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Beth has nothing on Jamie (spoiler for season 4)

posted a year ago by strntz (10812)
15 replies | jump to latest

I generally enjoy this show, but sometimes the writing goes off the rails. At the end of season 4, Beth manipulates/blackmails her brother Jamie into killing his birth father because the birth father arranged a hit on the Dutton family which nearly killed both Beth and their father. Fair enough.

She then drove to the "train station" when Jamie was dumping the body to get a picture of him with which to further blackmail him.

But she really has no leverage over Jamie. If she ratted out Jamie for killing his birth father and dumping the body at the train station, it would mean life in prison for Jamie, but as long as his life is ruined, Jamie can take down the whole family by ratting out the whole Dutton ranch with what he knows. There must be two dozen bodies discarded at the train station - people who worked for or were enemies of the Duttons.

Plus, what if Beth does go the nuclear option and rat out Jamie? The body of Jamie's birth father will be months or even years decayed when she rats him out, and how will Beth explain to the authorities that she has a picture of Jamie dumping the body but never having gone to the authorities when it first happened?

[–] GirlNamedSue (232) a year ago

Very true maybe Beth is thinking that Jamie won't think of that, but he's highly educated and a lawyer so he should know that if she takes him down he can take her down.

[–] elmacho (865) a year ago

Jamie also has a self loathing personality. I think he likes being controlled.

[–] Fireball (2) a year ago

Where they’re disposing of the bodies at the “train station” is a deep untraversable (by humans) canyon with the Yellowstone river at it’s base. The bodies hit the shoreline, are consumed by predators (plenty of bear, wolves, and coyotes in the area), and the Yellowstone river flushes any leftover evidence (bones, etc) when it flows strong in the spring and after any large amounts of precipitation which is a regular occurrence. It’s the perfect body disposal location.

It’s very hard to get murder charges to stick with no evidence of human remains. Jamie is an attorney and knows this information. However, the photo of Jamie disposing of the body would be enough to get a jury to convict. Beth does indeed have Jamie on a leash.

[–] strntz (10812) a year ago

If the federales knew where to look, they would still find evidence of the disposed bodies at the train station, even if it's only a few bones or teeth.

However, the photo of Jamie disposing of the body would be enough to get a jury to convict.

Incriminating maybe - suspicious certainly, but unless they go to the bottom of the ravine on Beth's say-so (and she still needs to explain the delay in reporting the crime) and find the body, what does the picture actually show?

The picture doesn't show much - it's a picture that only shows legs. Jamie could say it was a Halloween gag that his sister took a picture of and is now saying it's murder (again, she has to explain the almost one year delay in reporting the murder), but it would not be possible to identify who was wrapped up or indeed if the person in the wrapping was even dead.

[–] iamisaid (17) a year ago

LOL....I told the same thing to my daughter. Writer must have thought we'd just watch and don't ask questions. Glad other fans thought of the same thing.

[–] beauq81 (1017) a year ago

You are forgetting one simple thing - unlike Jamie, Beth is a "scorch the entire world" kind of person. She doesn't give a f..k. Jamie is a narcissist and very much loves his life. He knows Bet will do it regardless and then tell Rip about the baby.

[–] strntz (10812) a year ago

Yeah, but if she employs a scorched Earth policy, she would also be taking down the only two people she cares for - her father and her husband. Jamie is no fool, and he knows that if nothing else, Beth is almost obsessively committed to her father if not Rip.

[–] beauq81 (1017) a year ago

Well, they are all, basically, nothing without the ranch and they will all die for it. Unlike Jamie, who is, like I said, a narcissist and a coward. People like that don't see beyond their interest and fear.

[–] strntz (10812) a year ago

Maybe, but all Jamie really needs to do is call her bluff and tell Beth he's done being her puppet and to go ahead and turn him in is she's willing to risk that he'll do the same.

I guess the discussion comes down to whether Beth would really risk a total family implosion over just having Jamie as a puppet, particularly with such weak evidence. To me, he's just not that valuable a piece business wise unless she's just so over the top with hatred for him that she is wiling to risk everything just to torture him.

If it were me, I'd tell her to stuff it.

[–] beauq81 (1017) a year ago

Yeah, but that is mutually assured destruction. Listening to her keeps him in office and with some semblance of a future.

[–] GirlNamedSue (232) a year ago

I remembered this thead and came to reread it. It seems you were right. But Beth didn't know abuot the train station?? That sounds like they were trying to cover their writing mistake.

[–] TruMovieFan (1967) a year ago

Does everyone really think that Taylor Sheridan has not thought about this?

And for the person that posted there would be no remains - completely untrue. They may be scattered by animals and moved by rain and thawing snow, but there would be plenty of remains left behind.

[–] strntz (10812) a year ago

Does everyone really think that Taylor Sheridan has not thought about this?

I guess not..

It was kind of a glaring glitch in an otherwise fairly well written show.

The explained it away by saying Beth never knew about the Train Station which seems so odd, but it doesn't explain Jamie STILL being blackmailed by Beth. In the last episode, Jamie matter of factly tells Beth that if she rats on him, he'll rat on everyone including her father because they were also involved in dumping bodies at that same place - something she didn't know. Problem solved - but it opens up another writing problem: why did Jamie submit to Beth's blackmail when she took his picture at the Train Station with the body?

[–] TruMovieFan (1967) a year ago

I think people are missing two things here - the first is that in ways Jamie is a dim bulb and easily manipulated. Secondly, I think they are missing that Sheridan has an idea of how this show ends and is writing for the long game. I wouldn t be surprised if John Dutton goes back and has all the bodies and remains he is responsible for removed. That would be one way to show how vindictive Jamie is if he blabs and no remains are found except for his father s body.

Another way would be for Dutton to get someone to take the blame (Rip). But I m sure Sheridan has all ready plotted it out.

[–] strntz (10812) a year ago

Jamie can be manipulated sure, but he's not written as any kind of dim bulb. Of all the characters, he seems to think fastest on his feet and he's a brilliant lawyer and AG. I honestly think Sheriden rethought the whole Beth holding the Train Station over Jamie's head and back-wrote that Beth didn't know about it.