Dutton Ranch Episode 4’s “Heartbreaking” Deaths & Impact On Rip Explained By Cole Hauser
In Dutton Ranch episode 3, Beth and Rip’s herd of black angus cattle was infected with foot-and-mouth disease. This left the Dutton-Wheelers no choice but to cull their entire herd. Rip took on the burden of killing each cow himself, an act that left him emotionally shattered in a way that Yellowstone fans had never seen before.
In an interview with ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley, Cole Hauser delved into Rip’s mindset and how being forced to shoot every cow was “heartbreaking” for the rugged cowboy. Hauser says that Rip saw the animals as “his children,” and culling the Dutton Ranch’s entire herd “ultimately takes a piece of his heart.” Read Cole’s quotes below:
ScreenRant: I have one spoiler question to wrap up with, but I really want to give you time to dissect it. It’s episode 104, the moment with the cows and having to pull the trigger. It’s a very emotional scene. It shocked me as a viewer. I can only imagine the weight that you felt as an actor. If you could walk me through shooting that day.
Cole Hauser: I think, you’re looking at his livelihood, his future. He loves animals. I said it in Yellowstone several times, more than people, in a sense, that’s his children. So I think that scene for him is heartbreaking. It’s everything he doesn’t want to do, but he puts it on his own shoulders. He doesn’t want to push it off to anybody else, and he does what he has to do, and ultimately takes a piece of his heart. And I think the later scene with Beth and Rip, when they come to the house, and he says, “I just need a moment.” And she goes inside, and then he walks out and basically just collapses because of the pressure, the drama, the intensity of it.
Although Beth and their two ranch hands, Azul (J.R. Villarreal) and Zachariah (Marc Menchaca), were there to help, Rip took the task of culling the herd on his shoulders. Working as a team, they dug a pit that Beth and Rip herded the cows into. Rip then used a shotgun to kill each cow, insisting that he do the terrible task alone.
Perhaps the most tragic part was Rip also being forced to kill the calf that they rescued from Montana when a fire destroyed their previous ranch. The calf joined the black angus cattle that came with the Edwards Ranch that Beth and Rip bought and renamed the Dutton Ranch. However, there was no way to save just the calf, which likely was infected with foot-and-mouth disease.
The Dutton Ranch’s herd was infected by a bull that they bought in Dutton Ranch episode 2. Beth learned that the bull’s medical records were forged. Rip and Beth then took revenge on the doctor who falsified the records, burning down his trailer. Yet that doesn’t fix the loss the Dutton-Wheelers suffered, as they now have no means to make a living without their cattle.