Yellowstone Season 2 Episode 4 Recap With Spoilers: “Only Devils Left

The threat to the Dutton family and the Yellowstone ranch has continued to grow as Dan Jenkins and Thomas Rainwater continue their efforts for the casino and hotel and this week, not only do their plans begin moving forward but the Duttons find themselves dealing with a direct threat to the ranch and their cattle. And, of course, it’s all complicated by politics. Here’s what happened in “Only Devils Left.”

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

What Happened in “Only Devils Left”?

A plane flies over Dutton property and drops something into a field before heading off into the night sky. The next morning, Kayce, Rip, and Jimmy are out on the ranch repairing fencing and Jimmy notices a cow nearby doesn’t look right. Rip and Kayce determine the cow has bloat and they deal with it by stabbing the cow to relieve the gas. Rip tries to figure out what caused it. Kayce then notices the herd scattered, apparently dead, just a few yards away.

John, Jamie, Beth, and Governor Perry all meet with Cassidy, the Attorney General candidate who is now running unopposed since Jamie dropped out. The Governor says she’ll have the current AG step down and then appoint Cassidy, who in turn says she’ll serve to the letter of the law. While they are all talking, Jamie gets the call from Kayce about the cows.

At the ranch, John, Kayce and Jamie look over the cows — hundreds of them — who have died from bloat. Lloyd finds clover that doesn’t belong and John says the ranch is a crime scene. He also tells Kayce he knows who is behind it, but they have to prove it. Elsewhere, Dan and Rainwater walk the land where they plan to build their hotel and casino. Rainwater tells Dan he’s annexing the land and the state won’t control things but Dan didn’t agree to it. Rainwater says it’s part of the deal and that way they don’t have to deal with the state as all licenses will be handled by the tribe. Dan’s men point out that this will make trouble with important people, but Rainwater doesn’t care, though he suggests Dan get security. Rainwater makes a speech in front of tribe members about things. A tribal member challenges the development and tells a reporter he doesn’t think this is the best thing for the tribe at all. Later, Malcolm Beck hears about the annexation and wants to know who the contractor is. Terry says he will find out.

At the ranch, Sheriff Donnie Haskell examines the field and find no tire tracks. John says he is sure it came by plane, but the sheriff is skeptical. John also doesn’t have enough livestock officers to handle the case and asks for help, but the sheriff says he doesn’t have anyone he can lend. John demands that he immediately deputize his own men and strong arms the sheriff into complying. Kayce is deputized. When the sheriff leaves, John has Jamie start collecting evidence and when they have enough, John want Kayce to pick him up.

Jamie starts figuring out where the nearest skydiving place is because he thinks the plane probably came from there. While doing this, he discovers paperwork that the ranch has been placed in a trust, and Kayce knows nothing about it. Beth shows up and Jamie confronts her because he’s not in the trust. Beth says he’s not worthy of trust. Jamie says Beth is only doing this so she can use the money to invest in her own project, and she admits it. The ranch is in for $5 million now. Given that the ranch hasn’t turned a profit in six years and half a million dollars’ worth of cows just died, things are complicated.

Rip and Floyd report back, having found more dead cattle and discovered that bales of clover were dropped all over the valley. They have to move the remaining herd to safety but they also have to burn the field to get rid of the clover, which will root and grow again in the spring. The next day, they prepare for the fire. An old man shows up having been beaten up. Jimmy’s former friends did it and warned him that Jimmy has a week to pay his debt — Jimmy owes them eight grand.

Malcolm and Teal show up at the ranch and Rip catches them. They ask to see John, but one of Malcom’s men tries to beat up Rip. It doesn’t go well. Kayce shows up and kicks the gun out of a guy’s hand. Jamie show sup and finds Rip holding them at gunpoint. Malcom introduces himself to John and apologizes. He and John meet and Malcom and his brother say they think all ranches will stop existing in five to ten years because of that casino and hotel and that they can’t fight it legally but can outside of the law. They think they’re the perfect allies for John as their business interests don’t compete. John isn’t sure, but he will consider it. Jamie letter tells John he thinks working with them would be making a deal with the devil.

John, Jamie, and Beth meet with Cassidy, who is now AG, and ask her to look into Dan’s Paradise Valley Development Corporation. Jamie wants her to file an injunction to stop the reservation from annexing the property into the reservation and says they’re doing it to avoid taxes and regulations so it could be fought legally. Beth causes a ruckus trying to get Jamie into legal trouble, but John stops her.

Kayce spends the night with Monica and Tate. The next day, when he comes back, he tells john he can’t find a manifest for the clover plan, but John tells him to keep looking.  He also gets. call from another rancher about a dead cow so he goes to check it out and finds it may have been attacked by a wolf. However, when Kayce and the livestock officer go to the neighbor’s place, he finds a weapon that was used to kill the cow. He goes to arrest the neighbor, but the son arrives with a gun. Things get tense and the livestock officer ends up shooting and killing the son.

John gets to the scene and Kayce tells him what happened. John reminds the officer that he was supposed to call the sheriff for backup, but the officer explains they did and were denied help. When the sheriff shows up, he starts yelling at John, but John punches him and reminds him that he promised he would provide assistance to them. Later, Malcolm and his brother hear about the shooting and the sheriff’s behavior and Malcolm says he knows how to help John. Back at the ranch, John gives the signal and the burning of the fields and cows begins.