Cowboy Romance
11 ‘Yellowstone’ Couples, Ranked From Worst to Best
[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2.]
Yellowstone romances are known for their intensity and the constant trend of blending work and personal lives together. There has been a fair share of insane and endearing couples in the show’s five seasons, but only a few are really integral to the show’s overall narrative arc.
As Yellowstone heads into its last three episodes of the potentially final season, we’re looking back on the romantic relationships throughout the series. Some of them we wish never happened at all, and one of them is one of TV’s most beloved couples ever (you know the one).
Here, we rank 11 Yellowstone couples from worst to best.
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11. Jimmy & Mia
Mia (Eden Brolin) and Jimmy’s (Jefferson White) relationship was just plain awful and unnecessary. After Jimmy was already injured in a rodeo accident, Eden pressured him to get back in the saddle, which led to him being injured again and that time much more severely. She insisted on them having sex in his hospital bed while his neck and back were gravely injured, which was sexual assault as he had to be coerced into consenting, and he wasn’t physically able to leave the room. When Jimmy was sent to work on the Four Sixes ranch in Texas, Mia said she wouldn’t wait for him. He moved on, and then she was angry that he did when he briefly returned to the Yellowstone ranch. This was the show’s worst “romantic” plot by far, one we wish had never been included at all.
10. John & Summer
This is the most inexplicable pair in all of Yellowstone. There was zero chemistry between Kevin Costner and Piper Perabo, and Summer was a completely insufferable depiction of activists. Given that Yellowstone‘s central character was all about stopping “progress” so that the cowboy way of life could be preserved, it’s no surprise that Summer and her support of animal rights and environmental protections would be painted negatively. But her motivations and outlook were more like a caricature than they were realistic. And the Season 5 Part 2 reveal that John lied about Summer having to carry out her house arrest at the ranch — what the hell? John keeping Summer at his home against her will was a completely insane development to just throw in as a way to quickly write the character out of the final season, and it didn’t align with John as a character at all. We weren’t sad to see Summer go, but we hated how she left.
9. Walker & Laramie
This couple had its drama in earlier seasons, particularly with the tense (and kind of silly) love triangle it created with Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith). Walker and Laramie are one of the show’s least influential couples, which is why it’s ranked lower on the list. But the actors who play them — Ryan Bingham and Hassie Harrison — got married in real life, which is sweet.
8. Jamie & Christina
Jamie (Wes Bentley) and Christina’s (Katherine Cunningham) relationship isn’t the most memorable, but Christina (Jamie’s former employee on his campaign for Attorney General) is important to Jamie’s life because she became the mother of his son. She and Jamie Jr. haven’t been seen in all of Season 5, Parts 1 and 2, leaving us wondering about her and the baby’s whereabouts. The last mention of the son was in Season 5 Part 1, when Beth found out about the kid and, in her rage, threatened to take him from Jamie like he took her ability to have children.
7. Abby & Ryan
This pair — played by country singer Lainey Wilson and Ian Bohen — had an endearing courtship that ultimately didn’t work out. What Abby wanted out of a relationship, Ryan couldn’t provide because of the demands of his cowboy lifestyle. But they were head over heels for each other for a time, and Wilson and Bohen had great chemistry.
6. Jimmy & Emily
Thankfully, Jimmy got a better chance at love in Texas. He and vet tech Emily (Kathryn Kelly) fell in love in the Four Sixes-focused episode in Yellowstone‘s fourth season, and their romance developed slowly and sweetly. Both of their quietly sweet demeanors made them a good match, and they respected each other’s work demands. Jimmy came back in the Season 5 Part 1 premiere, and as far as we can tell, they’re still together.
5. Colby & Teeter
Colby (Denim Richards) and Teeter’s (Jen Landon) courtship has brought some welcome comedy into the show. Colby resisted the kooky Teeter’s flirtations for a long time. Eventually, his guard came down, and he admitted he was smitten. They became closer as a pair after surviving the attack from the Morrows, which added some drama into their love story. They’re such an endearingly weird match, and you can’t help but love them. We’re rooting for these two.
4. Jamie & Sarah
We will not miss the heavy-handed depiction of the femme fatale that was Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), but she was Yellowstone‘s most effective villain. After the big bad of every season prior tried and failed to take down John Dutton, Sarah was the only one to succeed. She and Jamie are in the top five of this ranking not because we like that she’s responsible for John’s death but because of her impact on the show’s overall narrative. Jamie’s relationship with Sarah — and now his connection to her murder shown in Season 5 Episode 11 — have teed up Jamie’s final arc in the series. It was frustrating that the show took so long to reveal if Sarah really loved Jamie, but her final words to him hinted that she really did care. For all intents and purposes, Sarah is the real love of Jamie’s life. That’s equal parts bleak and dramatic.
3. John & Lynelle
We loved John and Lynelle (Wendy Moniz) together. The political allies had an ongoing sexual fling throughout the series, with the occasional real date thrown in, and the chemistry between Costner and Moniz was natural and nice to watch. John and Lynelle just really liked each other as people and were attracted to each other on top of that, which is the best foundation of a romantic pairing. Had Costner not left the series, we’d wager that they would have ended up together in the end.
2. Kayce & Monica
Kayce’s (Luke Grimes) love for Monica (Kelsey Asbille) is so strong he left his family behind after they revealed their disapproval of the union when they were young. When hardship tore Kayce and Monica apart, they worked to get back together and become stronger than before. Their commitment to each other and fighting for a more peaceful life has been emboldened every time their little family has been put through the wringer (and that has happened often). With now-teenage son Tate (Brecken Merrill) potentially interested in running the ranch when he’s older, Kayce and Monica are primed to become the stewards of the ranch’s hopes for the future.
1. Beth & Rip
You saw this one coming, right? There’s no arguing that Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) are the best Yellowstone couple. They are each other’s first and only loves and share a fiery, passionate, and sometimes deadly loyalty to the people they love most. Their willingness to kill to defend both their love and John’s legacy is as intense as it gets, but they’re a twisted, perfect match who can only be tender for each other. Their intense outlook on life translates into all-consuming confessions of love. Many Yellowstone fans will miss them dearly if Season 5 Part 2 really is the end. There are, however, rumors that there could be a Season 6 with Beth and Rip at the center. There’s no other couple on the show capable of carrying the series on its own.
