Warning: Major SPOILERS for Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 below!
Following months of chatter surroundingKevin Costner’sYellowstoneexit, we now know the fate of his character, John Dutton. Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western series returned for its concluding fifth season (which aired the first batch of episodes well over a year ago). With Costner no longer aboard the hit Paramount+ drama, audiences eagerly anticipated how the show would send off the acclaimed actor’s beloved John Dutton. Well, now we know, and so does Costner, who shared his opinion about the reveal during an appearance on SiriusXM’sThe Michael Smerconish Programon Monday (but not before noting that he didn’t even knowYellowstone"was actually airing" the night before).
“That’s a swear-to-God moment. I swear to God. I mean, I’ve been seeing ads with my face all over the place and I’m thinking, ‘Gee, I’m not in that one.’ I’m not in this season. But I didn’t realize yesterday was the thing. Somebody said, ‘It played last night?’ And I said, ‘Hmm, okay.’ So no, I found out about it this morning actually.”
As the premiere episode of Season 5’s Part 2 shockingly revealed, John Dutton is dead. The episode, “Desire All You Need,” kicks off heavilywith John Dutton found deadfrom a gunshot wound. While there’s some speculation that the Dutton family patriarch has died by suicide, we later learn that he was killed as part of a plan laid out by Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), who is carrying on a romantic relationship with John’s son, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley). When asked how he felt about his character’s death, Costner shared:
“I didn’t see it. I heard it’s a suicide. That doesn’t make me wanna rush to go see it.
They’re pretty smart people. Maybe it’s a red herring. They’re very good. They’ll figure that out.”
Kelly Reilly Delivers a Standout Performance in Yellowstone
Viewers who tuned into Sunday night’s newYellowstoneepisode were less than pleased with how Costner’s character was written out of the series. Over on X (formerly Twitter), audiences questioned the decision to end Costner’s storyline with Dutton’s death. Some said they no longer wanted to finish the series, while others just believed that Costner deserved a better send off. It’s interesting to note, however, that Kelly Reilly, who brilliantly portrays Beth Dutton on the series, recently shared thatJohn Dutton was never supposed to make itto the show’s conclusion:
“The absence was part of the ending. That’s not something that we had to pivot, that was already written into the tapestry of the story. It was always going to happen, it just happened a little bit differently.”
Yellowstone Stars Kelly Reilly & Cole Hauser on a Possible Season 6 and Dutton Danger
Kelly Reilly & Cole Hauser star in Yellowstone as the married couple Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler and together addressed rumors of a surprise Season 6.
Among fan criticism forYellowstone’s decision to kill off John Dutton was praise for Reilly’s standout performance in “Desire All You Need.” While Reilly has not been nominated for an Emmy for her work on the series (which has been phenomenal throughout its run), some are speculating that this is the season the actress will get her flowers. “Plenty of folks are saying they won’t watchYellowstoneanymore with how they had John Dutton go out. As a character purist, I get it. But Kelly Reilly’s performance deserves fans seeing the season through,” said@KristenK1874, with@itscolton696969adding, “Kelly Reilly is a goddamn powerhouse as Beth Dutton. She is a masterclass in acting. She proved that in the movieEden Lake. And now here she is 16 years later killing it onYellowstone. Side note tonight’s episode was a phenomenal 10/10.”
In May, Costner’s official exit fromYellowstonemade headlines, and shortly after the news broke, it was announced that Sheridan’s neo-Western would conclude with its fifth season.Yellowstonewill air its final episode on July 31, 2025. While this chapter of the Dutton Ranch saga will close, viewers may get to seemore of fan-favorite couple Beth and Rip (Cole Hauser).
Yellowstone
Yellowstone stars Kevin Costner and centers on his character John Dutton. Dutton and his family live on a cattle ranch just a few hours away from Yellowstone National Park. The series chronicles the family’s struggle to defend their home from an Indian reservation and land developers. As if their life wasn’t complicated enough, the Duttons also have medical issues, political aspirations, and family secrets stacked against them.
