Yellowstone Season 2 Episode 1 Recap With Spoilers: “A Thundering”

Last week, Season 1 of Yellowstone left with a lot of things hanging in the balance — literally. This week, we’re back for Season 2 of the fan favorite series as it continues to air on CBS and we’ll find out what happened to Dan Jenkins after he’s strung up by Rip and Kayce as well as what’s going on with John Dutton’s health because last we saw of him, he wasn’t in very good shape, either. Here’s what happened in the Season 2 premiere of Yellowstone.

Fair warning: spoilers for Yellowstone beyond this point. Read on only if you really want to know.

What Happened in “A Thundering”?

The episode opens with Rainwater having an ominous dream: a burning bush, a woman on fire running, and Jenkins with his face half destroyed pointing a gun at him. Rainwater wakes up screaming. For the Duttons, John and Kayce along with some ranch hands go looking for cattle who have wandered into the woods and they send some dogs into the dense forest. The cattle comes stampede out, but a dog hangs behind barking. Kayce goes in and gets the last cow. At the ranch, the men herd the cows into pens with 800 rounded up so far. The bulls cause some chaos when they force their way in with the cows and Jimmy has to deal with it. Jimmy and Avery are also made to deal with the cattle insemination.

Elsewhere, Jamie Dutton gets out of bed having spent the night with his campaign manager and goes to get coffee while she gets dressed. Beth and her assistant Jason go looking at a rental space, which she rents for six months as she doesn’t plan to stay all that long. She then goes back to John at the ranch and gives him information on the woman who she says fits their needs: a state prosecutor who used to be a rodeo queen. Beth assures John that Jamie will hate her.

Rainwater meets with tribe leadership and they voice concerns about the casino and how far away it will be from the reservation. Rainwater says that he has control issues handled and that they don’t want to turn the reservation into a destination. He also says that if they own the land, they can build other businesses without having to deal with the government. Not everyone is convinced, however.

Monica decides to take the college teaching job but is informed that the college no longer has the funds for the position. However, a temporary solution is found in which she continues to teach at the reservation school while teaching a course in American History and will move into the Native America Studies job once funding comes back next semester. Monica is assured she can teach her version of American history.

The attorney Beth researched, Cassidy, shows up at the ranch and John explains the situation — that they want a candidate to support and she asks why they aren’t supporting Jamie. John says they want what is best for the state of Montana, implying that they don’t believe it to be Jamie. Cassidy talks to them about some of her programs and after Beth leaves, Cassidy says she’s not sure she can get voters but John tells her he will handle it.

A newcomer joins the ranch hands — he showed up earlier in the episode looking for work. The newcomer, Cowboy, goads Jimmy. It also turns out that he knows Walker from a previous job and Walker warns Cowboy that the Yellowstone is different and that he should leave while he can. Elsewhere, Beth meets with Bob Schwartz and talks about her plan to not only get Bob profit but also secure land around the Dutton ranch. She plans to set up a fund, buy land, and then put it in a conservation easement that will end up cutting property tax and setting thing sup to where they essentially are able to acquire land on the government’s dime. Beth points out that it will make Bob money and end up creating a 200 square mile moat around the Yellowstone in 2 years’ time and Bob gives her the go ahead.

Later, the ranch hands end up going to a bar where a fight breaks out and Kayce and Rip can’t deal with Yellowstone ranchers getting their butts kicked so they go and let a bull loose in the bar. When the people who beat the ranchers come out, they themselves get beat. Walker doesn’t want to participate and Rip threatens to take back his brand if he doesn’t comply.

The next day, John finds Dan at a diner. John is surprised Dan can swallow and hasn’t left town. Dan says he loves Montana and didn’t report what happened because he wants John at the Yellowstone when he takes it. Later at the ranch, Jimmy has to inseminate the cows and as John walks away, he collapses bleeding from the mouth. The vet who has been overseeing things does an x-ray but it’s not colon cancer that she sees. He has a ruptured ulcer and he won’t make it to the hospital in time. She has to operate on him with only local anesthesia and that’s what she does with Rip, Cowboy, and Kayce’s help. John makes it and ends up being taken to the hospital for additional care and when Kayce tells him he’s not dying yet, John says it might be worse because he so much to undo.