The big draw in the early seasons of Yellowstone was always Cole Hauser’s Rip Wheeler — yes, that Cole Hauser — the man of few words who spoke through action. He was the quiet MVP of the series. Rip was John Dutton’s right-hand man, the fixer, the guy who wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself for Dutton, the ranch, or Beth, Dutton’s daughter and Rip’s lifelong love.
Since Dutton’s death — or maybe even earlier — Rip has felt adrift. In the past, he would have solved Dutton’s murder through back channels, exacting vengeance on everyone involved over the course of a single bloody episode. This season, however, the responsibility for investigating Dutton’s murder has fallen to Kayce, who’s taken a darker turn. In a recent episode, Kayce held a child at gunpoint to extract information from the man who orchestrated John’s murder—an act Rip would have once carried out himself but with ruthless precision and little moral uncertainty.
Meanwhile, Beth has been left to not only save the ranch but also to orchestrate Jamie’s downfall. Her mission continued this week with leaking Jamie’s affair with Sarah Atwood to the press and will likely culminate next week in her killing Jamie, as she promised earlier in the season. Rip, who once stood as essentially Beth’s one-man protective service, is now a passive observer to her escalating war against their adoptive brother. Adding to the weight on Beth’s shoulders, she even had to lift Teeter’s spirits after Colby’s death — emotional labor that would have once fallen squarely to Teeter’s boss, Rip.
Rip is no longer the ranch’s fixer. Instead, he’s been tasked with dismantling its operations — selling off assets — and he can’t even manage that effectively. In this week’s episode, Rip stayed behind in Montana while Beth traveled to Texas to watch Travis (played by Taylor Sheridan) sell a horse for $3 million at auction by acting like the cocksure asshole he is. Afterward, Beth — repulsed by Travis’s misogyny — nonetheless convinces him to bring his spectacle to Montana, hoping to sell the ranch’s remaining livestock at a premium. This insanely overcooked and frankly insane Taylor Sheridan sequence features strip poker, a girlfriend played by Bella Hadid, Sheridan flaunting his abs in a pool, and even the character playfully hitting on Beth.
When Beth returns to share her disdain for Travis, however, all Rip can muster is a story about how Travis once got his ass kicked alongside Rip during a bar fight. The anecdote flatters Travis more than Rip, unsurprising, given that it’s written by the actor playing Travis, who, incidentally, sued Hauser two years ago over copyright infringement regarding Yellowstone-themed coffee branding.
Is that why Rip feels so neutered this season? The man who once used ruthless means to save the day is now little more than a middle manager, laying off ranch hands and overseeing the ranch’s demise. His inaction arguably led to Colby’s death, and he’s been powerless to help his own people in its aftermath. Instead, Rip sulks, talks far too much for a man of few words, and doesn’t even impart the rancher wisdom that once defined the character.
It’s too bad: Rip is neither a man of action nor a man who can provide comfort these days, even to the boy he and Beth have taken in and treated as their own. Rip is not even a mouthpiece for Taylor Sheridan anymore. The heart of Yellowstone has been reduced to an empty Western shirt and ill-fitting jeans. Sheridan may have killed off John Dutton, but he’s assassinated Rip Wheeler.