A major component of “Yellowstone’s” appeal is its most rugged anti-hero, Rip Wheeler, whose devotion to John Dutton and the Yellowstone ranch knows no bounds. Even though fans are willing to accept his criminal and violent actions, Wheeler crossed the line in their eyes when he violently made an example out of Lloyd Pierce.

Rip not only pummels Lloyd repeatedly in Season 4, Episode 4, but he also beats him down aggressively in Episode 6, then graphically smashes Lloyd's hand with his boot. Additionally, the destruction of his hand comes after Lloyd fought Walker for over an hour — a fight that John ordained.

The events leading up to Lloyd’s beat down couldn’t be chalked up to “cowboy justice,” because it stems from Rip’s murder cover-up in Season 2. In addition, Walker and Lloyd's entire conflict does little to further the plot of the series besides injecting it with parodic levels of toxic masculinity.

Fans of the show generally agree that Rip crossed the line when he beat Lloyd to a pulp, but some of them also have theories as to why the scene happened. One Redditor theorized that the scene was setting up a situation where Rip takes Lloyd for granted, only to realize that he was wrong.