The following contains spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 7, "The Dream Is Not Me," which aired Sunday, Dec. 18 on Paramount Network.
Episode 7 picks up with a flashback. A young Rip is camping in the fields with another ranch hand, Rowdy, the one who previously brought Beth home from the bar. After the cowboy laments having to work instead of sleeping with Beth, the two start fighting. Rip tells Rowdy to never speak that way about Beth again, and the other rancher picks up a knife to come at him. Rip knocks him down with a rock until he can barely breathe, then unloads his gun, so the two can continue their work for the night in safety.
Rowdy is worse for the wear, however. As Rip tries to care for him, it becomes clear the injuries are more serious than they appeared. Rowdy tells Rip to get help but to tell folks that he fell off a horse and was trampled. Rip rides back to the farmhouse for help but comes clean to John when asked what happened. When they arrive back at the campsite, Rowdy's dead. John agrees to drop the ranch hand off at the train station -- Dutton parlance for hiding the body -- and in return, Rip will have to agree to lifelong loyalty to the ranch.
In the present day, Jamie shares his history with Sarah about how he was supposed to be a cowboy until his dad decided that he needed to be a lawyer. Jamie laments that his dad applied to law school for him and that the man will never approve of or appreciate him. The two talk about the viability of the cattle industry and how John refuses to change with the times. The pair seem on the same page about what the future of Montana will bring and how it won't preserve the cattle industry. Sarah says that she can help Jamie save his ranch, which he admits to being the only thing he's ever loved.
On the ranch itself, the cowboys get ready for a new day. Abby wakes up in Ryan's tent as he's about to leave and tells the ranch hand that he better be worth the walk of shame she'll have to do. As Monica watches Tate and Kayce get ready, she starts crying, claiming it's the joy of watching her son grow up. As the sun starts to rise, John and Rip talk about their favorite parts of the job, and John admits to being sad when the branding's over.
Once the cowboys have left, a group of women, all of whom seem to have slept with one of the cowboys last night, gather around the fire. Beth and Summer go at each other when Beth calls them all sluts, and Summer belittles the institution of marriage. Beth gives a long speech about the value of marriage for those who find the right person, and Summer's beliefs are written off as hippie nonsense.
When the other women leave, Monica approaches and calls Beth out for being cruel. Beth tries to bond with her, telling Monica that she knows how the other woman must feel after losing her child because Beth feels it every day. It's almost an admission of her inability to have children, and the moment is meant to seem tender. Monica suggests that this is the reason Beth is mean, but Beth claims she was like that even before her hysterectomy.
Back in the city, Chairman Rainwater and Mo meet with Lynelle, who tells him that the Department of Interior has approved pipelines that will go through the reservation. When Mo suggests they fight this decision, Rainwater says that the federal government doesn't need permission. Lynelle tells them that she does not support this and suggests that they make enough noise that the government will have to move the pipeline. Rainwater asks that they register their disapproval in a joint press conference, which would effectively lend her support for Rainwater as well. She agrees, but when he asks if John can be there she tells him that the governor is playing hooky. Rainwater asks Lynelle to remind John that he's governor for their people, too.
On the Yellowstone ranch, the ranch hands encounter a number of stillborn buffalo calves out in the fields. John diagnoses the problem as brucellosis, a disease that can pass to cattle. Finding evidence of it in one cattle means the state will destroy the whole herd. They decide to bring the herd in for branding and figure out what to do back at headquarters. This time, Clara and Summer get in on the action, with Clara helping to restrain the calves while Summer vaccinates them. While the ranch hands take care of the animals, John, Rip and Kayce talk about how the ranch will recover if they lose half the herd.
Half the fields are unusable now, however, so John goes off to see about leasing land down south to graze his cattle. Rip prepares a crew of ranch hands that he'll take to watch over the section of the herd, including Walker, Jake and Teeter, who all seem honored to be chosen and to get to do some real cowboying. Rip also chooses Ryan, who looks longingly at Abby, whom he'll have to leave behind, before promising Rip that there's nothing he'd rather do than join him. Rip gives Ryan money to take the ranch hands to the fair, seemingly as a reward for the work they've just put in.
John walks into the house ready to break something. Beth talks him out of it, but when John starts to share the extent of their troubles, Beth finds herself just as angry. John's plan to lease land down south will cost $1.4 million a month -- money that the Duttons don't have. John talks about taking out a loan, but Beth bemoans the fact that their herd will only earn them $1.50 a pound when steak or ground beef brings in many times that price. She tells her dad that the airport isn't what was going to kill their ranch -- it's his generation's old business model.
At Jamie's office, his assistant warns him about being with Sarah. He immediately writes it off, then walks into a meeting with Sarah and Ellis representing Market Equities. They break the news to Jamie that his father's land is in a conservation easement, bringing environmental lawyers into play and meaning that Jamie and the state negotiated in bad faith. Jamie loses his cool and dismisses them, but Sarah sticks around, telling him that these lawsuits will literally bankrupt the state. She also plants the idea that this is an impeachable offense and tells Jamie that ME will fund his special election.
Back on the Yellowstone, Beth puts a call into the 6666 Ranch, which sells more beef online than it can produce. She's convinced that with this business model, she can make the Yellowstone profitable again. John seems hesitant, but Rip interrupts to tell him that the cattle are ready to drive to the leased ground and to ask Beth to go to the county fair with him. Beth and even John seem excited about the idea of distraction, but when Rip invites Carter, the boy is upset that Rip will be leaving.
At the fair, Carter and Tate bond over shooting games, making quite a pair with their matching broken arms. Teeter gets Colby to win her a bear from a ball toss game, which he does without even looking. At night, all the couples sit on the lawn, listening to the band play. Rip tells Beth he'll be gone for maybe a whole year, which she absolutely will not stand for. She makes plans to fly down to meet the cowboys and spend time with Rip. Abby takes the news less well. She storms off, but Ryan makes a passionate plea about how cowboying is his dream. The two kiss, but Abby still walks away from him, saying she wished that she were his dream.
John takes the opportunity to lament the fact that their way of life is lost in the big cities and that people from those cities are now flocking to rural America. Summer tells him that she understands more now about moving and branding cattle because John brought her in and made her a part of it. Though Summer's worried about the public seeing them together, John kisses her while holding his hat in front of their faces to obscure the act. While John's enjoying his night, Jamie practices his speech to call for his father's impeachment.
Yellowstone Season 5 continues in 2023 with new episodes Sundays at 8:00 p.m. on Paramount Network.