Yellowstone fans took to social media to defend Beth Dutton, played by Kelly Reilly, after she was unexpectedly dubbed “the biggest threat to the ranch”. One viewer made the comment about Beth, who is the daughter of family patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner), after re-watching the Paramount+ series.

The debate comes ahead of the long-anticipated release of season 5, part 2, which is dropping on November 10. The new episode teasers certainly have fans talking, especially following the news of Costner’s departure from the series.

Taking to Reddit, one fan named @oriolesravensfan1090 shared their divisive opinion on Beth’s role in the show. They asked: “Is Beth the biggest threat to the Yellowstone Dutton ranch?”

The viewer then explained: “As I am rewatching the show I have noticed that Beth seems to be the biggest threat to the ranch, at least inadvertently, her treatment of Jamie pushes him to turn against the family and the ranch, and causes more problems than she fixes. I do understand why she hates Jamie but that hatred threatens the ranch.”

Fans quickly descended on the comments section to defend Beth, who many say is trying to “save” the ranch more than other members of the family. One wrote: “No. She’s trying to save it.

“There’s that scene in which John tells her how much money it’s going to cost to move the cattle. She realizes it’s too much money.

“She calls some beef processing house. She decides they can cut out the middleman to save money.”

“No. She isn’t the one working with Market Equities to develop it,” a second person argued, while a third added: “No the biggest threat is John Dutton.”

Another person agreed that John was actually the problem, commenting: “Hands down, the biggest threat is John Dutton. What a piece of human garbage.

“If you can’t foster decent relations with your neighbours, and you have to control people by making them believe you have the power to give second chances and you’ll happily watch your children fight each other or drink themselves to death, you deserve to have it stolen from under you. Kudos to Kevin Costner for playing the character so well because he makes me viscerally angry.”

Another fan chimed in, claiming Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) is to blame, writing: “Jamie is. Any time he doesn’t get what he wants, he loses all common sense and does something he can’t take back or fix. Repeatedly.”

Others slightly agreed with the original poster, with one writing: “Yeah I agree that Beth is a threat with how she treats people but at the same time she is thinking about how the range can survive in the future and how they need to change with the times.”

While another agreed: “Good question. I’d say it starts with John, but is made much worse by Beth and her hatred. Separately, they are both problematic. Together it’s a perfect storm.”

Anticipation builds following Paramount+ announcing that Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2 is