Yellowstone’s Lloyd star hints at ‘anxiety’ struggle over Rip’s ranch exit
Yellowstone’s bunkhouse is set to look very different for the rest of season five as John Dutton has sent Rip and a number of his colleagues on a mission south to save his herd of cattle.
John Dutton (played by Kevin Costner) is stuck between a rock and a hard place ahead of Yellowstone’s midseason finale on Paramount Network. He discovered his entire herd of cattle were at risk of contracting brucellosis, meaning he could either let the State destroy the entire herd should one of his cows contract the disease, or fork out a fortune to send them south for the winter.
In the end, John opted for the second option, although he irked his daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) with his seemingly self-destructive financial and business strategy.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to John, his adoptive son Jamie (Wes Bentley) is plotting a strategy on how to impeach him and steal his Governor spot while Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) has been informed of a government-backed gas pipeline running through the Broken Rock Reservation and Montana.
Therefore, John has a lot on his plate heading into the season five midseason finale but the task of ensuring the cattle don’t get sick has been passed to his trusty ranch manager, Rip (Cole Hauser).
Rip has assembled a team made up of bunkhouse cowboys to head south towards Texas and make sure the cattle survive the winter.
But it means he and the likes of Teeter (Jen Landon) and Ryan (Ian Bohen) will be away from the ranch for at least a year.
Again, this got on the wrong side of Beth who was adamant she’d have to go with him for the sake of their marriage and her own sanity.
However, speaking on Paramount’s Behind the Story, it looks like it may not only be Beth who struggles with her beau’s exit, however long it may last for.
Forrie J Smith, the man behind loyal rancher Lloyd, has admitted his character may also have a hard time adapting to life without Rip on the ranch.
“There’s a lot of anxiety going with that,” Smith began as he discussed John’s plan. “Not just John, all of us.
“I don’t know that me and Rip have ever been apart since he came to the ranch that long.”
Elsewhere, Ryan star Bohen also weighed in with his thoughts on why his character was on-board with heading south, despite sparking a new romance with Abby (Lainey Wilson).
“Ryan easily could’ve said, ‘Listen, can I just stay? I just feel like I want to be here,’” Bohen commented.
He continued: “Rip might have been disappointed but he had the out.
“It wasn’t a decision about her, it was a decision about him, it was about Ryan, like who are you? And what do you need to feel complete?”
While Abby will struggle to adapt to life with Ryan, it sounds like Lloyd could have a much tougher time.
Could he follow in Beth’s footsteps and decide he needs to head south alongside Rip?
Or could the ranch fall into disarray if Lloyd struggles to keep his mind straight in Rip’s absence?
Fans will have to wait until the next episode arrives to find out for sure, although they’ll be waiting longer than the usual week for new episodes due to the festive schedule.
Speaking about John’s decision to have Rip leave, Hauser seemed more understanding, telling Paramount: “That’s what John expects of him.
“It’s my responsibility as the ranch manager, it’s just that simple.”
Yellowstone season 5 returns to Paramount Network in the USA on January 1 and Paramount+ in the UK on January 2.
