Yellowstone may be all about the Dutton family, led by patriarch John (Kevin Costner), doing whatever it takes to protect their land and ranch, but it also has heart — specifically with its central romance.
From youthful flirtations to steamy hookups, the wildest “first date” ever and yes, a wedding ceremony that would befit only these two beloved badasses, here’s the chronological guide to the tumultuous love story between rich cattle rancher’s daughter Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and loyal, rugged ranch hand Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser).
This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s Beth & Rip: Yellowstone Collector’s Edition issue, available online and on newsstands now.
“Touching Your Enemy” (Season 2, Episode 5)
Ah, young love. These telling flashbacks to the teenage Beth and Rip (played by Kylie Rogers and Kyle Red Silverstein) arrive in the middle of the drama’s sophomore season, and they give viewers a glimpse of the burgeoning passion that develops between the two. At this time in their lives, both Beth and Rip are unhappy. She grieves for her mother, Evelyn (Gretchen Mol), and he is being bullied by an older man in the bunkhouse (Luce Rains). Not surprisingly, there is hostility at the start. Beth calls Rip “daddy’s new pet” and says she is thinking about getting her own pet. Rip doesn’t like that any more than he likes the older cowboy picking on him. And yet, as she cracks a sly smile, she tells him he can look at her while she walks away, and it’s obvious why she got extra dressed up that morning.
That night, after beating up the bunkhouse bully, who ignites Rip’s fiery anger by repeatedly calling him “little orphan boy,” the teen retreats to his bed in tears. Beth is waiting for him, and when their eyes meet, the tension in the barn is intense. They bond over how angry they feel about the loss of loved ones and their roles in those deaths (she, her mother and he, his family). Suddenly, Beth asks Rip to kiss her. “I don’t know how,” he responds. Neither does she. This is a first kiss for both. It is uncertain, awkward and gentle, but the spark is there. And though we know it already, it’s clear these two are destined for a great love story.
“Daybreak” (Season 1, Episode 1)
The first time Rip and Beth share screen time in the series is inside the Dutton ranch house, and it’s immediately clear these two have a history. Rip is looking for his boss — Beth’s father, John, but only Beth is present, smoking in a bathrobe. “You look nervous, Rip,” she says. “Like a stray dog who can’t enjoy being in the house because he’s so worried about the broom.”
After a quick teasing moment, Beth opens her robe. She gives him a choice between walking away or getting intimate with her. (Her language is, naturally, much more colorful.) He chooses the latter. Afterward, Rip invites her to attend a music festival. “You ruin it every time,” she says, rejecting his offer and insinuating that he should know better than to ask her to an event like that. With Beth, almost every moment is sugar and spice.
“Kill the Messenger” (Season 1, Episode 2)
“I’ve done some morbid s–t on a first date, but this takes the cake, Rip,” Beth says while the pair sip whiskey out of the bottle and watch wolves devour a carcass. She leans in for a kiss but — surprise — instead breaks out of the car and runs at the wolves, screaming.
