Piper Perabohad all the right stuff to fit into the cutthroat world ofYellowstoneas Summer Higgins. An environmentalist and vegan faced to confront a more brutal environment dominated by cowboys, she eventually became a main love interest forKevin Costner’s character, John Dutton. As a recurring presence throughout Season 4 and Season 5, Perabo’sSummer addedan intriguing jolt of different energy to the series, despite creatorTaylor Sheridannever being quite sure what to do with her.
In a series whereKelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton served as the primary female lead within a cast of predominantly male characters, Perabo’s arrival as Summer was a welcome change, and seemed to foreshadow that she’d be taking on a bigger role in the back half of the series. Unfortunately, she didn’t; even her dramatic feud with Beth, which began when Summer started a relationship with John Dutton, went nowhere, as Sheridan instead allowed Summer to fade into the background and eventually depart the show altogether in its fifth season.
Summer Could’ve Elevated the Stakes of ‘Yellowstone’ After John Dutton’s Death
Summer Higgins is a firecracker fromthe first moment she’s introduced inYellowstone, meeting John Dutton at an animal rights protest downtown — while handcuffed, no less. As she proclaims that her body is her protest, Perabo expertly delivers Sheridan’s biting dialogue, and has great chemistry with Costner. Buther story had nowhere to go but downhillfrom then on. The way her narrative plays out, primarily focusing on her romance with John and the conflict with Beth that results, is borderline immature. Some of Sheridan’s weakest writing happens in Beth and Summer’s first meeting, which sets the stage for Summer’s treatment on the show — largely devoted to a childish rivalry.
Dislike between the women first blooms when Beth first encounters Summer in the Yellowstone’s kitchen while she’s wearing nothing but John Dutton’s shirt. Beth immediately picks up a knife with the intent of stabbing Summer, already hurling insults at the other woman in the process. It’s a bonkers move,even for the hot-headed Dutton daughter,and a disappointing regression for these two female charactersin a television era filled with rich, complex women. This first encounter sets the tone for Perabo and her character for the rest of her time onYellowstone.
Beth and Rip More Than Deserve To Lead Their Own ‘Yellowstone’ Spin-Off
There’s only one direction these two should be going in: towards their own show.
Summer and Beth’s Feud Was a Tired Trope on ‘Yellowstone’
Everyone remembers one of the most talked-about moments fromYellowstone, which has now become a big part of its legacy. Season 5, Episode 5, “Watch ‘Em Ride Away,“featuresa now-infamous cat fight between Beth and Summer.It’s Perabo’s biggest moment on the show, but it also cements a tired trope of pitting woman against woman. After their conversation over dinner escalates, the two resort to fighting on the front lawn outside the Dutton home, exchanging punch after punch until Rip (Cole Hauser) intervenes. Throwing offensive insults at each other with too many swears to count, Beth and Summer’s fight does not move any plot forward, nor hold much substance besides the shock factor. It exemplifies the dangerous pitfall Sheridan fell into with Summer, andhis often shallow writing of womenin a largely male-dominated series.
Beth and Summer’s feudwas only one of the moments that showed the cracks inYellowstoneoverall, as well as the limitations of the show’s writing in depicting a complicated relationship between two women. It makes sense then, thatwhen John Dutton diesat the start of Season 5 Part 2, Summer all of a sudden had no purpose in the series. As someone who had essentially beendefined by her relationship with him, rather than any intelligence or resourcefulness, she can do nothing other than make a quick exit. Her last scene onYellowstoneis brief, with not much sentimentality to spare.
InSeason 5, Episode 10, when Beth finds Summer at the ranch, she says, “I forgot all about you.” In that moment, she could almost be speaking for the writers — or the audience, for that matter. Their final exchange is another sling of insults in which each of them gets a chance to spew some nasty parting words. As Beth gives Summer a ride to the stables, and effectively out of her life forever, the scene includes a fantastic line delivery from Perabo, as Summer states, “I hope you dedicated your body to science so they can study what a b*tch you are.” It’s a strong jab, but it’s a mostly disappointing moment, especially since a thoughtful actor like Perabo is reduced to another, albeit verbal, catfight in her last few moments on the show. Ultimately,Summer’s storyline was a missed opportunity forYellowstone, as well as proof that Sheridan’s series could never fully figure out what to do with female leads if their name wasn’t Beth Dutton.
Yellowstoneis available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.
Yellowstone
A ranching family in Montana faces off against others encroaching on their land.
Watch on Peacock
