John Dutton owns half of a million acres of land surrounding Bozeman. Throughout the series, Dutton and his family have to take care not to lose any of their land. One important part of the series and the land is the animals that live there. In particular, the wolves carry a lot of weight for Yellowstone.
Since the beginning of the show, wolves play an important role in foreshadowing events. In almost every season, the apex predators rear their heads to amplify certain aspects of the show.
In season one, they are the main attraction for a date night between Beth and Rip. Rip asks Beth for an interesting date. “You want to go get drunk and watch some wolves kill an elk in the park?” Beth responds with, “I’ll drive.”
During their date night, Beth gets out of the car to chase the wolves off of the elk kill. She is ultimately successful in scaring them away but gives Rip a scare.
Wolves Are an Important Foreshadowing Tool for “Yellowstone”
There is undoubtedly more to Beth and Rip’s date night than meets the eye. It stands to reason that the wolves represent all of the enemies that encircle the Yellowstone ranch. Each enemy is ready to tear off their own chunk of the ranch, but Beth is there to scare them off.
The wolves’ symbolism in the show is evident whenever they turn up. One episode after Beth and Rip’s date night, wolves are found ripping apart a bear carcass. They can only represent what will happen to the ranch after John dies. The Dutton’s enemies will certainly come to shred the Yellowstone ranch.
During a scene in season three, the wolves are back, but with a different meaning. In episode two, a wolf interrupts a passionate moment between Kayce and Monica. Monica is certainly nervous about being watched by the wolf, but Kayce says that he is just curious. So, they carry on with their lovemaking with the wolf watching.
This is an important scene for Kayce. The scene seems to show that Kayce is capable of understanding a larger breadth of characters than the rest of his family. Another scene, later on in season three, is a perfect example of his relationships with predators that the Duttons cannot control.
How Can the Yellowstone Ranch Handle Their Enemies?
Again, in season three, Kayce has a conversation with one of the wolves at the edge of their camp. He talks directly to a wolf, telling it that is allowed to run free, but there are conditions. He says that as long as they stay away from the Yellowstone ranch’s animals, there won’t be a problem.
While it may just seem like a silly conversation with a wolf, it may mean something much larger for Kayce. Looper explains exactly what this means in terms of his character.
Kayce’s relationship with the wolves gives an important insight into his character. As John has chosen him to take care of the ranch, he plays an important role in keeping a working relationship with the Dutton’s enemies. It seems that his temperament in dealing with apex predators will lend its hand in taking care of the ranch.
Beth might be able to temporarily scare away a pack of wolves. But it seems that Kayce might the only Dutton capable of negotiating peace with the Dutton’s enemies.
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