‘Yellowstone’ Premiere Quickly Reveals Fate of Kevin Costner’s Character: “We Let the Cat Out of the Bag”
Director Christina Voros dives into the highly anticipated return of the hit Paramount Network series to reveal how they kept John Dutton's fate a secret (there were code words), how it propels everything forward and how the cast "shouldered the weight of [Costner's] absence in such a bold and beautiful way."
Yellowstone returned with a big swing on Sunday night by giving viewers the answer they were hoping to get right out of the gate. How would the hit Western saga handle the exit of star Kevin Costner and the fate of his revered show patriarch John Dutton?
Taylor Sheridan, the writer and mastermind of the Yellowstone-verse, did something rather unexpected when he quickly revealed during the season 5B premiere — and return of TV’s No. 1 show — that John Dutton has indeed died. That fate was likely expected, given Costner’s high-profile and abrupt exit from the Paramount Network series between the first and second half of season five. But the fact that it was revealed so quickly was a surprise.
Kevin Costner’s ‘Yellowstone’ Fate Doesn’t Do Right by John Dutton — or the Show
Taylor Sheridan finally revealed how his franchise tentpole could work without its exiting star and, initially, it sure seems like it can't.
In the end, John Dutton lost.
Given “Yellowstone‘s” overt, lingering sentimentality for his waning way of life, as well as its candor in acknowledging the growing threats facing modern ranching, perhaps Dutton’s failure isn’t all that surprising. After all, the unlikely gubernatorial candidate once built his platform around bringing a halt to progress itself. “I am the opposite of progress,” Dutton said. “I am the wall it bashes against, and I will not be the one who breaks.”
Except, of course, he did. In Season 5, Episode 9 — the long-awaited return of “Yellowstone” after a two-year hiatus — creator Taylor Sheridan revealed the John Dutton is dead. Police at the Governor’s mansion inform his children, Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes), that John died by suicide. Obviously, that isn’t true. John is too proud to take himself out of the saddle, and this is still “Yellowstone,” so viewers know a twist is coming.
Instead, it appears Jamie (Wes Bentley) orchestrated his father’s demise. After thinking about putting a hit on John an episode prior, it seems the ambitious attorney general followed through with a little help from his girlfriend/fixer, Sarah (Dawn Olivieri). They talked about it, she acted on it, and now John is dead, just like that. Sarah instructed her hatchet man to make the great cattle man’s death look like a suicide, and that’s exactly what the authorities believe happened.
While John being murdered is much more plausible than John taking his own life, the twist doesn’t do all that much to improve how Sheridan ultimately decided to keep “Yellowstone” running without its lead actor. (Costner, long ago, announced he would not return to the franchise, preferring to make his four-part, 12-hour “film” series, “Horizon: An American Saga.”) Sure, the fact that the eldest Dutton died before he could secure his ranch for future generations isn’t hard to believe. Progress, in the grand, sweeping sense that John used the term, cannot be stopped (let alone reversed, as the most powerful man in Montana aimed to do). But the devil’s in the details, and the details of John’s death are all wrong. How he’s suspected of dying and how he actually died both seem out of line for a character — and a series — that deserved better.
As has been heavily scrutinized in the two years since “Yellowstone” Season 5 first premiered and Costner’s exit became inevitable, the series did little to set up John Dutton’s departure. In Episode 8 (the last to air before the lengthy hiatus), Costner’s rancher was still the sitting governor of Montana, and he’d just lent his public support to his former (and current?) nemesis Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham). Together, they hoped to stop a pipeline from being built across tribal land — a pipeline that would also damage the Yellowstone ranch.
Then there was the promised impeachment. Before John could leave the podium, news that his estranged son Jamie filed impeachment proceedings against his adopted dad — accusing Governor Dutton of violating state law and, in the process, leading Montana into bankruptcy — reached the press. Reporters swarmed the stage. A formal hearing was in the offing. John, as he’s wont to do, sat silently, making plans.
Plans we’ll never see him carry out. Now, setting their father’s affairs is up to the kids, who’ve been at each other’s throats since day one and promised more attacks at the end of Episode 8. After Beth finds out what Jamie has done, she suggests to her father that they take him to the Train Station — family code for killing someone and dumping the body where it won’t ever be found. Expecting his sister’s attack, Jamie suggests the same thing to his Sarah — that they kill John before John can kill Jamie. The long-brewing battle between father and son had finally begun.
And now, after two years of anticipation, it’s over. John will never get to go boot-to-boot with the son he raised to replace him. Jamie will never get to stand up to a father he’s tried to live up to all his life. More importantly, the audience will never get to see the showdown “Yellowstone” has been building toward for five seasons. No matter what’s revealed in the coming weeks, Costner won’t be a part of it. Viewers will never get the visceral satisfaction of father and son in a literal or figurative shootout at the Yellowstone corral.