Men of Yellowstone: Rip or Kayce? Quiz

Answer: Rip

Rip Wheeler grew up on a pig farm in Montana. His parents divorced when he was young. Information about his early life is shared using flashbacks to tell history. A young Rip makes an appearance in many of them.

Rip's fierce loyalty to his boss on the Yellowstone, John Dutton, has not gone unnoticed. One of the themes of the program has been the importance of the family keeping the land which has been under their control for several generations. In "Sins of the Father" (season 2/episode 10), John writes a letter that gives Rip a small cabin on the property and says that Rip is like a son to him. That is the ultimate praise in Rip's opinion.

Answer: Rip

It is easy to deduce from the flashbacks that Rip and Beth, the boss's daughter, share a long history of mutual attraction on the Yellowstone Ranch, but Beth isn't always very nice. Now that she and Rip are a couple she has expressed her regret about her past behavior. After Rip rescues her from a brutal attack in her office ("Resurrection Day" season 2/episode 7), their on-again off-again relationship becomes on again and hasn't stopped going since.

In the same episode, when Beth asks Rip to take her on a date, she asks him if he has any money. He says that he really doesn't. Should it be a surprise when Rip arranges for his mother's shrine to be opened long enough ("The World Is Purple" Season 3/Episode 10) to retrieve her wedding ring for Beth? Is it for sentimental reasons or lack of money? It is for sentimental reasons; he wants Beth to have his mother's ring. By this point in the series what has become shocking about Rip is his kindness. His character is a bit of an enigma.

The two are finally married when Beth decides to make it happen. She kidnaps a Catholic priest and takes him to the ranch to perform the ceremony ("Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops" season 4/episode 10).

Answer: Rip

The finale of season 3 shows a hit take place on all of the members of the Dutton family except for Jamie. While Beth and Kacey are both injured, John's condition is the most serious, and he is hospitalized for two months.

On one of her many visits to the hospital to see her father, Beth notices a young boy named Carter, whose father has just died from a drug overdose. Carter has nowhere to go, and Beth seems to have a soft spot for him; perhaps he reminds her of the young Rip ("Phantom Pain" season 4/episode 2).

Anyway, Beth takes Carter home, and while Rip isn't exactly thrilled about it, it is obvious to see that the three develop into a little family. Carter conforms to Rip and Beth's expectations after hitting several bumps in the road, and now the Yellowstone is his home. It doesn't hurt that John and Carter seem to make an impression upon each other ("I Want to Be Him" season 4/episode 6).

Answer: Rip

One day Rip's father shows up at the family home with the intention of killing all of them. He kills Rip's brother, and knocks Rip unconscious. When he comes to, Rip sees his father brutally stabbing his mother to death. He then kills his father by hitting him over the head with a frying pan, and leaves; subsequently John Dutton finds Rips in a hayloft. He has been at the Yellowstone ever since. A flashback in "The Unraveling, Part 1" (season 1/episode 8) reveals the traumatic experience in young Rip's life.

In a discussion regarding whether Rip has the money to take his girlfriend on a date, he replies that money doesn't have much meaning for him. What does Rip do with his money? He reveals that he spent $22,000 on a cemetery monument for his mother and $30,000 on one for his brother; the best money he ever spent, however, was when he paid a gravedigger $5,000 to dig up his father's remains. He threw his bones out the truck window all the way from Montana to North Dakota.

Answer: Rip

It is very clear, first thing in season 1, that Rip is John Dutton's enforcer. He is so totally loyal to John that he he will do whatever is necessary - and John knows that.

Season 1/episode 1 ("Daybreak") begins with the Yellowstone involved in a land dispute with the local reservation. During the exchange of gunfire, John's oldest son Lee is killed and so is another man. It's important to make sure the medical examiner's report jives with the story that the Duttons are telling about the altercation, and Rip is sent to be sure that is done; he retrieves the medical file and completes the task in a very horrifying way ("Kill the Messenger" season 1/episode 2) to make sure the medical examiner doesn't live to tell about his findings.

Answer: Both

Rip has lived on the ranch for a long time and worked his way up to being ranch foreman. Part of his loyalty to John is that he does what John asks without question. When Kayce returns to live on the Yellowstone ("New Beginnings" season 2/episode 2), John wants to find a place for him there, and asks Rip to return to the bunkhouse so that Kayce can take over his job. Without question, Rip does that, even though it is painfully humiliating for him.

When Kayce moves on, Rip quietly returns to his job as foreman, after, in reality, never having really left it.

Answer: Both

Both of the guys are cold-blooded killers. While Kayce has been professionally trained for that job, and definitely has a mental toughness ("Half the Money" season 4/episode 1), Rip has been allowed to hone his skill for years.

The first instance of Kayce's resolve to do what he thinks is right, as in "No Good Horses" (season 1/episode 3). He finds a Native girl bound in a van who appears to have been abducted by two guys; he guns both of them down and burns their bodies in an attempt to cover up his deed. Kayce is definitely in a position to take the law into his own hands when he feels it is necessary, and he doesn't think there is anything wrong with that. To paraphrase his own words, he is not a murderer and will never be ("Meaner Than Evil" season 3/episode 9), as he shows when he overrides Rip's decision to take Walker, one of the reluctant ranch hands, to the train station. Whether he is a murderer or not, however, is a matter of opinion.

Rip's list of killings just goes on and on. In fact, it took me a long while to decide that I kind of like Rip because his actions are so terribly brutal and appalling. There is an instance of Rip punishing a branded former ranch hand ("Meaner Than Evil" season 3/episode 10), who has left the Yellowstone and is now attacking the ranch. In a shockingly brutal scene, Rip has the man's brand carved off his body, and then hangs him.

Answer: Both

Young Rip had an altercation with one of the ranch hands about Beth, which led to the guy's death ("The Dream Is Not Me" season 5A/episode 7). He was a bit of a drifter with no family nearby, and his body was easily discarded at the train station. After that, Rip received the brand. That essentially meant that he belonged to the ranch and would always have a home there. But the implications are much deeper. It also means that he will always be protected by John, who, in "The Long Black Train" (season 1/episode 4), has made it clear that if any hand hits a branded man they die; the train station is a location on the border between Montana and Wyoming where bodies can apparently be disposed without detection.

It is indeed curious that a person would see the need to brand his own son. When Kayce refuses to leave his girlfriend after she became pregnant, John questions his loyalty and has him branded. This has since been a topic of discussion between Kayce and his wife, as she obviously can see his brand. After she witnesses the branding of another hand, she works up the courage to ask John about Kayce's. He tells her that he branded Kayce himself because Kayce disobeyed him ("The Remembering" season 1/episode 6).

Answer: Kayce

When Season 1 begins, Kayce has returned home to Montana, but is living on the Reservation with his family. It is clear that he and his father have been estranged for a while. Why else would he be choosing to reside in a trailer and break horses for a living when he was obviously brought up in the lap of luxury? It is revealed in "No Good Horses" (season 1/episode 3) that Kayce carries a tough burden. He was with his mother when she was fatally injured, but was too young to help her.

That, however, doesn't seem to be the problem between Kayce and his dad, John. It's a matter of John trusting Kayce to do what he tells him to do - which, at least in John's opinion, of course, will always be for the good of the ranch. Over time they are able to begin mending fences, and by the end of Season 5A, Kayce plays an intricate role in the workings of the ranch. John is busy being the Governor of Montana, and Rip is needed elsewhere so Kayce must step up and take over the running of the ranch ("A Knife and No Coin" season 5A/episode 8).

Answer: Kayce

The trouble between Kayce and John appears to have started when Kayce was a young man. He was dating a girl from the Reservation named Monica and she became pregnant. Thinking about need for future heirs of a certain sort, John wants Kayce to have Monica terminate the pregnancy; Kayce marries her instead and leaves Montana.

Monica seems to have a lot going for her in spite of her unresolved issues about the Dutton family. She teaches at the Reservation school, and even has the credentials in "New Beginnings" (season 2/episode 2) to teach history at the university. She does not, however, always understand why things happen the way they do on the Yellowstone. After witnessing a branding on the ranch, she asks John why Kayce was branded ("The Remembering" season 1/episode 6). As it turns out, the branding was related to her.

Answer: Kayce

Kayce obviously has talents as a former Navy Seal that come in handy, and his past missions do occasionally cause flashbacks, but there really isn't very much information given about his time in the program - unless you count the many times he has used his fighting skills which were obviously learned there, as when he rescued his son from kidnappers ("Sins of the Father" season 2/episode 10).

When things didn't seem to be working out with his return to Montana, Kayce considers resigning from the Navy Seals. His wife tells him that she has forgiven him for the death of her brother ("The Unraveling, Part 1" season 1/episode 9), and that if he wants to reenlist she won't stand in his way.

Answer: Kayce

Tate is Kayce's son and John's only apparent heir through season 5A. As wealthy landowners in Montana, the Duttons have a lot of enemies. Some, the Beck brothers, are even willing to kidnap John's heir to get what they want.

Tate is a little boy when his family moves to the ranch for the first time. After John gives him his first horse, it is Tate's responsibility to feed him. That was the opportune time, in "Sins of the Father" (season 2/episode 10) for the Becks to grab him. It becomes more and more apparent, when watching Tate's rescue, how powerful the Dutton family really is, and how ruthless. The beginning of season 3 shows John and Kayce taking Tate away from the house and establishing a summer camp where he can enjoy nature, get to know his grandpa better, and heal after the traumatic experience.

Over the first five seasons, Tate has basically grown up on the show. He is always good for a cute quip, whether it be about his parents' relationship or his own development. Tate is really looking forward to having a sibling, but it hasn't worked out yet for the family ("One Hundred Years Is Nothing" season 5A/episode 1).

Answer: Kayce

When the seasons begins, John Dutton is the county Livestock Agent. As time progresses the job is held by John's son Jamie, and eventually taken over by Kayce, as it appears to be a way the family can control their ranching interests. He seems to be very well-suited for the job. He is tenderhearted and caring when he needs to be, and seems to understand the problems that the local ranchers have.

The job also gives him the right to take the law into his own hands. After learning about the hit on his father, Kayce joins the police to track down those who were involved ("Half the Money" season 4/episode 1). When Monica goes into premature labor, however, Kayce is working away from home. This is when he seems to have second thoughts about keeping the job.

Answer: Rip

While you might think that both men are pretty tough, the correct answer here is Rip. And why? Both Rip and Kayce are alpha males and have to be in charge. It is clear to see that there is an animosity between the two that has been there for a long time. Even as adults, they engage in the occasional fist fight to clear up their issues with each other ("The Remembering" season 1/episode 6).

Who wins those fist fights? Rip! That may be a reason why they keep going. The only time Rip loses is when John asks him to throw the fight in front of the hands so that they will respect him and take his orders. Rip does what John asks him to do, so he throws the fight ("New Beginnings" season 2/episode 2).

Answer: Kayce

There is an unresolved issue that affects Kayce and Monica's marriage through most of seasons 1 and 2. In a fight with the Reservation over cattle, Kayce takes his dad's side, and kills Monica's brother, Robert, in the process ("Kill the Messenger" - season 1/episode 2). Kayce is wracked with guilt and feels that if he tells Monica, she will leave him.

While the situation with the brother-in-law is resolved in the Season 1 finale, it takes the Monica a while to work her feelings.