Yellowstone season 4 was hard on everyone, including Beth, at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. Each member of the Dutton family was affected by the multi-target attack on the clan, orchestrated by Jamie’s (Wes Bentley) father and executed in the Yellowstone season 3 finale. Kayce’s (Luke Grimes) family fractures as Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Brecken Merrill) process the trauma of Tate’s kidnapping. Likewise, Beth processes the grief of experiencing an explosion and simultaneously almost losing her father. A new but challenging opportunity finds Beth testing her resolve amid her grief.

Beth Was A Bad Parent To Carter In Yellowstone Season 4

Beth And Rip Unofficially Parent Carter In Yellowstone Season 4

As she waits to hear about her father’s condition, Beth Dutton meets a 14-year-old boy named Carter (Finn Little) outside Bozeman General Hospital. Carter asks Beth what happened to her face. He laughs when she’s rude to him, eventually telling her that his dad is dying. Beth tells Carter her dad is dying, too, and the two form a bond. Beth accompanies Carter to say goodbye as his dad experiences brain death, and she takes the kid in a few days later when Donnie Haskell (Hugh Dillon) brings him to the ranch, saying that Carter claimed Beth was his guardian.

The moment when Beth takes in Carter shows her kindness. Still, John’s daughter has moments where she falters in her parenting, which is ultimately understandable. Beth was mean to Carter when he was down at vital times, which was unpleasant on the first watch, like in Yellowstone season 4, episode 7. Beth rejects Carter’s apology, saying, “I don’t want those f*cking things,” when he brings her flowers. Beth doesn’t let up on the kid until Carter asks for a ride into town, saying he will take a chance on foster care over his current circumstances at the ranch.

Beth later makes Carter cry in Yellowstone season 4, episode 10. As Beth passes through the barn, Carter casually remarks, “Morning, mama.” She responds, “Hey, baby,” automatically before doubling back and telling Carter not to call her that. Carter tells Beth he thought he could call her “mama” since she acts like his mom. Beth remarks that she’s been acting like his friend and that his mother is dead, and he doesn’t get another. Beth is unnecessarily cruel to Carter, but we’re also hard-pressed to expect much else from Beth in season 4, considering mothers and motherhood are touchy subjects.

Beth & Carter’s Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 12 Scene Redeemed Beth’s Parenting Failure

Beth Finally Acts Like Carter’s Mother In Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 12

In Yellowstone season 5, episode 12, Beth has a more nurturing moment with Carter that redeems her sometimes fiery demeanor from season 4. Carter witnesses a tragedy in the episode, and Beth comforts him while he’s crying in the barn. Earlier that morning, Carter was changing out the water bucket in an unruly steed’s pen when he got trapped, at risk of getting stomped or trampled by the horse. Colby Mayfield (Denim Richards) saves Carter but dies suddenly as the horse tramples the more senior ranch hand instead. Carter is understandably torn up about Colby’s death, blaming himself.

In “Counting Coup,” Beth is intuitively comforting and nurturing about Carter’s experience. She comes to sit with him on the floor and speaks softly before reaching out and tenderly grooming his hair, asking if he’s blaming himself for Colby’s death. Beth’s demeanor contrasts her treatment of Carter in the past, evolving to comfort her symbolic son when he is grieving. While she couldn’t properly support him in Yellowstone season 4, Beth redeemed herself by finally treating Carter like her child in season 5. Beth doesn’t often show her unabashedly tender side, but Carter eventually draws it out.

The moment between Carter and Beth in the barn proves two things. First, Beth faltered as Carter’s mother figure. When Beth asks Carter if he’s staying at the house because she would want to be with her family, Carter says he doesn’t have a family. The moment when Beth corrects Carter, saying, “Of course you do,” is a sweet exchange between them, but it shows that Carter feels he doesn’t have a family, doubtlessly in part due to Beth’s season 4 comments. It also indicates that Beth fully accepts Carter as family, whether she considers him a son or not.

Did Beth & Rip Officially Adopt Carter In Yellowstone?

Beth And Rip’s Yellowstone Spinoff Can Clarify Carter’s Murky Status

In Yellowstone season 5, episode 14, “Life Is a Promise,” the series finale, Carter joins Beth and Rip (Cole Hauser) on their ranch in Dillon, Montana. The couple started anew after Kayce sold John Dutton’s ranch to Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and the Broken Rock Tribe. As it became apparent that John’s children would surrender stewardship of the land, it was unclear whether Carter would stay with Beth and Rip in their new home. However, in their ending “Life Is a Promise” scene, Beth watches Rip and Carter at the new property, confirming they are a family.

Even if the couple sees the boy as their own or wants to take on his guardianship permanently, Beth and Rip officially adopting Carter in Yellowstone could be unlikely.

In season 4, Beth tells Rip she thinks Carter might be their kid. Beth and Rip’s Yellowstone spinoff can fully realize the intuitive bond Beth felt, continuing to build on her parenting evolution and explaining Carter’s adoptive status. Even if the couple sees the boy as their own or wants to take on his guardianship permanently, Beth and Rip officially adopting Carter in Yellowstone could be unlikely. After murdering his father for killing his mother and brother, Rip found asylum on the Yellowstone Ranch and was thereby undocumented. Carter could similarly fly under the radar in the Yellowstone spinoff.