Yellowstone finally returned for season 5B after a nearly two-year break — and at long last fans learned the fate of Kevin Costner’s character, John Dutton.
Spoilers for Yellowstone ahead.
In the Yellowstone season 5B premiere on Sunday, November 10, John Dutton met his untimely end. Though law enforcement initially believed he died by suicide, the episode seemed to suggest Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) was behind his murder. By the end of the episode, she informs Jamie (Wes Bentley) that she was, in fact, involved.
When the first half of season 5 ended in January 2023, John had become the governor of Montana, much to the chagrin of his son Jamie, who was trying to have him impeached. At the end of episode 8, John and his daughter, Beth (Kelly Reilly), decided it was time to take Jamie to the train station — i.e., kill him.
Costner, 69, officially confirmed his Yellowstone exit in June after months of speculation about his future with the show. The first half of season 5 ended in January 2023 with the second half set to premiere in November of that year, but one month after the 5A finale aired, reports circulated that Costner was holding up production because of a feud with cocreator Taylor Sheridan.
While Sheridan, 54, and Costner both denied the rumors, Paramount Network confirmed in May 2023 that Yellowstone would end for good at the end of season 5. The network also announced a sequel series that at the time was rumored to star Matthew McConaughey. That series seems to have since become The Madison, a spinoff which will star Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Fox and Patrick J. Adams.
Costner, meanwhile, has turned his focus to the big screen, directing and acting in Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, which premiered in June. Chapter 2 was originally set to hit theaters in August, but the release date was pushed back after disappointing box office sales for Chapter 1.
Ahead of Horizon’s release, Costner broke his silence on what transpired behind the scenes, claiming that he would have filmed more episodes of Yellowstone if the scripts had been ready.
“I gave them 25 of my days for this B thing in November and December [2022]. What they called 5B. The whole month of March [2023],” the Oscar winner told Deadline in May. “I didn’t shoot 5B. There was no script. And then things imploded.”
According to Costner, he left the set of Horizon to film season 5B, but he alleged there were still no scripts on hand for the final episodes.
“I left exactly when they wanted, and it made it hard on me. It turns out they didn’t have the scripts for 5B. They needed four more days just to complete the first eight episodes,” he claimed. “I left early to give them what they needed to have a complete eight, and I felt bad that the audience didn’t get 10.”
Production on the show was further delayed by the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes last year, which ended in September 2023 and November 2023, respectively.
Sheridan, meanwhile, has remained relatively quiet about the entire situation, but he hinted in June 2023 that he never intended for John Dutton to survive through the series finale — but he also wouldn’t kill the character in retaliation for any offscreen drama.
“I don’t do ‘f— you’ car crashes,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “Whether [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t factor in with regard to storytelling.”
Yellowstone airs on Paramount Network Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
