to be its last season (but now probably isn’t). Since Kevin Costner has already ridden off into the sunset, how was John Dutton’s absence

explained? Read on, and we’ll go over not only that but all of the action.

PRESENT DAY | As the episode began, Beth sped up to the governor’s mansion to find cop cars and a tearful Clara waiting outside. One look from John’s assistant, and Beth knew that she’d lost her daddy. (“Nooo!”) When Kayce arrived on the scene, he pushed right past the cops and found blood spattered on the wall of John’s bathroom and a gun on the ground. (We only saw John’s body from the side; no face.) Though shaken to his core, Kayce tried to stop Beth from looking, but when has anyone ever been able to stop her from doing anything? Needless to say, she quickly regretted taking a peek. Between sobs, she whispered to Kayce, “It was Jamie.”

Was it, though? As he watched a news report stating that a tragedy seemed to have been discovered when the governor hadn’t shown up for his impeachment hearing, Jamie looked wrecked. A call revealing that John’s death had been a suicide only turned him a whiter shade of pale. Summoned by Lynelle, Jamie couldn’t even bring himself to say what had happened, but he did manage to whisper it in her ear. “Don’t tell them that,” she advised before he was called in front of a throng of reporters.

Hearing the press conference on the radio of Kayce’s truck, Beth had her brother pull over so that she could have a full-on meltdown. She was surer than sure that Jamie was behind John’s suicide. Kayce had his doubts, but not Beth. She knew that Jamie was capable of murder. “I’ve seen it.” Then, placing a call to Rip, she informed her husband, “They f—king killed him, baby,” and asked him to come back from Texas asap. From the looks of it, Rip would be home even before “asap.”

SIX WEEKS EARLIER | As Rip and the Texas contingent drove cattle to the Lone Star State, Beth made herself such a nuisance as she performed her community service that the officer in charge let her quit with 18 hours to go. Immediately, she called Rip to say she was on her way, and when she got there, she was gonna “f—k you like I won you in the state fair.” Meanwhile, Kayce, Monica and Tate took a look at the house that John had offered them on the outskirts of the ranch. Though it had no fridge — but did have a wolf lurking — they agreed that it could be turned into their home, sweet home.

Elsewhere, Sarah met with a man “named” Grant, who was quick to show her that he had in his possession a video of her having sex with Jamie. If the two of them made a deal, Grant wouldn’t allow her or Jamie to pull a U-ey and pin the blame on his firm. The blame for what? John’s death, natch. Sarah gave the OK for Grant to carry out his plan to “assist” the governor in committing suicide. Later, as Rainwater and Mo looked out over a lake, they lamented the fact that if an oil pipeline beneath it burst, they’d be screwed. “This is the hill we die on, right here,” Thomas said. “I’m ready,” Mo replied.

PRESENT DAY | When Jamie returned home and started to let the tears flow, Sarah emerged in her skivvies with champagne. What, she asked, was he all mopey-pants about? “You won!” The thing was, Jamie hadn’t known that John’s “suicide” was his and Sarah’s plan in action. “I thought he did it because of me and the hearing.” (Not sure how that’s worse, but… OK, Jamie.) Sarah wasn’t about to let her lover send out invites to a pity party. The young lion had taken down the old one, she said. “This is your kingdom now.”

Back at the ranch, as Beth and Kayce went over trust paperwork, she floated the idea that somebody had to have helped Jamie. He wouldn’t have been able to pull this off himself. When Kayce called the state police, he and his sister learned that the transponder near John’s house had gone down at 3:50 am and come back up at 5:18; since the power had been out, the authorities didn’t have security footage of what was happening in/around the house at the time of John’s death. “Well, isn’t that convenient,” Beth cracked.

Armed with this new intel, Kayce was readier than before to believe the worst. But since he wasn’t completely on board, Beth challenged him to go look Jamie in the eye, “then come home and help me decide how to kill him.” Just then, Rip got back from Texas. Beth ran to him, and as he let her cry in his arms, they both sank to their knees in the yard.