Paramount’s hit TV series Yellowstone is like Pandora’s box of backstories, and one of the story-lines that fans are most curious about is Evelyn Dutton’s.
Evelyn (Gretchen Mol) is the spouse of the ranch owner and patriarch, John Dutton, and the mother of Lee, Kayce, and Beth. She is also the adoptive mother of Jamie. Fans had never ‘met’ her as she had been dead for years – long before the start of the timeline of the series. She had only appeared through flashbacks and photographs. But her impact on the family, especially John and Beth, can still be strongly felt.
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John has never remarried though he did have romantic relationships with then-Governor Lynelle Perry and Summer Higgins. On the other hand, Beth Dutton has always drowned herself in alcohol as she blamed herself for her mother’s death.
How did Evelyn Dutton die?
In Season 1, Episode 3, “No Good Horses,” a flashback from 1997 showed John Dutton’s wife riding with her two children, Kayce and Beth. Beth suddenly felt nervous, and she ended up spooking her horse. This led to Beth’s mother getting bucked off her horse, and when one of the horses fell over, it crushed her.
Beth rushed off hers to get help. Kayce got down, went to his mother’s side, and tried to keep her alive.
Then in Evelyn’s dying moments, she muttered the coldest harshest words that traumatized Beth for the rest of her life. She said while looking at her,
“She did this. Let her undo it.”
Beth was able to get her father and bring him to her mother. And when John finally got to her, she took her last breath.
The Aftermath
“A horse is only scared of what you’re scared of – you’re scared of everything. Now, he is too…”
— Yellowstone (@Yellowstone) July 12, 2018
– Evelyn Dutton (Gretchen Mol) #Yellowstone pic.twitter.com/P4Pqjg9yXf
Evelyn’s last words were definitely cruel, and to say that to a child made it so much worse. Judging from that scene, it would seem that she and Beth didn’t have the best relationship. Or maybe she was just a tough mother to her children.
Nevertheless, Beth didn’t harbor hate for her mother. She still considered her the ‘spine of the family.’ And for the most part, Beth felt guilt about her mother’s death. In her mind, she killed her mom because she was scared. Throughout the series, fans have seen her trying to escape from all of her feelings by drinking. There was even one scene on the day of Evelyn’s death anniversary where Beth bathed in a trough naked, holding a champagne glass in one hand.
When Kelly Reilly, who plays Beth in the show, was asked about the impact of Evelyn’s death on Beth’s character development, she said,
“We get to see this very pure young girl go through such a trauma. She has never been able to get past that. It’s like a part of her soul just left when her mother died. We start to understand her layers.”
Beth wasn’t the only one who had been affected by this tragic loss. In fact, she remarked that the best of her father died along with her mother. Even John acknowledged that. In a conversation with his son Kayce, he said, “I’m half the man without her. It’s not an excuse, but I was just a better father when she was with me.”
Josh Lucas, the actor who portrayed young John Dutton, shared an insight into his character. He said, “He’s probably got more optimism maybe in a sense, until the death of his wife just shatters him, and I think hardens him to a point that he stops caring.”
Evelyn Dutton’s death played a very important role in the character arcs of Beth and John. And hopefully, we’ll get more of her story in the prequels so that we’d get to know her better.
