5 Yellowstone Storylines We Want To See Picked Up On Dutton Ranch

"Yellowstone" may be over, but the Duttons' story continues on multiple spin-offs — currently CBS' "Marshals" and Paramount+'s "Dutton Ranch" — and the original series left quite a few loose ends for the two shows to potentially tie up.

The first seasons of "Marshals" and "Yellowstone" both flirted with revisiting previous "Yellowstone" storylines, but outside of the occasional mention (usually for dramatic effect), neither show has done any meaningful exploration of the family's unresolved issues.

Season 2 of "Marshals" is currently airing Sundays at 8/7c on CBS, but "Dutton Ranch" has yet to announce a premiere date for its own sophomore outing. While we wait for that news to come through, let's take a minute to consider which "Yellowstone" cold cases should be reopened on "Dutton Ranch."

Read on for five "Yellowstone" storylines we'd like to see picked up on "Dutton Ranch," from the unsolved murder of a not-so-beloved Dutton, to the famously forgotten discovery of dinosaur bones. When you're finished, drop a comment with your own thoughts. Which unresolved stories deserve to find closure on the spin-off?

Quite a few Duttons lost their lives over the course of "Yellowstone," with one of its most infamous victims being Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) in the series finale. The viewers know that Beth stabbed her brother in the heart, with a physical assist from Rip, and dumped his body just over the Wyoming border in the infamous Train Station. The characters on "Dutton Ranch," however, aren't privy to this information. In fact, as far as people know, Jamie simply disappeared without a trace. 

Annette Bening's Beulah Jackson briefly mentioned Jamie's death in a conversation with Beth in Season 1 of "Dutton Ranch," saying, "One has to wonder what really happened," but Beth coldly responded, "I don't think about that anymore." That makes one of us, because we're still very interested to see how Jamie's death could potentially come back to haunt Beth and Rip on their spin-off.

Following its introduction in Season 4, the 6666 Ranch played a major role on "Yellowstone," specifically pertaining to ranch hand Jimmy Hurdstrom (Jefferson White). Taylor Sheridan was even planning an entire spin-off surrounding the iconic location, though the project was eventually scrapped. As Sheridan explained in a recent interview, he "would never fictionalize" the real-life historic ranch. Meanwhile, White is confirmed to be reprising the role of Jimmy in Season 2 of CBS' "Marshals."

We understand and respect Sheridan's desire not to devote an entire series to the 6666 Ranch, but considering it's located in the same state as Beth and Rip's new pad, is it too much to ask for the two ranches to interact at some point?

A fixture on "Yellowstone" from the very first episode, Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) was one of the Duttons' most seasoned ranch hand, and despite a dust-up in Season 4, he was incredibly loyal to Rip. When the ranch was sold in Season 5, following John's death, Lloyd decided to retire from cowboy life, saying that he didn't want to work anywhere if he couldn't work at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. Well, guess what, there's a new Dutton Ranch in town — albeit a very different town — and we'd love to see the beloved character come out of retirement.

You can't talk about dropped "Yellowstone" storylines without discussing the dinosaur bones that were discovered on (and subsequently stolen from) the Duttons' ranch in the show's first season. According to Luke Grimes, who plays Kayce Dutton, the original plan was for his character to chase down the thieves, but he believes that the studio bosses thought it "took the story a little too far from the ranch," so it didn't make the final cut.

We're not sure exactly how "Dutton Ranch" would revisit this storyline, as it makes more sense to do so on "Marshals," but somebody's got to do it! Who knows, it could be the impetus for the "Dutton Ranch"/"Marshals" crossover that fans have been demanding from day one.

We're kind of cheating with this one, because it wasn't technically a storyline from "Yellowstone," but it was a potential storyline that Kelly Reilly championed. While the actress enjoyed playing most aspects of her fiery character, she wasn't a fan of Beth smoking cigarettes. Reilly even said in a 2022 interview that she was "trying to pitch [Taylor Sheridan] an idea that [Beth] gets addicted to Nicorette gum," but Sheridan never brought her plan to life.

Still, Riley hasn't completely given up on the idea of Beth finally kicking her cigarette habit. Speaking with TVLine about the first season of "Dutton Ranch," she said, "I thought about maybe she might be putting the Nicotine patches on and chewing the gum, but it was too much. Maybe in her future." Maybe, indeed.