Warning! SPOILERS For Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 14, “Life Is A Promise”
Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) did something inYellowstoneseason 4 that looked unforgivable at the time, but season 5 redeemed her controversial moment. Beth engineers her fair share of controversy in Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western series, but one moment stands out against the rest as the time that Beth’s mean streak went too far. Most of Beth’s controversial comments happen around a business table where they are ideally suited. Sometimes, John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) daughter takes her antics home, prompting some of Beth’s mostscrutinizedYellowstonescenes.
Yellowstoneseason 4 was hard on everyone, including Beth, at theYellowstone Dutton Ranch. Each member of the Dutton family was affected by the multi-target attack on the clan, orchestrated by Jamie’s (Wes Bentley) father and executed in theYellowstoneseason 3 finale. Kayce’s (Luke Grimes) family fractures as Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Brecken Merrill) process the trauma of Tate’s kidnapping. Likewise, Beth processes the grief of experiencing an explosion and simultaneously almost losing her father.A new but challenging opportunity finds Beth testing her resolveamid her grief.
Beth And Rip Unofficially Parent Carter In Yellowstone Season 4
As she waits to hear about her father’s condition,Beth Dutton meets a 14-year-old boy named Carter(Finn Little) outside Bozeman General Hospital. Carter asks Beth what happened to her face. He laughs when she’s rude to him, eventually telling her that his dad is dying. Beth tells Carter her dad is dying, too, and the two form a bond. Beth accompanies Carter to say goodbye as his dad experiences brain death, and she takes the kid in a few days later when Donnie Haskell (Hugh Dillon) brings him to the ranch, saying that Carter claimed Beth was his guardian.
Beth Dutton’s 12 Best Yellowstone Quotes
Beth Dutton has perhaps the most iconic repertoire of quotes in the entire Yellowstone franchise, as John Dutton’s daughter isn’t one to hold back.
The moment when Beth takes in Carter shows her kindness. Still, John’s daughter has moments where she falters in her parenting, which is ultimately understandable. Beth was mean to Carter when he was down at vital times, which was unpleasant on the first watch, like inYellowstoneseason 4, episode 7. Beth rejects Carter’s apology, saying,“I don’t want those f*cking things,”when he brings her flowers. Beth doesn’t let up on the kid until Carter asks for a ride into town, saying he will take a chance on foster care over his current circumstances at the ranch.
Beth is unnecessarily cruel to Carter, but we’re also hard-pressed to expect much else from Beth in season 4, considering mothers and motherhood are touchy subjects.
Beth later makes Carter cry inYellowstoneseason 4, episode 10. As Beth passes through the barn, Carter casually remarks,“Morning, mama.”She responds,“Hey, baby,”automatically before doubling back and telling Carter not to call her that. Carter tells Beth he thought he could call her"mama"since she acts like his mom. Beth remarks that she’s been acting like his friend and that his mother is dead, and he doesn’t get another.Beth is unnecessarily cruel to Carter, but we’re also hard-pressed to expect much else from Beth in season 4, considering mothers and motherhood are touchy subjects.
What’s worse, whenCarter starts to cry inYellowstoneseason 4, episode 10, Beth tells Carter to stop because crying doesn’t help. When looking at the previous episode, Beth Dutton’s comment is a bit hypocritical. InYellowstoneseason 4, episode 9, “No Such Thing as Fair,” Beth asks Walker (Ryan Bingham) to play her a song. She requests a melancholy tune because she needs to cry, but she’s incapable of crying for herself. Therefore, Beth clearly understands the power of a good tear session. Still, she acts like Carter is wrong to do the same in the next chapter.
Beth & Carter’s Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 12 Scene Redeemed Beth’s Parenting Failure
Beth Finally Acts Like Carter’s Mother In Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 12
InYellowstoneseason 5, episode 12, Beth has a more nurturing moment with Carter that redeems her sometimes fiery demeanor from season 4. Carter witnesses a tragedy in the episode, and Beth comforts him while he’s crying in the barn. Earlier that morning, Carter was changing out the water bucket in an unruly steed’s pen when he got trapped, at risk of getting stomped or trampled by the horse. Colby Mayfield (Denim Richards) saves Carter but dies suddenly as the horse tramples the more senior ranch hand instead.Carter is understandably torn up about Colby’s death, blaming himself.
Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 12’s Dutton Ranch Latest Death Explained
Yet another character died in Yellowstone season 5, part 2 in “Counting Coup,” following in the footsteps of John Dutton’s and Sarah Atwood’s demises.
In “Counting Coup,”Beth is intuitively comforting and nurturingabout Carter’s experience. She comes to sit with him on the floor and speaks softly before reaching out and tenderly grooming his hair, asking if he’s blaming himself for Colby’s death. Beth’s demeanor contrasts her treatment of Carter in the past, evolving to comfort her symbolic son when he is grieving. While she couldn’t properly support him inYellowstoneseason 4, Beth redeemed herself by finally treating Carter like her child in season 5. Beth doesn’t often show her unabashedly tender side, but Carter eventually draws it out.
The moment between Carter and Beth in the barn proves two things. First, Beth faltered as Carter’s mother figure. When Beth asks Carter if he’s staying at the house because she would want to be with her family,Carter says he doesn’t have a family. The moment when Beth corrects Carter, saying,“Of course you do,“is a sweet exchange between them, but it shows that Carter feels he doesn’t have a family, doubtlessly in part due to Beth’s season 4 comments. It also indicates that Beth fully accepts Carter as family, whether she considers him a son or not.
Did Beth & Rip Officially Adopt Carter In Yellowstone?
Beth And Rip’s Yellowstone Spinoff Can Clarify Carter’s Murky Status
InYellowstoneseason 5, episode 14, “Life Is a Promise,” the series finale,Carter joins Beth and Rip (Cole Hauser) on their ranch in Dillon, Montana. The couple started anew after Kayce sold John Dutton’s ranch to Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and the Broken Rock Tribe. As it became apparent that John’s children would surrender stewardship of the land, it was unclear whether Carter would stay with Beth and Rip in their new home. However, in their ending “Life Is a Promise” scene, Beth watches Rip and Carter at the new property, confirming they are a family.
Even if the couple sees the boy as their own or wants to take on his guardianship permanently, Beth and Rip officially adopting Carter inYellowstonecould be unlikely.
In season 4, Beth tells Rip she thinks Carter might be their kid.Beth and Rip’sYellowstonespinoffcan fully realize the intuitive bond Beth felt, continuing to build on her parenting evolution and explaining Carter’s adoptive status. Even if the couple sees the boy as their own or wants to take on his guardianship permanently, Beth and Rip officially adopting Carter inYellowstonecould be unlikely. After murdering his father for killing his mother and brother, Rip found asylum on the Yellowstone Ranch and was thereby undocumented. Carter could similarly fly under the radar in theYellowstonespinoff.
Yellowstone
Cast
Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, led by patriarch John Dutton, as they defend their expansive ranch against external threats from land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first national park. Released on August 11, 2025, this series examines the complex dynamics and violent conflicts surrounding the largest contiguous ranch in the United States.
