Annoying characters are a staple of compelling storytelling. We encounter villains we relish despising, heroes whose choices test our patience, and sidekicks who become the punchline. However, when it comes to sheer irritation, one can be too many, let alone several. Unfortunately for “Yellowstone,” it presents more vexing characters than its audience might have anticipated. From central figures to recurring ranch hands, these are the ones viewers are often eager to see the show shift focus from.

Out of the “Yellowstone” ensemble, ten characters stand out as the most exasperating. This isn’t a reflection on the actors, who deliver commendable performances, but rather on the characters themselves, who frequently come across as less than appealing. Such is the outcome when Taylor Sheridan shoulders the entire writing endeavor alone.

Since “Yellowstone” began, Jimmy Hurdstrom (played by Jefferson White) has been a chronic underachiever. His criminal past and subsequent deal with John Dutton (Costner) landed him at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, transforming his life significantly. Transitioning from ranch hand to rodeo star in Montana and Texas, Jimmy’s storyline showcases one of the show’s most significant developments. His character arc, tracing a clear trajectory, is among the best written. Yet, many viewers still find Jimmy insufferable, particularly in the early seasons, when his learning curve seemed perpetually flat.

From the beginning of “Yellowstone,” Jimmy Hurdstrom (Jefferson White) was a screw-up. Criminal activity and a deal with John Dutton (Costner) led to Jimmy joining the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, and it changed his life for the better. Moving from cowboy work to rodeo in Montana and then Texas, Jimmy has arguably the largest character arc on the show. There’s a clear point A to point B about his story progression that makes him easily one of the show’s most well-written characters. Despite that, many still consider Jimmy to be pretty annoying, though that’s mostly in the show’s early seasons, when it seemed as if he never learned a darn thing in the saddle.

While Jimmy did become a proficient cowboy over time, he continually made the same mistakes. The biggest of these was during his time in rodeo. Not only did he fail to heed the advice of an experienced professional, Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith), but he also refused to honor his boss’ wishes, leading to an injury that could’ve cost him his ability to walk, let alone his life. While the Big Sky stars shone down on Jimmy that day, many were irate that he would put himself in that position at all, and that’s fair. While he was never the smartest character on “Yellowstone,” fans generally agree that Jimmy’s arc got better over time, as he was willing to get up and try again. In this case, persistence was key.

Singing cowboys are long associated with the western genre, so it’s no wonder that Taylor Sheridan aimed to introduce his own in the form of Ryan Bingham’s Walker. Whether his name is a sly reference to the fact that Sheridan got his start on the original “Walker, Texas Ranger” or a small nod to the leading star behind the original one-hour western drama “Cheyenne,” fans appreciate Bingham’s trademark vocals. It certainly helped that the musician-turned-actor had a following before the show. But over time, many considered Walker to be not just a boring or terrible character who added little to the Dutton drama, but an annoying one who should’ve been taken to the train station long ago.

Things got even worse as the show went on when Walker and Lloyd got in the middle of a domestic squabble over Laramie (Hassie Harrison). The tussle frustrated many fans, especially after Walker willfully antagonized Lloyd, who has long been an audience favorite. Though Bingham is a beloved country star off-screen, on “Yellowstone” he’s a hotly contested character who spends too much time complaining about being stuck on the Dutton Ranch and not enough time trying to make the best of it. It doesn’t help that he avoided real work any chance he could get. While Walker does have his fans, there’s no argument that others consider him among the show’s most annoying characters.

It’s not uncommon for kids to become the most irritating characters in any movie or long-running series. Think of Joey from “Shane.” But on “Yellowstone,” there’s no contest as to which child is the most annoying on-screen. Of course, this isn’t on young actor Brecken Merrill, who is set to reprise his role on the upcoming “Y: Marshals,” but rather to highlight the fact that Tate Dutton was never given anything substantial to do. Ever. 

In fact, Tate was so often forgotten about on “Yellowstone” that it felt like Sheridan had failed to age the character’s dialogue up with the actor. As a result, he perpetually sounded like a child, even after his teenage growth spurt. The material that the actor was given was not at all to his advantage, making Tate one of the most annoying characters on the show through zero fault of Merrill’s own.

It doesn’t help that Tate is often his own worst enemy. Whenever the kid is in danger, it’s largely because he put himself there — we see this especially in Season 2 when he’s abducted by the Beck Brothers. To add insult to injury, Sheridan writes Finn Little’s Carter — “Yellowstone’s” only other teen character — like an actual person, with a true arc and interesting material. By comparison, Tate mopes around like his parents, wondering what he’s going to do with his life and coming to no real conclusions. The only time he was particularly interesting was early on in Season 3 after he’d been abducted. That plotline ultimately went nowhere. Sort of like this kid.

In Season 3, “Yellowstone” introduced the Native American answer to Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) in the form of Angela Blue Thunder (Q’orianka Kilcher), a heartless attorney who pushed Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and his agenda further than before. While Angela felt necessary in order for the people of the Broken Rock Indian Reservation to get out from under the thumb of the Duttons (or even the businesses who aimed to use them against their cowboy neighbors), it only took a few episodes for folks to get annoyed with her. Her overdone hushed tones and commonly-used smirk were deemed irritating by many. It left her unmissed when she didn’t return for Season 4.

However, Angela Blue Thunder would return in Season 5, and when she did, folks were more annoyed than ever. Her turncoat nature showed itself here, undercutting Rainwater’s latest ideas for elevating his people. While there was debate as to whether Sheridan’s writing and direction or Kilcher’s over-the-top soapy performance was to blame, it was clear that her return in the first half of the season was largely unwelcome. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why she didn’t return for the second half of Season 5. While Angela’s sudden disappearance was one of “Yellowstone’s” several loose ends that never got resolved, the truth of the matter is that we weren’t too sad to see her go.

Despite Eden Brolin’s stunning performance as the barrel racer Mia, this character is a perfect example of a good thing gone bad. At first, Mia was introduced as a confidant for Jimmy, helping him in his rodeo career and pushing him to think about a life beyond himself. But after Jimmy’s first rodeo accident, things changed. After Jimmy put it in his mind to honor John Dutton’s command and leave rodeo behind, Mia was the whispering serpent that convinced him otherwise — and it nearly killed him. Fans were annoyed by Mia’s self-absorption and desire to be with a rodeo star rather than for Jimmy’s well-being, which was also apparent when she forced the injured cowboy into a sexual encounter.

Mia never respected Jimmy, and her manipulations became clearer as she realized that the life she wanted wouldn’t be possible unless he got back into the ring. When he did, the results were disastrous, and he was sent down to the Four Sixes Ranch in Texas as a punishment. She became even more infuriating when, after she and Jimmy had broken up, she decided to start a physical brawl with him over Emily (Kathryn Kelly). Emily held her own against Mia, and, though “Yellowstone” frames the event to try and make us sorry for her, most viewers thought that Mia got what she deserved. In the end, Mia was written off the show, and Jimmy was better for it.

It’s no secret that “Yellowstone” utilizes a host of stock characters full of archetypes and cliches that are meant to fill out the Dutton drama. Among them, Piper Perabo’s Summer Higgins is one of the most awful. Introduced in Season 4, Summer is an environmental activist who protests the cattle industry in Paradise Valley, only to find herself in trouble with the law. For some unknown reason, John Dutton takes a liking to her, bringing her to the ranch to show her how cowboying actually works and how they aim to conserve the land they use. It’s a good demonstration, but Summer is a bit too dense to take it in. More than that, she’s rude, unlikable, and always has a complaint up her sleeve.

In many ways, it felt like Sheridan continued to come up with contrived ways to keep Summer around — at least until he literally had no use for her anymore. Her whole “house arrest” thing in Season 5 was ridiculous, only leading to more soapy conflict between her and Beth. Indeed, Summer’s entire personality screams “I’m morally superior to you,” and, though the Duttons are admittedly the worst, she’s really not that much better. It didn’t help that she acted like a teenager rather than a full-fledged adult. Carter and Tate often felt more emotionally balanced than her, and they’re teenage boys.

No list of annoying “Yellowstone” characters would be complete without addressing Wes Bentley’s Jamie Dutton. Early on in the neo-western drama, Jamie was his father’s right-hand man, the one who dealt with the paperwork despite wanting to be a cowboy like his brothers. But over time, Jamie’s selfish nature and misguided attempts at self-preservation turned him into a traitor to the Dutton family name, with shifting loyalties that always seemed to put him on the wrong side of the conflict. 

Jamie is arguably the most unlikable Dutton due to his misguided alliances, inability to own up to his mistakes, and willingness to throw his whole family under the bus — including Kayce (Luke Grimes). Bentley does a great job at constructing this layered character, but that doesn’t make him any less irritating to watch.

To make matters worse, Jamie refuses to report his biological father’s assassination attempt on the Duttons to the proper authorities, and does the same again when his latest squeeze, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), is directly responsible for murdering his adoptive father. Jamie is as much a worm as he is a snake, making him one of those characters that fans love to hate, but the detest goes beyond just disliking his actions. Every time it feels like Jamie is coming around — be it when he started working on the ranch in earnest in Season 2 or when he found out he was a father — he falls back into his same destructive patterns. Patterns that ultimately get John Dutton (Kevin Costner) killed.

Few characters on “Yellowstone” are more universally hated than Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille). Although she isn’t as aggressive, conniving, or downright despicable as some of her in-laws, Monica is considered a superior annoyance due to her dull, uneventful story arcs and constant complaints that would drive anyone away. 

There’s no real substance to Monica as a character and it’s difficult to relate to her. That makes “Yellowstone” feel disingenuous whenever Sheridan writes her a compelling scene, only for her to go right back to her contradictory ways. How many times do she and Kayce have the conversation about their family’s future and how they shouldn’t be at the ranch any longer, only for Monica to note that Tate should spend time with his grandfather? We’ve lost count.

What makes Monica insufferable is that most of the misery she pins on external circumstance or the Dutton family ultimately stems from her own poor choices, which she then has the audacity to complain about it. One Monica scene that went too far was when she was actively jealous of another woman who interacted with her husband (who never showed any interest) after having nearly cheated on him previously. Perhaps the fact that Monica has not been confirmed to be returning for the “Y: Marshals” sequel spin-off is a good thing.

Part of the reason that “Yellowstone” features so many annoying characters is that many are written so similarly that you could swap their dialogue around multiple roles and it would still make perfect sense. It all comes from the same place: Taylor Sheridan. So, when the filmmaker gave himself a small part to play in “Yellowstone’s” first season as cowboy Travis Wheatley, nobody knew how big a part it would become. 

After only three episodes in the first few seasons, Travis was shoved in to a larger degree starting in Season 4, when Jimmy was banished down to Texas. This hard-as-nails, overly confident, and all-around insufferable cowboy pushed Jimmy out, and audiences quickly got sick of Sheridan’s self-insert. Travis was fine in small doses, but as his role was expanded (especially in the show’s final episodes), the irritation with him escalated.

While Sheridan no doubt knows his cowboy craft (which we can see whenever Travis is riding a horse), the character flat-out feels like he was included so that the cowboy-turned-actor-turned-filmmaker could show off. There are virtually no redeeming qualities about Travis, who overtly objectifies women, talks down to everyone he meets, and has so little self-respect (or respect for anyone else) that it’s hard to take him seriously.

Some consider Travis to be “Yellowstone’s” own “Gary Stu,” but that may be giving the creator too much extra credit when he already has more than enough. Writing, directing, and producing couldn’t satisfy Sheridan, who needed to personally fill up the other side of the camera with his mug.

If there was any doubt that Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton was going to be the most annoying “Yellowstone” character, let’s put that to rest. Beth is already the most hated character on the series due to her endless supply of gratingly repetitive “badass Beth” monologues. For a character who started out interesting and who could have easily developed into someone more likable and understandable over time, Beth quickly became a caricature of herself. An overbearing narcissist with the emotional stability of an infant, Beth presents herself as a classy businesswoman who can do what no one else can. The truth is that she’s a bully who knows that there will never be any real consequences for her actions.

Not only is Beth’s static character arc a major problem on “Yellowstone,” but in many respects she’s actually the villain of the story. The worst part? The show lets her get away with it every single time. No matter how many childish meltdowns she has at the dinner table or how many men or women she assaults in public, Beth gets away with everything. In fact, she even gets away with murder in the series finale when she kills Jamie, finally taking revenge on her adoptive brother for allowing her to be sterilized in her youth. 

While what happened to Beth is terrible, it’s no excuse to treat others worse than dirt. For one example, when given the opportunity to be a mother-like figure to young Carter, she constantly played with the boy’s emotions until she was ready to finally embrace the role. Sort of. Yes, Beth Dutton is the most annoying character on “Yellowstone,” and frankly, it’s not even close.