After months and months of keeping fans at wit's end regarding when Yellowstone Season 4 would allow Kevin Costner's John Dutton and Kelly Reilly's Beth Dutton to rear their vindictive heads, Paramount Network finally revealed that the hugely popular western-tinged drama will bypass its usual summer premiere and is holding out for a fall debut. Thankfully, the network didn't leave fans totally empty-handed outside of the non-specific start-date, as we not only now know that John survives his ambush just long enough, and we also know the first four new characters set to join Season 4.
While new news about Yellowstone Season 4 has been even rarer than steaks cooked solely by cattle prods, Paramount Network let loose with details for a handful of new characters that we'll presumably get to know as the season goes on. Let's take a closer look at what audiences can expect.
Jacki Weaver (Caroline Warner)
Australian actress Jacki Weaver has proven herself time and again in such projects as Silver Linings Playbook and the recent TV series Bloom. Having taken on past roles in Secret City, Bird Box, and Blunt Talk, Weaver is adept at both comedy and drama, and it sounds like she'll be playing up far more of the latter in Yellowstone.
In Season 4, Jacki Weaver will portray the character Caroline Warner, who is the CEO of Market Equities, the company that has been aiming to take John Dutton's land and is clearly no longer altogether reasonable. This is the very same Market Equities that Josh Halloway's Roarke works for, so I'd imagine John Dutton will have quite a few things to say if he and Caroline ever come face to face. Weaver is taking on a recurring role with Caroline, which means we might not see her in every episode, but you can bet her character's presence will be felt as the vice grip squeezes on the Duttons to sell their land.
Piper Perabo (Summer Higgins)
Having taken on TV roles in recent years in Netflix's Turn Up Charlie and Showtime's Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Piper Perabo will be joining Yellowstone Season 4 for an interesting new character who sounds like she could add to the Duttons' troubles going forward. She'll portray Summer Higgins, a Portland protestor who argues against state-funded police forces and the harmful farming and killing of animals.
I can't see a protestor making more problematic waves for the Yellowstone ranch than Market Equities, but she could certainly rattle everything regarding how matters are handled involving the land, depending on how she's introduced to the group at large. If she bombards the place, it won't bode well for her, but if she manages to hook the attention of someone under John Dutton's command, she could definitely gain an upper hand on any other possible antagonists. Maybe she'll be interested in those long-forgotten dinosaur bones that popped up in Season 1.
Kathryn Kelly (Emily)
Nashville vet Kathryn Kelly is heading to Yellowstone for a different kind of country-western-tinged role. She'll be playing a vet tech who starts to bond with a new cowboy on the ranch, though it seems like that cowboy's portrayer has not yet been announced. Here's hoping her character Emily only has good motives in her heart, or else that new cowboy will end up horse chow.
It's worth noting here that the trio of Jacki Weaver, Piper Perabo and Kathryn Kelly are all joining Yellowstone in a recurring capacity, so they won't be around for the duration of the entire season. While that might just mean "less important storyline" in other TV shows, I'd imagine their more limited narrative involvement will be made all the more volatile by Yellowstone's creative team.
Finn Little (Carter)
Meanwhile, Reckoning and Those Who Wish Me Dead star Finn Little will be the only series regular added to Yellowstone during this casting swoop. The young actor will take on the role of Carter, a boy who already seems like he's destined to follow in Rip's life-hardened footsteps. Thankfully (or maybe not?), Beth decides that keeping Carter around is a good idea, and aims to teach him lessons on how to be a man.
Does that mean Finn Little's Carter will be something of a surrogate son for Rip and Beth, or will he be more of a problem child when put up close and personal with all the other Duttons? I mean, he can probably beat up Jamie no matter what, right?
Yellowstone fans will need to wait and see just what all of these characters will have to offer during Season 4 when it arrives on Paramount+ this fall. In the meantime, our 2021 Summer TV premiere schedule has everything viewers need to making it through the 4th of July weekend and beyond.
