From the thugs who beat up Beth Dutton to the crimes committed by the Dutton family themselves, the darkest moments in Yellowstone highlight the harsh realities of the neo-Western genre. While traditional Westerns more clearly delineate the lines between good and evil, neo-Westerns bring these ideals to task in the context of the real world, as seen through Yellowstone's protagonist John Dutton. John is a complex man with some ideals worth fighting for, even if the brutality of the fight cannot be justified. A complex tale of morality, Yellowstone employs some of the darkest scenes in television history.

With the ending of Yellowstone seemingly on the horizon, it is these dark moments that are bound to stay with viewers long after the story of the Duttons has concluded. The legacy of Yellowstone's Duttons is soaked in blood - built atop the countless corpses they've dumped at the "train station." From all the times John Dutton and his clan served as the judge, jury, and executioner in Paradise Valley, to scenes that further confront viewers with the underlying social realities of Taylor Sheridan's antihero crime drama, these moments show the dark side of Yellowstone.

15 Fred Is Taken To The Train Station

Season 1, Episode 4, "The Long Black Train"

Fred is a wrangler on the ranch in season 1 of Yellowstone who proves to be a bully. After beating up Jimmy, Rip decides to get rid of him. However, when discussing it with John, Rip mentions that, while he could take Fred to the bus station, he has been around a long time and seen a lot of things, so the "train station" might be best. The truth behind this is revealed when Lloyd drives Fred past the border of Montana and Wyoming, shoots Fred in the head and lets his body fall into the canyon.

This is one of the darkest reveals in Yellowstone as it shows just how brutal John Dutton's methods are for keeping his ranch safe. While he doesn't give the order himself, it is clear that John knows about the train station and all of the bodies that are buried there. It will be interesting to see if Jamie follows through on his threat to expose Yellowstone's train station and all the secrets it keeps.

14 The Deaths Of Lee And Robert

Season 1, Episode 1, "Daybreak"

The first episode of the series sets the tragic nature of the Dutton family and how the legacy of the ranch seems to be somewhat cursed. Lee Dutton was introduced as the eldest of John's children and the one who was meant to inherit the ranch when John ed. However, when some of the cattle from the ranch are taken by the Broken Rock Reservation, Lee leads a team to take them back. This puts Kayce in between his own family and Monica's family as her brother Robert fights off the ranchers.

The conflict eventually leads to Robert shooting Lee and subsequently being shot by Kayce. In the final moments of the first episode, both Kayce and Monica lose their brothers. It sets off a grim future for their relationship and puts Kayce in between two worlds. Unfortunately, this is an aspect of the show that has largely been abandoned, but the deadly end of the first episode still sets the tone for the dark story ahead.

13 Rip's Dark Past Revealed

Season 1. Episode 8, "The Unraveling: Part 1"

From the first moment Rip is introduced on the show, he is shown to be a man who is very comfortable with violence. A gruesome flashback helps to give some insight into what made him this way and the dark journey he started at a young age. The sequence reveals that when Rip was a young boy, his abusive father flew into a rage and killed Rip's mother and brother. Despite his young age, he proceeded to brutally murder his father in revenge and thus rendered himself an orphan.

The dark backstory puts a lot of Rip's personality into perfect context. He is someone who learned how to kill at a young age while also proving himself a protector of those he loves. There is a sense that, despite the love that he finds with Beth Dutton, there is no way that Rip can truly escape the trauma of this moment and the idea that he sees himself as a killer.

12 Young Rip Kills Rowdy

Season 5, Episode 8, "A Knife And No Coin"

While Rip's killing of his father was certainly a shocking early moment for the character, it didn't take much longer for him to take another life. Further flashbacks reveal a time when Rip was a teen and working on the Yellowstone Ranch after John Dutton took him in. From that young age, Rip and Beth shared a connection, but Beth slept with another ranch hand, Rowdy, in order to make Rip jealous.

Rip was able to keep a level head until Rowdy started saying disrespectful things about Beth. This led to the two getting into a fight, and when Rowdy pulled a knife, Rip beat him with a rock, killing him. With John covering for Rip and concealing the murder, it is revealed that this is why Rip has such loyalty to Yellowstone and John. However, it is also something of a tragic reveal as it feels like Rip made a mistake as a young man and John used it to trap him into a life of servitude in which he would be called on to kill again and again.

11 Baby John Dutton Dies

Season 5, Episode 1, "One Hundred Years Is Nothing,"

In Yellowstone season 5, episode 1, "One Hundred Years Is Nothing," Monica gets labor contractions three weeks before she's due to give birth. Unable to wait for emergency services at home, Monica drives with Tate to the hospital, as Kayce arranges an ambulance to meet them on the road. However, Monica and Tate get into a car accident, and though they survive, Monica and Kayce's new baby does not. In the episode's last scene, Tate reveals to John that they named the baby after the Dutton family patriarch.

Family and legacy are a huge part of the entire Yellowstone universe of stories, going back to when James Dutton claimed this land in Montana (as seen in 1883). While the loss of the young baby is a loss for the next generation, the show makes it an intimate moment for these characters, depicting a death that hits an emotional chord more than any other death in the series. Apart from being one of the darkest moments in Yellowstone, this could foreshadow John Dutton's death in the show.

10 John Dutton Puts Down A Horse

Season 1, Episode 1, "Daybreak"

Yellowstone's pilot episode opens with John Dutton appearing to be the only survivor of a horrible accident and pileup on the highway. After discovering a fatally wounded horse stuck in a trailer, John gives the animal a moment of comfort, saying "the best I can offer you is peace." Using his revolver, John then puts the animal down with one shot. Indeed, one of the darkest moments in Yellowstone happens within the first three minutes of the show.

Therefore, it is no accident that the first scene shows John confronted with such a situation and using a gun to sort it out.

The moment is a shocking introduction to the series and the character of John Dutton. It also serves to warn audiences of the grimness of the story as well as its themes. John is a man out of time, constantly seeing the modern world colliding with the way of life that he prefers, and threatening to destroy it. Therefore, it is no accident that the first scene shows John confronted with such a situation and using a gun to sort it out.

9 Tate Gets Kidnapped

Season 2, Episode 10, "Sins Of The Father"

Yellowstone season 2, episode 10, "Sins of the Father" sees the Duttons' rivalry with the Beck brothers escalating, as the Becks hire neo-Nazi thugs to kidnap Tate. The youngest of the Duttons survives and is rescued by his father Kayce - but not before the Duttons unleash hell on their enemies. While the Becks crossed the line first, the Duttons use state resources and abuse their power to carry out brutal revenge killings.

Despite the Duttons' initially noble intentions, this was one of the first real clues that John Dutton is the real villain in Yellowstone. It is a great example of the conflict the show presents to audiences. On the one hand, they are clearly rooting for the Duttons to rescue Tate and take down the bad guys. However, seeing the terrible power that John can wield when pushed is disturbing and suggests that he might resort to such a thing at any moment.

8 Rip Kills Roarke With A Rattlesnake

Season 4, Episode 1 "Half The Money"

After the Duttons survive a series of coordinated attacks in Yellowstone season 3's violent finale, Yellowstone season 4, episode 1 "Half the Money" sees Rip Wheeler taking immediate revenge against Roarke. At the river where Beth first met Roarke, Rip sees Roarke fishing at his favorite spot, and Rip walks up to Roarke while holding an unassuming cooler. As revenge for Roarke trying to kill John and Beth Dutton, Rip opens the cooler to reveal a rattlesnake that he throws on Roarke's face. After getting bitten, Roarke succumbs to a painful death.

Not only is this one of the darkest moments in Yellowstone, but it's also possibly Rip's most creative kill on the show. Josh Holloway, known best as Sawyer in the cast of Lost, was a big-name star to the series in season 3 as this interesting new villain. To see him return in season 4 only to be immediately killed adds to the shock of the scene.

7 Beth Dutton Gets Beat Up

Season 2, Episode 7, "Resurrection Day"

The following entry discusses rape and sexual abuse.

In Yellowstone season 2, episode 7, "Resurrection Day," Beth Dutton gets brutally attacked at her office as part of the Beck brothers' escalating attacks against the Duttons. While two armed assailants beat up and kill Beth's assistant, Jason, she messages Rip for help. The men beat up Beth and threaten to rape her - until Rip arrives to quickly dispose of the two. As Rip calls for a doctor, Beth attacks the corpses until she is restrained by Rip.

Despite being fearless throughout the ordeal, Beth breaks down and is calmed only when Rip tells her he loves her - mixing in the dark moments of violence with a poignant moment of the love between Rip and Beth. In of the level and nature of the violence, it is the most brutal moment in the series. While it is a relief to see Rip arrive to save Beth, the image of him gouging the eyes out of one of the men shows the animalistic nature Rip can be pushed to when he is truly enraged.

6 Jamie Kills Garrett

Season 4, Episode 10 "Grass On The Streets And Weeds On The Rooftops"

Jamie was always the black sheep in the Dutton family and that is only further confirmed with the revelation that John Dutton is not his biological father. Garrett is revealed to be Jamie's true father, and while he has a dark past himself, he seems to provide Jamie with the that he craves from John. That makes it all the more tragic and dark when Jamie is driven to kill Garrett when it becomes clear he hired someone to kill the other Duttons.

Jamie is conflicted in the moment, torn between the two families, but ultimately chooses to execute the father he just learned about. However, that is only the beginning of the darkness of this moment as Jamie then attempts to dispose of Garrett's body, only for Beth to film him in the act. Beth manipulated Jamie into patricide in order to control him - foreshadowing a bleak finale to Beth and Jamie's rivalry.