Rip Wheeler shares a terrifying thought that could drastically change the future of ‘Yellowstone’

Paramount’s number one series, Yellowstone, kicked off with a highly anticipated and extremely emotional season five opener with two hours of Dutton glory tonight. The excitement was tangible in households worldwide as we tuned in to see John Dutton swear in as governor and Beth and Rip embrace wedded bliss.

For every hopeful high, there’s a lamentable low in Yellowstone, and we saw that with our beloved couple as they should have been celebrating John’s new and very official title: Governor of Montana. Instead of joining in the celebrations with his wife, Rip was hesitant to feel the joy. Instead, he felt a layer of stress that he couldn’t shake, no matter how hard he tried.

For a man who never doubts patriarch John Dutton, always has his back, and supports his choices, the festivities around him visibly shake Rip up: something is lingering in the air, and it’s not good.

“I never think about what happens a year from now or ten years from now. I’m always worried about today with an eye on tomorrow, but when I look down there, 10 years worries me.”

Rip got poetic while telling Beth that the whole saga felt like Nero playing his fiddle as Rome burned, watching his people suffer a devastating loss while playing music and ignoring it all. Suddenly, watching the musical events at the bottom of the hill felt wrong to Rip.

“This reminds me of that. He’s gonna lose this place.”

Rip steps away, kissing Beth and telling her he loves her before retreating to their home for the night. He couldn’t bear to watch what was happening around him any longer, not when sleep was on the menu for another busy day ahead. With John Dutton as Governor of Montana, much of the weight sits on Rip’s shoulders these days. Luckily his shoulders are strong, broad, and delightful, but it’s a heaviness nonetheless.

Beth sits with Rip’s statement for a moment, looking down at those around her as her husband did and suddenly feeling that same sense of dread. It’s not something Beth hasn’t toyed with herself, the idea of her father losing everything, but hearing it from Rip was devastating.

While we hope the fall of Rome is the exact opposite of what happens to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, it’s an idea planted in our heads now, and we won’t soon forget it. New episodes of Yellowstone air Sunday nights on Paramount; you won’t want to miss a single one of them.