Cole Hauser (Rip Wheeler) and Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) are favorites of the ladies, depending on the appetite for a more rugged, outdoor man or book-smart lawyer driven to destroy his family with his wits. Then, there is Kayce Dutton.
The character, portrayed by Luke Grimes, may have the qualities of a stereotypical heartthrob with his good looks and charms. However, most Yellowstone fans simply do not buy it. At least, that’s the general consensus on social media, where most agree that Paramount has failed to present a version of Kayce that makes him dreamy, or even desirable.
Unfortunately, like many aspects of Yellowstone, this feels like a wasted promise. Grimes is a highly established and accomplished actor. Furthermore, it’s not like the 39-year-old has suffered from a lack of sex appeal in the past. Thus, most Redditors attribute the failure to poor character development.
For starters, Kayce had mass appeal in the first couple of seasons. The love story with Monica (Kelsey Asbille) was fresh and intriguing in an otherwise harsh and corrupt world. Then, by season three, most fans acknowledge that Kayce’s role in the series diminished, along with his sex appeal.
“I’m not very interested in their relationship,” one viewer complained, while another Redditor put it much more bluntly: “Kayce’s story arc (by season three) turned solely into killing or shagging, and his wife’s only purpose was to be there for the latter.”
True, Yellowstone has always attempted to force-feed the Monica and Kayce relationship down viewers’ throats, and usually not with much success. It appears audiences only find so much of the duo tolerable, and would rather Yellowstone focus more on other characters. In the past couple of seasons, despite being the only couple with a child (Tate Dutton), the family has failed to resonate with audiences.
However, it’s not an opinion shared by everyone. Of course, there are those on Reddit that argue Kayce brings the eye candy and that they would gladly tune into a spin-off featuring the character. Then, there are those who got a craving for an older, more mature man like Kevin Costner (John Dutton).
Regardless of the attraction, though, the consensus is that Kayce and Monica are not deserving of the screen time they receive, finding the romance annoying. Sadly, the introduction of young Tate hasn’t done much to garner interest, either. Thus, pushing the heartthrob role is senseless and takes away from the overall story. As one Redditor summarized, “Kayce a heartthrob? Not with that greasy hair… my man needs a dry shampoo intervention.”