By William Earl

According To The variety SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the Season 5, Episode 12 episode of “Yellowstone,” “Counting Coup,” which premiered Sunday, Dec. 1, on Paramount Network.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

This week’s episode of “Yellowstone” was anchored by two jaw-dropping scenes. First off was the death of Colby (Denim Richards), which was totally unexpected and a big bummer! Then, right at the end, we saw Kayce (Luke Grimes) strike back against his father’s assassin in the most intimidating way possible. Let’s dive into this episode that left us completely shaken:

• Ah, shucks, I’m swooning over this lovey-dovey phone call between Teeter (Jennifer Landon) and Colby.
• It’s so strange when Taylor Sheridan pops up in an episode. I’m sure his character has a name, but I just point at the screen like Leonardo DiCaprio in “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” and say, “That’s Taylor Sheridan!”
• Laughing at Taylor Sheridan’s surprise at learning that John Dutton (Kevin Costner) got killed. “Really? What happened?” Um, I think you know…
• Does the math work out on this plan? Maybe it does — I just have no idea how many cows you need to sell to match the taxes put on land in Montana. I must have missed that day of high school.
• Oh boy … immediately after being asked about Sarah (Dawn Olivieri), Jamie (Wes Bentley) loses his mind while talking to detectives. Way to play it cool!
• Why do I feel like Jamie’s shredder is getting used 24/7? Has one man ever had that many suspicious documents?
• Damn, that breakfast looks pretty good!
• Wow, Kayce has already identified Grant Horton (Matt Gerald) as the hitman? For such a covert organization, that sure didn’t take long!
• We should boot Tate (Brecken Merrill) from the family. He’s always so rude! I know he’s an angsty teen, but the Duttons are currently in crisis!
• “The best lies are 90% true, and I’m the best fuckin’ liar.” That sounded profound when Beth (Kelly Reilly) said it, but the more I think about it, I’m not exactly sure what that means…
• No, Colby! You’re a hero for helping out Carter (Finn Little), but ouch! That looked like it hurt!
• Was Carter supposed to shoot that horse so quickly? After all, wasn’t he just … horsin’ around?
• Wait — Colby DIED?!? Noooooooo!
• This is a sad scene but I do love that Ryan (Ian Bohen) has a dorky “Bad to the Bone” ringtone.
• A legitimately lovely moment of Teeter and Ryan mourning Colby. Landon and Bohen hit the tone perfectly.
• Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I hope they’re taking Colby’s body to a funeral home and won’t just hurl it off a cliff at the Train Station.
• Uh, Beth, does Carter need to hear about you getting pregnant in this same room right now? I’m weirded out!
• Love Grant in dorky soccer dad mode.
• Holy shit, Kayce pointing his gun right at Grant’s little girl. Cold!
• “Start the car and drive or you can clean up the mess.” Wow, I’m now convinced that Kayce actually could kill this child like it was nothing.
• Wow, that is officially one of the best scenes of the series. Kayce was so menacing!

Buckle up for more drama next week, “Yellowstone” fans!