“Yellowstone” is a story of politics and family, a neo-western tale of the Dutton family’s unending battle to hold on to their land and legacy as everyone around them wants it for themselves. The family is packed full of powerful, complex characters like Dutton patriarch John, his shrewd, cunning daughter Beth, his fierce but reluctant son Kayce, and his adopted wayward son Jamie. But there’s another member of the Dutton family who wasn’t born into it but brought into it, and he may be more loyal than anyone of Dutton blood.
Rip Wheeler, a boy orphaned at a young age, was rescued by John Dutton and raised nearly as one of his own. Rip became a rancher as a teen and had his legal identity wiped away to help him escape from his troubled past. His new future sees him become John Dutton’s right-hand man — his ever-loyal bodyguard and enforcer. Kind-hearted but vengeful, he demands loyalty from all who serve the Yellowstone and is the one man who should never be crossed. His retribution is swift and brutal.
Over the course of the series, we’ve seen Rip show just how brutal he is on many occasions, from striking at enemies who wish to do the Dutton’s harm as well as those who get in his way. Want to recall his best? No need for a binge-watch — we’ve compiled a list of Rip Wheeler’s most brutal moments.
Branding Jimmy
It’s in the premiere episode of the series that we see Rip’s first brutal moment, and it also happens to be the introduction of two of the show’s major characters. In our first glimpse at Rip, he goes to a trailer to meet with a local drug user and general low-life named Jimmy Hurdstrom. Though little more than a punk in the premiere, Jimmy goes on to become a fan-favorite character on the series and is set to get his own spin-off series, “6666,” in the near future.
Sent to Jimmy’s home at the behest of John — likely because they need a new ranch-hand – Rip welcomes Jimmy with a taser shot to the gut before zip-tying him to a chair. Rip knows Jimmy is likely to end up in prison for life and offers the young man a choice: be branded by Yellowstone and work for the Duttons or be hauled off to prison. Though audiences would see Rip brand many ranchers later in the series to become lifelong members of the ranch, it’s all the more brutal because it’s the first time we see it and because Jimmy is clearly backed into a corner. Unlike later branded ranchers like Walker or Teeter, Jimmy doesn’t want the brand but is forced into it with the threat of prison. The fear in his eyes is palpable as Rip approaches him with the searing hot iron and tells him to “be a man” and not to scream.
Killing the medical examiner
By the second episode of the series, the Dutton’s are already in serious trouble: After Lee is killed in a standoff on the Broken Rock reservation, Kayce murders the man who fired the fatal shot. John attempts to cover it up, but the medical report shows it wasn’t self-defense, threatening not just Kayce but the entire ranch and forcing John to correct the problem outside of the law. When digging for dirt on the medical examiner, they discover the man was pushed to resign from his previous post for drug abuse, and John gets just what he needs: leverage to get the examiner to recant his report.
Rip is sent to visit the medical examiner, a troubled addict named Dr. Monteith. But Rip doesn’t seem interested in getting a new statement. Instead, he intimidates the frightened doctor and makes it clear that what’s coming next won’t be pleasant. Rip calmy tells Monteith to prepare for his death, but the doctor is confused, telling Rip that if the place burned down, it wouldn’t fool anyone, saying, “Everyone’s gonna know this is arson.” Rip’s answer is chilling: “Don’t look like arson to me. Looks like suicide.” Rip then allows the doctor one last smoke before he strangles him, leaving just before the facility burns to the ground, destroying all evidence of not just the murder but the case against Kayce as well.
Showdown with Walker
Recruited by Rip directly from prison, the pretty-boy cowboy Walker joins the Yellowstone crew in the 1st season after being picked up by Rip, who is seeking another new ranch hand. Seeing few options after a lengthy stint for manslaughter, Walker accepts an offer from Rip to be branded a Yellowstone rancher. In Rip’s eyes, this means Walker is more than a wrangler for the Duttons — he’s an enforcer who will do whatever they ask, no matter how dirty. And it isn’t long before Walker finds that out for himself. Far from the ordinary ranch he’d once worked in Texas, Yellowstone often asks him to fight and even kill for them. Not wanting to return to a life of violence, he refuses to follow orders, and that doesn’t sit well with Rip, who expects unwavering loyalty from his men.
While out working in the field, Rip finally has enough of Walker’s resistance and snaps. Literally. Using a pair of bolt cutters, Rip snaps the tight barbed wire fencing, which promptly flies into Walker, slicing his face open. Walker responds by pulling a knife, and it’s only Lloyd’s pistol that prevents a brawl between the two. Leaving the group on horseback, Walker announces he is leaving the ranch, and Rip makes it clear he shouldn’t stop running because he’s out for blood.
Taking one for the team
After Kayce moves back to Yellowstone, his father puts him in charge of the bunkhouse. This is a blow to Rip, as it means his demotion, but it isn’t the worst that is asked of him. Without saying it, John wants Rip to fight his son Kayce and come out on the losing side as a way of proving Kayce the new leader. Rip, as a fiercely loyal lieutenant, obeys without any objection despite his great pride. At the same time, Rip’s recent feud with Walker nearly led to a knife fight, and Walker announced he was leaving the ranch. But John ordered Walker back to work and assured his safety.
Later, however, while wrangling a calf that’s wandered away from the herd, Rip finds himself isolated with Walker while chasing it into the woods and uses the opportunity to try to kill the cowboy with his horse. Thankfully for the singing cowboy, Kayce intervenes. Back at the ranch, audiences are then treated to one of the most brutal fist fights of the series, with Rip and Kayce exchanging devastating blows as the cowboys and wranglers look on. Rip doesn’t hold back but lets Kayce have the last winning blow, allowing him to earn the ranch’s respect. After Rip walks off bloodied, Kayce repeats a line we heard from Rip before: “If you want to fight, you come fight me.”
Ambushing Walker behind the bar
In the Season 2 episode “Blood The Boy,” Rip finally has an excuse to take Walker “to the train station” (which on “Yellowstone” is code for murder). But once again, Kayce comes to his rescue, and instead of killing Walker, makes the cowboy swear an oath of silence and spares his life. While Walker survives his time at the ranch, everyone else — Rip included — thinks he’s dead. This makes it all the more surprising in the eighth episode of the series’ 3rd season when Rip and Lloyd are in a bar and discover Walker playing his guitar on stage.
Incensed but not wanting to make a scene, Rip and Lloyd leave and lie in wait until the bar closes. After hours, the pair of vengeful cowboys ambush Walker in an alley, and it’s there, under the musky, dim light of a street lamp, that Rip brutally beats Walker with his fists. Completely taken by surprise, Walker is unable to defend himself as Lloyd duct tapes his mouth and hands and tosses him into the back of their truck to bring him back to the Yellowstone. Needless to say, Kayce has some explaining to do, and Rip wants to spill some blood. Eventually, though, Walker earns his way back onto the ranch … but things don’t get too much easier for him.