James Michael Dutton aka Jamie is a main character on Yellowstone and the adopted son of John and Evelyn Dutton.
Biography[]
He and John had a complex relationship. Everyone looks down on Jamie, though he has done literally everything John had asked of him. John didn't seem to hold any love for Jamie and often acted as though he will ruin the ranch.[1]
Early Life[]
Before he was Jamie Dutton, his name was Michael Randall. As an infant, he lived in the household of Garrett and Phyllis Randall. His mother was a junkie and his father was working to make ends meet. One day, Garrett walked in on his wife whoring herself off to a stranger while Jamie was crying because he was hungry and was sucking on a crack pipe. Infuriated, Garrett murdered his wife in order to save his child from the life he was living. He spent more than 3 decades in prison for the murder and Jamie was adopted by John and Evelyn Dutton. As a teen, Jamie helped cover up a teenage pregnancy by taking Bethany to a clinic on a Native American reservation that forcibly sterilized women by performing a hysterectomy without their consent, to avoid anyone seeing a Dutton in a clinic in a high populated place like Bozeman, knowing the kind of weight the Dutton Family carried. This created a massive friction as Beth and Jamie were entirely at odds primarily due to Beth losing her ability to produce children. He later went to law school to become a lawyer and got his law degree.
Throughout the series[]
Unlike his siblings, Jamie was not cut out for working on the ranch as his true calling was in politics. He is affiliated with the Montana State Democratic Party though, he ran for State Attorney General initially as an Independent, but became a Democrat after being sworn in, because unlike Governor Perry and John, his values didn't match those of the GOP that already dominated Montana. His political ambitions were always curtailed by John much to his dismay while Beth kept her fangs tightened on him, never letting Jamie forget what he cost her.
Jamie then began a relationship with Christina, a Democratic staffer whom he got pregnant. She left him shortly after seeing how he was still tied to his father. He faced off against rodeo queen Cassidy Reid and withdrew from the campaign as John ordered. He was later made Attorney General after Cassidy stepped down from the position. Upon learning that a magazine journalist, Sarah Nguyen, was writing a story on him with an intention to bring down the Duttons, he killed her and made her death look like a kayaking accident.
Later on, Jaime learned he was adopted and met his birth father, Garrett, learning his actual name was Michael. He finally made a decision to break away from the family and bought a house, which he moved into with his birth father and reconnected with Christena, discovering their tryst led to him having a son.
Jamie then discovered that Garrett orchestrated a coordinated strike on the Duttons with help from the Montana Free Militia. He was considering running for Governor of Montana, but lost the endorsement of former Governor Lynelle Perry when she backed John Dutton. He chose instead to run for re-election as Attorney General knowing he couldn't beat John, especially after he and Rip saved a bunch of people from armed robbers at Ruby's Cafe. When Beth learned that Jamie discovered who was behind the attempts on their lives, she then threatened Jamie with an ultimatum while revealing that she and Rip tied the knot. Jamie caved, knowing Rip would kill him over the abortion issue, in which he shot Garrett dead and delivered his body to the Train Station, unaware that Beth was following him and photographed him with Garretts body as leverage against him.
Though he was re-elected for a full term, Market Equities saw him as someone who was at odds with the newly elected Governor John Dutton. With Bethany's leverage hanging over his head, he was forced to sell his home, but kept tabs on his son, which further infuriated Beth. After pushing for impeachment against John, Beth then threatened to make the images of him with the dead Garrett public if he didn't resign from the Attorney Generals office. Jamie soon revealed that Garretts body wasn't the only corpse in that canyon, revealing it as the Train Station, which had been used as a dumping ground by the Duttons since the Ranch was built, making it clear that Beth couldn't expose him without bringing down her entire family. He was then approached by Sarah Atwood on a possibility to completely get rid of his issues without drawing too much attention. Unaware that she was serious, Jamie gave his blessing. He was then in complete shock that John was killed in a manner that looked like suicide.
Appearances[]
Quotes[]
| “ | How many bodies has your father put in the same spot? Turn me in and you turn him in. Have you thought this through? (laughs) Wait, did you even know? Did you think I just picked a turnout on the Wyoming border at fucking random?! There's a century's worth of our family's secrets down at the bottom of that canyon. You want to see how fast they take the ranch from us then? It'll straighten your fucking hair, that's how fast. | ” |
–Jaime revealing information to Beth about the Train Station the Duttons hidden for generations and the warning of what would happen should Beth expose him as a killer. | ||
Trivia[]
Gallery[]
