Summary
“Touching Your Enemy” saw Jamie trying to cover up his betrayal and Kayce investigates the deaths of the Duttons’ cattle.
This recap of Yellowstone Season 2, Episode 5, “Touching Your Enemy”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
Wars don’t all look alike, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t all wars. There are many in Yellowstone: for land, for power, for all sorts. John’s war is for the ranch. Kayce’s is for his family. But “Touching Your Enemy” ventures for the first time — albeit briefly — into the war Kayce fought overseas, where he killed families at the behest of the American government. He doesn’t like talking about it. And it’s clear why.
What isn’t clear is how much of that war he still holds inside him — how close he is to fighting it again, even if he doesn’t need to. We’ve seen in Season 2 a deterioration in Kayce’s mental state; a willingness to go further than he would if his wife and child were still with him. (It’s probably not worth speculating what he might do if he finds out his wife is getting along a little too well with her physical therapist.) In “Touching Your Enemy” he does indeed touch his enemy — but is Dan Jenkins really his enemy at all?
Well, he’s one of them. The Becks are another. Thomas Rainwater is a third. The Duttons have enemies all over the place, which explains why they’re so inclined to consider every dispute a war. It must feel like that. But their greatest threat might come from within. Jamie, after being ousted from the family and trying to kickstart his own political career, has returned in disgrace, harboring a secret: He gave an interview to a journalist about some of what really goes on at the Yellowstone ranch. And it’s going to go public.
Beth, as ever, took great pleasure in battering Jamie and dragging him before his father. But John’s cool disgust was scarier. He’s a man fighting battles on all sides. Another enemy isn’t new. But the question has to become what a man in that position might do to stave off his adversaries. How far might he go? I guess we’ll find out.
