The Worst Episode In Yellowstone Season 4

Season 4 of "Yellowstone" has come and gone, leaving fans with a number of questions but also a few answers related to the show's ongoing storylines and characters. What's next for the Dutton family and everyone else involved is ultimately unknown, but what we can do is talk about which episodes stood out — for being the worst, that is.

While reviews were still mostly positive like in years past, it's hard to ignore the growing negative opinions on some of Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" choices. Looking at Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, you'll see that Season 4 was actually the show's worst-reviewed season so far, with an audience score of 77% on the former site and some of the lowest IMDb episode ratings in "Yellowstone" history. In fact, the fourth season has the worst-reviewed episode of the entire series, with an IMDB rating of 7.8 out of 10, which, obviously, is still respectable. But in "Yellowstone" terms, things are indeed souring. Before Season 4, the previous lowest audience score on Rotten Tomatoes was 83% for Seasons 1 and 3. On IMDb, the lowest rating for an episode was an 8.1 for the sixth installment from Season 3, titled "All for Nothing."

As for the worst episode from Season 4, many viewers feel that it's the one that actually helped wrap things up on Sheridan's Western family drama for the time being — one that aired near the tail end of the season on December 26, 2021.

According to viewers, it was Episode 9 of "Yellowstone" Season 4, titled "No Such Thing as Fair," that ultimately was the worst one of the bunch. "This terrible, tedious episode has, once again twirling horses, sad sack Jimmy, little drama, despicable Beth not caring about anybody except for 3 people, and cow hands playing cards. Big whoop," wrote one IMDb reviewer, who added that the episode was "one of the worst" lead-ups to a season finale. "Thank goodness they have the cowboy scenes 'cos the rest of it is getting treacly slow," another reviewer opined.

In the episode, fans are hit with some tense and dramatic moments between Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser), as well as Beth and John (Kevin Costner). The pace is slower and much more drawn out than in previous chapters, as pointed out by viewers. In addition, more time was focused on Jimmy (Jefferson White) and his move to the 6666 Ranch — the focus of Taylor Sheridan's next spinoff — than the show's main players. "The Jimmy stuff is somewhat interesting, but this was always a side character," said IMDb user bobcobb301. "He is getting way too much emphasis...There's other characters I would prefer to see explored more." This actually was a regular complaint throughout Season 4, with many viewers being upset with Sheridan's continued setup and spotlight on his other shows, Paramount+'s prequel series "1883" and the yet-to-be-released "6666."

"Yellowstone was lacking in season 4 b/c he wanted to highlight his precious 6666 Ranch that he purchased to film/cowboy on," tweeted @lollyc276. "I don't care about Jimmy's relationship, I want the Duttons!"