What Happens To Malcolm Beck On Yellowstone & Why Is It So Important?

Years before he was tearing it up on Paramount Network's hit series, Neal McDonough enjoyed a chaotic run on FX's "Justified," portraying career criminal Robert Quarles. Quarles is introduced as a lieutenant and representative of Detroit's Tonin crime family; the character immediately makes his presence felt, showcasing a ruthless edge and a fancy quickdraw technique that he totally didn't steal from Christoph Waltz's Dr. King Schultz.

With grand ambitions of his own, Quarles strays away from Detroit and attempts to start his own miniature criminal kingdom in Kentucky. However, as the season progresses, the city boy gradually learns Harlan County ain't Detroit. Quarles makes one too many enemies, and his aspirations end with his arm getting cut off, courtesy of Ellstin Limehouse's (Mykelti Williamson) cleaver.

When it comes to portraying villains like Malcolm Beck and Robert Quarles, McDonough can only do it one way. In a 2019 interview recapping a Season 2 "Yellowstone" episode, the actor explained how when he plays villains, it's crucial that they truly hold some type of conviction and think they are in the right. "One of the things I always try to do in all my villains is to make it that everything they do is completely justified in their own brains." Hopefully, McDonough can also choose a character with better decision-making skills next time he's up for a neo-Western. Trying to take on Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and John Dutton on their own respective shows is just asking for a bullet — or cleaver.