Kevin Costner will not appear in the final Yellowstone episodes as John Dutton. We’ve known that for months after Costner returned to the directing saddle, leaving the series suddenly without patriarch John Dutton. The rest of the cast has since been declaring its farewells to the series on social media, but the real goodbyes will go down between characters onscreen. As well, the real-life Bozeman, Montana might be more than ready for the main rodeo to be finished, but the Yellowstone universe isn’t done, not by a long shot.
Another 1923 (with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren) season is currently filming to wrap up the Duttons’ early history, and sequel series The Madison (with Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Fox) will bring viewers the next chapter in this saga. Eventually, 6666 might even happen to tell stories about the cowboys that work at the famed ranch. Before those spin offs happen, let’s talk about what we can expect from this juggernaut’s final rodeo.
Plot
Perhaps the most biggest surprise about the end of Yellowstone is that Yellowstone might not actually end. Puck recently reported that Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) could lead the show into a sixth season. Currently, Reilly and Hauser are reportedly in talks, and their continuation of these roles would stand separate from The Madison although both shows are set in contemporary times and within Montana. Is anybody taking bets on whether The Madison might also involve an endangered ranch (man, if there was ever a case for simply buying a condo, there you go)?
For the moment, Paramount has previewed the above image of Beth and Rip, along with other photos of the cast, including a trio of Duttons — Kayce (Luke Grimes), Monica (Kelsey Asbille), and Tate (Brecken Merrill) — and Wes Bentley’s Jamie Dutton in maneuvering mode:
Bentley has shared that he wants to tie up loose ends as much as the audience does after first half of the season ended with Jamie calling for John’s impeachment and clashing with Beth. On the resolution, however, Bentley wasn’t giving anything up while speaking with Hollywood Reporter to drop hints: “[T]here are so many potentials for Jamie. Does he go down with John? Does John go down because of Jamie? Does Jamie have a hand in it at all, or does it turn out Jamie tries to protect him? It’s hard to read Jamie. There are so many potential ways he deals with John’s ending.”
Ian Bohen (as Ryan Bingham) has also weighed in with purposefully vague assurances that the fifth season finale will be “worth the wait,” really: “I don’t know that any show has finished this strongly ever,” he promised to ET, “We’re expecting to have the best series finale in history. Overconfident maybe, but I think that’s what it’s going to be. We thank everyone for their patience.” Well, that’s one way to stoke impatience.
Meanwhile, Kelly Reilly is simply hoping that Beth will find some quiet moments in life, and as Reilly told TV Line: “As possible as it is for any of us … Peace requires some digging and some surrender and letting go of old pains and hurts.”
And has Sheridan dropped any hints on how the series will go out? Nope, but he did assure Hollywood Reporter that John Dutton’s fate will only befit the story, not the way that Costner left the show. “I don’t do f*ck-you car crashes,” he insisted. “Whether [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t factor in with regard to storytelling.”
From there, a shroud of secrecy hangs over Yellowstone until go time.
Cast
Kevin Costner has absolutely left the building, and as noted above, Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly could be set up as the future of the series. The rest of the ensemble cast includes Lainey Wilson, Wes Bentley, Luke Grimes, Ian Bohen, Jen Landon, Kelsey Asbille, Brecken Merrill, and Finn Little.
Release Date
Yellowstone returns on November 10 with episodes airing only on Paramount Network for the time being. The series primarily streams on Peacock, where this back half of the season will eventually land.
How many episodes will surface? Six. However, Sheridan sounds like he wanted more and remarked, “It’ll be as long as it needs to be.” Oh really? “If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10.”
Trailer
The final episodes were previewed by Paramount as emphasizing legacy, and Jamie’s antagonism features prominently.