‘Yellowstone’ Fans Can’t Figure Out Why Walker Is ‘Untouchable’ on the Show

By the looks of it, there are a lot of Walker (Ryan Bingham) fans out there on the Yellowstone message boards. But even Walker’s defenders can’t figure out one thing. Why does Walker seem to be “untouchable” on the Dutton Ranch?

Fans may be wondering that especially after Sunday’s episode, in which Walker and Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) got into a brawl and Rip (Cole Hauser) chose to knock out Lloyd while simply yelling something at Walker. On the other hand, who’s to say that was the end of the matter? Rip has a way of circling back around to drive his point home amid conflicts.

On a recent Reddit thread, Yellowstone fans debated Walker’s staying power on the ranch and how he will wind up at the Four Sixes.

Yellowstone Fans Debate Why Walker Is ‘Untouchable’

One fan kicked the thread off by wondering why Rip hasn’t killed Walker yet. She pointed out that Walker has been stirring up trouble with Lloyd, and he certainly knows more than Rip would like him to know about how the Dutton Ranch works. Plus, he pushed Rip himself to the breaking point through his brief dalliance with Beth (Kelly Reilly).

“I am assuming he’s got a tie in somewhere to the larger plot (especially since they keep referencing his prison time) but it seems like other ranch hands have gotten treated far worse for far less,” the fan posted. “Was just curious if anyone had any theories as to why!”

Other fans pointed out that Walker is branded now, and he’s complicit in a Dutton Ranch revenge killing, binding him to the ranch on terms that Rip can accept. And after all, Rip did try to have Walker killed in an earlier season. But Kayce (Luke Grimes) intervened and set Walker free from the ranch, hoping he would flee the state.

Another fan suggested that Walker might use a prison connection to help the Duttons with their quest to get to the bottom of who ordered them killed… in exchange for letting Walker go to the Four Sixes, where Jimmy (Jefferson White) has been sent. Walker told Jimmy that leaving that ranch was the biggest regret of his life. Moreover, Bingham has already signed on to the Yellowstone spinoff 6666, so we know that Walker ends up at the Four Sixes Ranch somehow.

Will the Fight With Lloyd Be the Last Straw?

Still other fans speculated that the Season 4, Episode 4 fight with Lloyd might be enough to persuade John Dutton (Kevin Costner) to send Walker off to the Four Sixes, too. It would solve the conflict in the Bunkhouse, and it would rid him of the barrel racers (Eden Brolin and Hassie Harrison) who’ve caused so much trouble for his ranch hands to boot.

Yellowstone fans were divided on who’s more to blame in that fight. Has Walker been provoking Lloyd, or has Lloyd been acting like an adolescent? It depends on who your favorite character is.