boardrooms to battlefields, bringing them into contact with dirty businessmen, backwoods militia members, and other undesirable folks.

Taylor Sheridan's neo-Western drama is best enjoyed by suspending your disbelief, ignoring the plot holes, and accepting what it wants to throw at the viewer. The series wants people to believe that it's a gritty and poetic drama about the collision between capitalism and traditionalism. In reality, "Yellowstone" is a trashy soap opera that goes off the rails and jumps the shark more often than not.

That said, some moments stand out for being zanier than others, and we have compiled the best examples on this list. So, without further ado, sit back and get ready to take a walk on the wild side.

Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) is a loose cannon throughout "Yellowstone," and there are two things that have made her this way: her mother's death and her hatred she harbors for adopted brother, Jamie (Wes Bentley), for getting her sterilized when she was a teenager. Beth's mourning and dislike of Jamie converge in season 1's "No Good Horses" episode, so she treats herself to a self-care session in a trough.

The scene sees Beth storm into the family's house, grab two bottles of champagne, and head outside to mourn her mother's passing on the anniversary of her death. She removes all of her clothes in front of the Dutton family's ranch hands and proceeds to bathe in the horses' drinking water container, as one does when they need to relax. A concerned Jamie follows her outside to find out what's going on, and Beth verbally eviscerates him while claiming that he hasn't seen a naked lady before.

This heated exchange takes place before we find out Beth's main reason for hating her sibling, so it comes across as unnecessarily cruel when you see it for the first time. That said, Beth finds joy in harassing Jamie, so in a (weird) sense, this was her way of relaxing during a period of grief.

Market Equities is one of the many threats that seek to destroy the Duttons on "Yellowstone." The corporation's figureheads want to build an airport on the family's land, and that's a no-go. One of the company's high-ranking officials, Roarke Carter (Josh Holloway), is also willing to get dirty and hires rival ranchers to cause trouble for the Duttons — big mistake. He's also suspected of ordering the hit against the cowboying family in the season 3 finale, but we later discover that Jamie Dutton's biological father set it up.

Still, it doesn't matter that Roarke didn't order the hit — no one should play dirty with the Duttons at all. Roarke learns this the hard way when he encounters the family's right-hand man, Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), in the wilderness in season 4's "Half the Money" episode. Roarke is enjoying a spot of fishing when the Duttons' hitman appears with a cool box, pulls out a poisonous rattlesnake, and throws it at the greedy businessman's face. Roarke croaks it on the spot, never to fish again.

The "Yellowstone" season 2 premiere, "A Thundering," sees Jimmy Hurdstrom (Jefferson White), Avery (Tanaya Beatty), and some of the Duttons' ranchers head out for a night of drinking. However, the fun turns into unbridled chaos after Jimmy gets into it with a thug who keeps hitting on Avery, setting in motion a bar brawl unlike the saloon scraps in all of those old Westerns.

While the hallmarks of classic horse opera action sequences are present and accounted for, "Yellowstone" sets itself apart from other bar fights by throwing a bull into the mix. Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and Rip Wheeler show up in a truck and casually let the aggressive animal loose in the bar, which sends all of the tough guys into a panic. Cue the end of everyone's night of partying.

The bull-in-a-bar rampage is one of the show's most outlandish scenes, so some viewers might be surprised to learn that it was inspired by a true story. Forrie J. Smith, who plays Lloyd in the show, revealed that he had to get a bull out of a bar in real life after a cowboy set it loose on some bikers following a fight. Moral of the story: don't mess with cowboys.

Continuing with the theme of characters being scantily clad in public places, we'd be remiss if we didn't include Travis Wheatley (Taylor Sheridan). He organizes a game of strip poker in "Yellowstone" season 5's "Give the World Away" episode, and it's ridiculous. This installment sees Beth Dutton pay him a visit to oversee a horse sale, only to find the rich rancher partying with supermodels and showing off his muscular physique.

This scene is so wild because it basically turns Sheridan's minor on-screen character into the king of this story. Beth and Travis' supermodel girlfriend talk about how attractive and talented he is when it comes to riding horses, which comes across as the "Yellowstone" creator manifesting an ego trip through the fictional rancher he portrays on the screen. His character on "Lioness" also takes his shirt of, so Sheridan might be using his own shows as a vehicle for flaunting his goods.

By the time the episode ends, Travis' charm and salesman skills have bagged the Duttons $30 million that will keep them afloat for another year. It's an interesting rise to heroism considering that he was an insignificant character until this point. Additionally, Travis Wheatley's exploits in "Yellowstone" season 5 contributed to the criticisms of Sheridan ruining this once-great series, and it's a valid point.

The death of Kevin Costner's John Dutton in the "Yellowstone" season 5 part 2 premiere is one of the more somber examples of the series going off the rails. However, it's still a wild moment due to the way in which it sloppily disposes of a character who anchored the entire show until he was tossed aside like yesterday's newspaper.

After spending years killing bad guys, surviving gunshot wounds, and controlling politicians, John Dutton (Kevin Costner) went out with a whimper instead of a bang. In Taylor Sheridan's defense, he was left in a tough spot after Costner departed the series, but Dutton's cause of death infuriated "Yellowstone" fans as it insulted his character's tough-guy legacy. Dutton was injected a poisonous serum and left lying on a bathroom floor to make it look like a suicide, and he didn't even put up a fight.

Costner reportedly had a clause written into his "Yellowstone" contract that guaranteed a dignified death for John Dutton. That might not be the case, though, as the show's handling of his beloved cowboy's demise suggests that its creators wanted to make a statement following the behind-the-scenes drama that rocked the show following Costner's exit.

"Yellowstone" season 2's "Resurrection Day" episode is a breakthrough moment for Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler's romance. After spending years hooking up but never going on an actual date, they sit on a rooftop, drinking a bottle of that good whiskey under a star-lit sky. Beth finally tells Rip that he can take her out because he can afford it, which prompts him to reveal that he spent all of his money on honoring — and desecrating — his dead family members.

Rip tells Beth that he spent $22,000 on his mother's tombstone and had a guy etch her face into it. He also spent $30,000 on his little brother's grave, which was taller than his mother's as he felt it'd make his sibling be closer to Heaven. Sweet, right? You haven't heard anything yet.

The story concludes with Rip telling his lover that he spent $5,000 to have his father's bones dug up so that he could drive to North Dakota, throwing his old man's remains out the window along the way. That might sound morbid, but it's a sweet moment of sharing that brings Beth and Rip closer together, allowing for the show's greatest love story to blossom.

The "Yellowstone" season 3 finale sees Beth Dutton get caught up in an office explosion that should have blown her to smithereens. Fortunately, it turns out that Beth is impossible to kill, as season 4 opens with her walking out of the flaming building and asking someone for a cigarette. She's a little banged up, sure, but she doesn't even have to go to the hospital.

Similarly, John Dutton survives being shot in season 3's final episode and he checks himself out of the hospital at the start of "Yellowstone" season 4. The doctors allow his medical treatment to continue at home, but the cowboy ignores their advice, fires his home help, and goes out horse riding.

Several factors led to "Yellowstone" going downhill, including the show's habit of rushing through the more intense stories and giving them a convenient conclusion. This is an example of one of those stories wrapping up too neatly, summing up how ridiculous this series can be at times.

Kayce Dutton is arguably the nicest member of the family, but the ex-soldier isn't an angel by any means. After all, he shot his wife's brother in season 1 and kept the secret from her for ages, but he came clean later on and the couple moved past it. He's also more than happy to shoot the people who threaten his family's livelihood, and he takes out one season 2 villain while he's sitting on the toilet.

However, "Yellowstone" season 5, episode 12, "Counting Coup," strongly suggests that Kayce is capable of harming a child. This episode sees Kayce discover that Grant Horton (Matt Gerald) and his assassin pals were behind his father's murder. Instead of just shooting Grant, however, Kayce gets into the villain's car and points a gun at his daughter's head. 

Granted, Kayce shows mercy by letting both of them live, but the image of a grown man holding a child up at gunpoint is still pretty intense. What's more, Kayce knows the pain of losing a child, so seeing him threaten to kill someone else's kid is disturbing.

Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) has one rule when it comes to fighting on the ranch: if you want to fight, you have to fight him. That edict even applies to his best friend, Lloyd Pierce (Forrie J. Smith), as Rip breaks the old cowboy's hand in season 4's "I Want to Be Him" episode. The events that lead to Lloyd's punishment are even wilder, though.

"Yellowstone" season 4 features a lot of tension between Lloyd and Walker (Ryan Bingham), the singing rancher who beds the lady the old man has a crush on. Walker is also quite rude toward the veteran rancher, and Lloyd eventually snaps and flips a knife into his bunkhouse rival's chest. This forces Rip to make an exception to his no-fighting rule, and Walker and Lloyd air out their grievances through a good old-fashioned dust-up that lasts until they're both on their knees and throwing fists at the air.

After the fight ends, Rip hugs Lloyd, tells him he loves him, and smashes his hand with a hammer to ensure that he never breaks the rules again. Now that's real friendship.

Most of the deaths on "Yellowstone" are engineered by humans who are engulfed in shady practices. Every once in a while, however, the series reminds viewers that death is random and can strike from anywhere. A notable example of this happened on "Yellowstone" season 5, episode 12, when a horse killed Colby Mayfield (Denim Richards) to emphasize that ranching is a dangerous job. However, that's tame compared to what Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) witnesses in season 1's "A Monster Is Among Us."

In this one, Rip stumbles upon a Chinese tourist couple dangling from a cliff and pleading for help. He makes an honest effort to try and save them, but the woman falls and her boyfriend lets himself go afterward as he can't live without her. However, Rip doesn't have enough time to comprehend the tragedy, as a bear pops out of nowhere and rushes toward him, forcing the rancher to shoot the grizzly before it tears him apart.

Of course, Rip's problems don't end there. It turns out that the bear was on the endangered species list, and the authorities also suspect that he killed the tourists. He gets questioned by the cops in the next episode, "The Unravelling: Part 1," and the officer tasked with escorting him falls off her horse and gets impaled on a fencepost. Fortunately, Rip manages to save her life and clear his name, and they part ways as friends.

"Yellowstone" is currently streaming on Peacock.