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If you asked who my favorite “Yellowstone” character is, I’d say Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille). The response might be surprising, considering she lacks the star power of Kevin Costner, the raw intensity of Kelly Reilly’s Beth, or the more expansive stories given to Rip (Cole Hauser) and Kayce (Luke Grimes). But in a world where these characters get away with actual murder in nearly every episode and constantly undermine each other, Monica has a conscience. She’s a good person who looks at the family she’s married into and figuratively says, “Wtf was I thinking?”

And yet Monica feels like the Job of the Yellowstone, a character routinely traumatized, threatened, and injured for what the series presumes is impact and significance but feels like cheap television theatrics. And in the two-episode Season 5 premiere, a pregnant Monica lost her child after a car accident involving a buffalo and...