Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t watched the first three episodes of Yellowstone’s Season 4, so be warned!
With most of the Season 3 cliffhanger worries getting answered in Yellowstone’s ratings smash of a Season 4 debut, the Paramount Network drama spent Episode 403 taking viewers through more of the toxic fallout from the attacks made on the Dutton family, while also setting up the next narrative steps. Though the second installment sidestepped a follow-up on Monica and Tate’s awful encounter in the premiere, “All I See Is You” provided quite the uncomfortable update that essentially made it look like Monica and Kayce’s relationship was as dead as the dude Tate shot. She totally called the ranch "evil" and then said the H-word, guys.
However, it doesn’t truly sound as if divorce bells are ringing anytime soon, at least when it comes to how star Kelsey Asbille describes things. When CinemaBlend spoke with her about Season 4’s early days, as seen in the video above, I asked the Yellowstone star about her fictional family’s fate in the attack’s aftermath, and she answered with:
Oh, yeah, I think that for Monica to see Tate go through this PTSD from that attack, and then also kind of take on the role of becoming [a Dutton]. Really seeing him become a Dutton is just too much for her, so she's out. She's like, 'I gotta go, I can't be here anymore.' I really like this season, too, because Casey and Monica, they're always trying to do what's best for the other person, and sometimes I feel like they've just got to have it out and really get to the heart of it so they can move forward. And I feel like that happens.
I presume many Yellowstone fans who have been in longtime relationships can find something to relate to in Kelsey Asbille’s comments. At least as far as the “problems simmering until everything necessarily boils over” bit goes, and perhaps not so much the “watching one’s offspring fall into a familiar family pattern of killing intrusive enemies” element.
Despite offering up one of the most insightful lines of Season 4 so far, Kayce certainly isn’t Yellowstone’s most intuitively gifted character, and doesn’t always pick up on things being amiss unless someone specifically points it out to him. Such as in Episode 403, where he appears to be obtusely oblivious to the real reason why his wife is so miserable and his son has been hiding under his bed. Having been raised by John Dutton, Kayce’s instinct was to force the solution he thought was best, regardless of how it would affect others, and then to speak his mind the same way.
And though Tate was indeed capable of having a normal meal (so to speak), after Kayce dragged him out from beneath the bed, those actions pushed Monica over the line. She voiced her regrets about moving to the ranch, leading to her emotionally confessing to hating her husband. Since hate isn’t the kind of feeling one develops on the spot, I asked Kelsey Asbille how long she felt Monica had been waiting to make that assertion. Her answer, while somewhat said in jest, drove home her feelings that blowing up on each other was the dam-breaking action necessary to flood out the fractures in their marriage.
A long time. [Laughs.] Four or five years now. No, I think that it's good for them, you know? It's communication. Communication is key.
In the aftermath of the aftermath — a very on-brand situational disposition for Yellowstone — it sounds like Monica and Tate will be taking a hiatus from the ranch life in order to spend more time on the reservation. When I asked how Monica was keeping sane after everything that happened, Kelsey Asbille answered with:
Oh, how does Monica stay sane? You know, I think it's through Tate. And I think that, also with this season, she really finds healing by going back to be with her people, her culture. And it's also, I think, it serves as healing for Tate and Kayce as well.
I’m definitely hoping Yellowstone introduces more recurring characters from the Broken Rock Indian Reservation through Monica and Tate’s return to her family. It’s obviously been a while since that side of things has been explored, without Rainwater and his crew involved. Plus, Kelsey Asbille clammed up a little when I asked if the 1893-set flashback from the premiere tied into Monica’s ancestry, so perhaps fans will indeed see Yellowstone forming more connective tissue with Paramount+’s upcoming 1883 prequel beyond just the Dutton family tree. Just don't expect her to stay there for good.
With many more relationship problems on the way for many couplings beyond just Monica and Kayce, Yellowstone airs Sunday nights on Paramount Network at 8:00 p.m. ET.
