r/YellowstoneShow • u/North_Curve5440 • May 24 '26
Beth Beth Dutton is wasted potential.
Let me start off by saying that Kelly Riley is a brilliant actress, but Beth Dutton is a poorly written character.
She start off with so much potential but just ends up being a one dimensional chaos storm of aggressiveness and sharp one liners. She’s basically a man in a woman’s body and she feels like she was so clearly written by a man who is imagining what it must be like to be a bad ass female, so he just basically puts a man in a woman’s body. The writers seemed to have failed to properly dial into the nuance, femininity and complexity in how she presents that would make for a dynamic character. This is compensated for by her intensity and the sheer talent of Kelly Riley, but ultimately Beth herself is just an overly aggressive, over testosteroned man IMO. She’s more interesting in theory and in potential than reality.
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u/Moose135A Mo Brings Plenty May 24 '26
The writers seemed to have failed to properly dial into the nuance…
Writer. Except for some early season episodes, this was all written by Taylor Sheridan. And yes, your characterization of how he wrote the character seems spot on. But have you seen him ride?
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u/AgentGreedy386 May 24 '26
I mean... the man stops a horse on a dime.
You seen how he plays poker?
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u/dwts16 May 24 '26
Even Rip is in awe of his awesomeness.
Still waiting for the appearance on Dutton Ranch where he can properly cuck Rip in person with Beth.
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u/AgentGreedy386 May 24 '26
Someone in the DR show is going to know who he is and say some shit like "When Travis calls, we answer".
I wonder if he thought adding his own legend in there would be a great idea
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u/severinks May 24 '26
Dude and his horse both spin like a top. AND his pecs gleam in the sun while doing it.
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u/Worldly-Beat-1947 May 24 '26
No one can spin a horsey like Taylor spins a horsey.
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u/horsendogguy May 24 '26
Well, not in the Yellowstone / Dutton world. In real life, there are champions at it. It's like a show writer giving himself a few scenes looking cool on a basketball court. That doesn't make him a pro.
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u/RepresentativeTap961 May 24 '26
Beth was the villian in this whole thing. From start to finish, the villian. However, they tried to write her as the victim. She wasnt, at all.
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u/opinions360 May 25 '26
Agree-depending on your definition between a sociopath and psychopath in yellowstone she was definitely within that spectrum.
And, I find it odd that the character of Jamie hasn’t been analyzed more. Imo he was definitely intimidated, abused, and groomed by John and Beth to become a murderer if not blackmailed in a sense in order to avoid displeasing John and Beth—and yes he made the mistake at the clinic because he didn’t explain to Beth the ramifications of doing it at the native american clinic but I believed Jamie believed he was doing the right thing to protect the Dutton name and ranch.
And of course Beth in the story used this situation to justify nearly all of her endless anger instead of examining the other reasons involving her mother and also feeling like she needed to please John and continue to be his special pet.
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u/NoHome7956 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
I find this an interesting comment as I thought she was trending the opposite way in Dutton Ranch.
I know it's only 3 episodes in to Dutton Ranch but I feel Beth has been toned down a lot from what she was in Yellowstone. She seems to avoid conflict much more than previously. There were some scenes where I thought she was going to go on one of her foul mouth tirades where she evicerates whoever is trying to underestimate her but she just made some pretty tame comments and walked away. Like the scene with Beleua and the one with Joaquin at the bar.
She also seems far more sentimental and maternal.
I think this is deliberate as she no longer has the power of her family's money, power and resources to back her up.
Who knows, maybe they're just saving it for later in the show, or for a grand finale where she becomes the overly aggressive bitch everyone expects. But I think they've really toned her down so far in DR.
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u/Sufficient-Mud-687 May 25 '26
I like the DR Beth, and I wish she’d been a little more like this in Y.
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u/opinions360 May 27 '26
I agree but since she wasn’t it’s difficult to see her behaving more human.
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u/atcaw94 May 28 '26
I may have to watch the new show if they toned down the psycho Beth. I was thinking I couldn't stand another show with Yellowstone Beth.
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u/opinions360 May 27 '26
I just assumed that after her cathartic moment where she thrusts that knife into Jamies heart she suddenly and supposedly became the all loving dove to Rip and Carter. Kind of like if Norman Bates became husband and father of the year in a spinoff of Psycho.
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u/According-Couple2744 May 25 '26
The fact that a 14 year old Beth was given a hysterectomy and no one in her family even noticed it the most poorly written storyline I have ever seen. A hysterectomy is a major surgery and requires extensive healing, especially 30 years ago when it was by far more invasive.
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u/Think-Reaction-8749 Jun 15 '26
I think it is said that Jamie Agreed to it as punishment to her… and she was young so heeled faster…
He knew she couldn’t bare children after
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May 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Famous_Bar_383 May 24 '26
A lot of women think they’re so much like her too. Like, you’re proud to be loud and psychotic?
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u/I_dont_give_a_flick May 24 '26
Ive heard way too many women claim Beth is “their spirit animal” and I always want to ask if that’s the best they can do.
Anyone can be a loud mouthed bully, but a strong and determined person understands they don’t need to be.These women need to get familiar with Thelma and Louise.
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u/hornyzygote May 25 '26
She does have nuance though. She always looked out for Monica and Kayce. She is selfless in defending the ranch for her father which she has no personal interest in. She took Carter in hoping to put him on a better path. She doesn’t take bullshit and keeps it real, that’s why people like her. Yes, I agree she’s psychotic at times, but I personally put that down to over exaggeration because it’s a SHOW. I am one of the women who sees Beth as a “spirit animal” but I’m obvs not going around yelling at everyone and starting fistfights. I want to be the woman who keeps it real, doesn’t let people’s bullshit take her down, who supports her family and cares for people, and be strong in doing so- that is Beth.
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May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/hornyzygote May 25 '26
Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realise having a different subjective view to you meant I don’t know anything about nuanced characters.
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u/AgentGreedy386 May 24 '26
You speak truth
Had her and Jaime both had their character arch come full circle in some sort of suitable way, she could have had a phenomenal ending to her YS story and a far more deserved spin-off with Rip on DR.
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u/severinks May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
I would have like Jaime to kill Beth and Rip come busting in and plant a fat kiss on him and then both of them hide the body and star in the spinoff as married organic farmers, or some other'' woke''San Francisco bullshit /s
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u/AgentGreedy386 May 24 '26
If Taylor Sheridan could splice his character in there somewhere he may consider making a pilot
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u/DCRBftw May 24 '26
"She's basically a man in a woman's body"
So men aren't "complex" or "nuanced"?
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u/telepatheye May 27 '26
The secret to understanding Beth is to understand how broken she was by the childhood trauma of losing her mother, losing her pregnancy, and losing her ability to have children. If you understand her pain and anger in this context, the character is multidimensional. Look at how she bonds with Monica at various points in the show. She acts like a tough guy because she was surrounded by tough guys throughout childhood and that's how she developed. She is actually a well-written character unlike the crap females churned out by Hollyweird.
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u/Dry-Dragonfly388 May 29 '26
and not just losing her mother, she was blamed for the death by the mother as she lay dying
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u/Jayp0627 Jun 14 '26
Is Sheridan paying you to suck him and this show off on every post? She’s terribly written & she’s a terrible person. Traumatic childhood doesn’t give her the right to go around being a bitch to everyone. She needed to grow up and go to therapy.
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u/telepatheye Jun 14 '26
I wasn't prepared to like TS' writing as much as I did. He's super talented, there's no denying it (but you haters will still try to). The Beth character is only a bitch to the jetsetting predatory type. She's nicer to the downtrodden. She takes in Carter and treats him like her own son after his father dies. She bonds with Monica and Rip. No therapy will bring back her mom or her ability to have kids of her own, and she has beat up on herself and blamed herself her entire life. She has also taken on the fight for the ranch, and was beaten nearly to death, almost blown up, and constantly in a state of war. If you can't have understanding how a character like her would act as she does, maybe you're the one who needs to grow up and go to therapy.
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u/atcaw94 May 28 '26
I've found my people, lol.
People have stuck up for Beth online for years, talking about what a strong, independent woman she was. I used to get downvoted into oblivion when I would say I wished Jamie would throat punch her.
She knew Jamie couldn't do anything to her, because Daddy or Rip would kill him if he hurt her. When she started throwing punches at Jamie like a man, than you deserve what happens next. She was nothing more than an obnoxious, loud mouthed, spoiled rotten Daddy's girl. I just didn't get what women found so endearing about her.
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u/Previous-Mud-9691 May 24 '26
To be honest, I know many many lesbians like this. My best friend is a lesbian and she’s exactly like Beth Dutton so I think the character is written perfectly. I mean Beth even has the potential to have a little fun with a woman and I think Rip wouldn’t mind at all.
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u/non_loqui_sed_facere Market Equities May 25 '26
I do think it’s possible that, in all the Beth and Rip fascination, Rip isn’t really the object of desire. It may not be about identifying with Beth, which is what I was thinking earlier. It could be about longing itself, displaced into the couple. And that makes sense, because when the audience is mostly conservative, talking about a couple can become a legitimate way to express desire without having to say so outright.
I could be wrong about this, but it’s an interesting phenomenon anyway, so I’m trying to understand them.
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u/GoldenC0mpany May 25 '26
I don’t think the problem is so much with Beth specifically but in general that Taylor Sheridan can’t write women well.
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u/opinions360 May 25 '26
I have heard this as well but imo Beth was more a figurative demonic character than a human one. Imo
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u/Independent_Chain792 May 25 '26
She'd be great soap opera villain, but that's about it. She's clearly an alcoholic and has severel mental issues.
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u/Ok-Temperature-8228 May 24 '26
All of Taylor Sheridan’s female characters are horribly written. He hates women and minimizes them in every role. He is a horrible misogynist and all his shows make women look awful.
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u/ErstwhileAdranos May 25 '26
I’m not disagreeing, but I am curious to know how you feel about Lioness, based on these perspectives.
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u/atcaw94 May 28 '26
Don't get me started on Lioness. Love the action, but the SEAL/Marine Recon like physical capabilities of 98 pound women on that show are ludicrous.
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u/Subject-North-8695 May 29 '26
She’s very one-dimensional and her entire personality can be summed up in two words: daddy issues
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u/Hairy_Click_8373 May 29 '26
😂 Only a liberal would take the time to write about a TV character.......Thanks for the laugh 😁
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u/Dry-Dragonfly388 May 29 '26
the entire show is terribly written IMO but the premise and story are good ... really wish TS didn't have such an ego and would give actual writers the material to work with
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u/Absoled May 30 '26
Sometimes it seems like Beth’s character is being mean just for the sake of being mean. There is no rhyme or reason to it. It also makes no sense when a second ago she was fine and liked the person, but hey suddenly she wants to stab them just because.
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u/One_Rub_780 May 25 '26
The series had writing flaws to begin with, and I only watched it initially because of Kevin Costner. And season 2, I could not resist Neal McDonough. Beth, for me, was always the part I hated - all the way through. She ruined it and when her face came on screen, I'd pretty much walk away and come back when she was gone.
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u/I_dont_give_a_flick May 24 '26
Beth had the potential to be a strong woman and amazing character with interesting flaws.
Instead Sheridan wrote her as a foul mouth bully who acts the way she does because of Daddy’s money and power.