Well, they did it. They killed off John Dutton. In Yellowstone season 5 part 2’s opening moments, Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilley) arrives at the Governor’s Mansion in Helena, Montana to a crime scene, the driveway cordoned off and an ambulance waiting outside. When Kacey Dutton (Luke Grimes) shows up, he forces his way into the house so that he and Beth can see John’s body on the bathroom floor, a gun mere inches from his hands. It looks like suicide, though Beth knows right away that her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) is behind it.
So begins what is said to be the final batch of episodes for Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan’s universe-launching neo-Western that may or may not be ending later this year. It’s been a long road up to this point — the first part of season 5 bowed in 2022, but significant delays caused a two-year gap between episodes and, though the 2023 Hollywood strikes were a huge part of this delay, it’s Kevin Costner’s exit from Yellowstone that will be on everyone’s minds now that the new episodes have premiered.
The new Yellowstone episode takes place over two timelines, one set in the immediate aftermath of John’s death and one six weeks before, roughly where the last episode left off. It makes for an odd premiere, one that splits its time between waxing poetic about the death of the cowboy and wrestling with what happens next for the Dutton family.
It’s fitting for what the show itself has become — the dying figurehead of an expanding empire that has changed the television landscape. Even as Yellowstone comes to a close (for now), Sheridan’s television universe continues to yield more entries. How that will play into these episodes remains to be seen. Rumors of a Beth and Rip spinoff and/or continuation have circulated in recent months, though nothing has been confirmed, likely to maintain secrecy about how things will shake out for the Dutton family.
Right about now, it’s looking pretty grim. With John off the map, there’s a power vacuum in Montana and several parties are looking to take his place. Beth is the one most likely to carry on her father’s legacy, at least when it comes to the business side of things. She spends most of the episode grieving and contemplating revenge, her Cold War with Jamie evolving into a full-blown battle of wills.
It seems Jamie may not be up to the task. When he finds out that John is dead, he doesn’t even realize it was thanks, in part, to his girlfriend’s doings. He is shocked that she follows through on the idea of killing John at all, bringing into question his ability to see through what he started. It’s no surprise that the cowardly Dutton sibling responds in this way, and it hints at a future loss in Jamie’s ongoing war with Beth.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 Narrows Its Focus
But Can It Maintain This Momentum?
One of the biggest criticisms against Yellowstone has been its lack of focus. Partly a bug of Sheridan’s writing and partly just the nature of such a sprawling series, Yellowstone has had a history of picking up and dropping stories left and right. John Dutton’s death, though, is not something that can just be dropped. It fundamentally alters the fabric of the series, ensuring that every single one of its characters will be enveloped in this mess.
There was plenty to put a bow on before dealing with the real meat of the season, and it seems this renewed focus will give Sheridan and crew that final push to end Yellowstone with a bang.
It’s unclear if the series will maintain the split timeline format going forward, or if this was just a product of Costner’s exit. It’s hard not to see the goings-on in Texas as leftovers from what Sheridan originally envisioned the back half of this season to be, which acts as both a meditation on cowboys and a setup for the future Texas-set Yellowstone spinoff 6666. But all of that is eclipsed by John’s death and the impending fallout.
Regardless of your feelings about how John died, it’s hard to deny that Costner’s exit might have been the best thing to happen to Yellowstone in quite some time. It feels like anything could happen in these final six episodes. The board has been reset and, as the dust settles, new battle lines will be drawn. That this episode was slow isn’t surprising. There was plenty to put a bow on before dealing with the real meat of the season, and it seems this renewed focus will give Sheridan and crew that final push to end Yellowstone with a bang.
