It has been a long journey.
The hit ranch drama “Yellowstone” is finally coming to an end, as the second part of Season 5 will air on Sunday, November 10 at 8 PM ET on Paramount Network.
This will be the final run of episodes – unless the rumors of a Season 6 turn out to be true, but Paramount has not confirmed or announced this.
“Yellowstone” premiered in 2018. The story follows the Dutton family, owners of the largest ranch in Montana, consisting of patriarch John (Costner) and his adult children Kayce (Luke Grimes), Jamie (Wes Bentley), Beth (Kelly Reilly) and… Beth’s husband, Rip (Cole Hauser).
The show has become a sensation, spawning several spinoffs. According to Paramount, the first half of Season 5 attracted 17 million viewers.
Costner departed after the first half of Season 5, so despite appearing in the trailer, he will not be in the final run of episodes.
If you’ve forgotten what happened in Season 5A before Season 5B, here’s what happened.
governor john
When the show ended, John Dutton had become Governor of Montana.
In doing so, he said he would protect Montana’s lands from the threat of constant encroachment by outside forces. This created an unlikely alliance between John and the local Native American reservation leader Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), who had often been at odds with John before.
Elsewhere in the storyline, John helps his former lover, environmental activist Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo), get out of prison and finish her sentence under house arrest.
Naturally, John’s volatile daughter, Beth, gets into a physical fight with Summer.
family Matters
Meanwhile, Beth and Rip are married (as of season 4). However, Rip does not know why Beth is unable to have children, so this may be a revelation. She can’t have children because Jamie secretly had her sterilized as a teenager, and it’s an explosive secret that’s a loose end to the story.
It’s possible that Rip could find out and react to this news with violence towards Jamie. Rip and Beth are also raising teenage runaway Carter (Finn Little).
Meanwhile, Kayce and his pregnant wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille) suffer a tragedy when she loses their baby in a car accident.
jamie problem
Jamie – who was adopted – plays a villain, working against the family. At this point, he is the primary antagonist that needs to be dealt with.
He is associated with Market Equities, a firm that wants to buy out Montana landowners to build a resort and an airport – but the Duttons are standing in their way.
To make matters worse, he is romantically involved with Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), another scheming lawyer who wants to ruin the Duttons.
Jamie also tried to impeach Jon, and that plot will likely continue.
The first half of Season 5 ended with Beth and John agreeing that it was finally time to take Jamie to the train station – the show’s way of saying, “Let’s kill him.”
So, if the show decides to deal with Costner’s exit by eliminating John, it could be when John fights Jamie and loses.
Why did Kevin Costner leave?
Although this is a behind-the-scenes drama, it impacts the story, as John Dutton was the main character. It’s not yet clear whether “Yellowstone” will deal with Costner’s absence by killing off John, or find a different way to keep him offscreen.
In May 2023, news broke that Costner would not return to “Yellowstone” after Season 5. (This was before Paramount said that season 5 would be the show’s last.) That same month, it was announced that the show would end with season 5. , leading to speculation that the show was ending in part due to Costner’s departure.
There were also reports that Costner refused to return to the set for over a week of filming for the second half of Season 5, which Costner’s attorney denied.
“The last conversation I had with Kevin was that he had a passion project he wanted to direct,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter in June, referring to “Horizon.”
From Sheridan’s description it seemed as if Costner preferred “Horizon” to “Yellowstone”.
“She and the network were debating when her work with ‘Yellowstone’ could be completed. I said, ‘We can definitely work out a schedule for (her preferred exit date),’ ‘Which we did,’ said the producer.
“Once lawyers get involved, people can’t talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true based on how the press or the public is reacting,” Sheridan said. Try to assign blame. He took a lot of this on himself, and I don’t know that anyone deserves that. It seems like his film is a big priority for him and he wants to focus… I’m sure (the film) deserves it.
Costner’s account was very different. In May 2024, the Oscar winner broke his silence on the matter.
“They have been very smart about keeping their hands off; Nobody was ever on the record,” he told Deadline, referring to Sheridan and “Yellowstone” producers.
Costner said that “Yellowstone” is “number one” on his list of priorities. “I didn’t make ‘Horizon’ because I was tired of doing ‘Yellowstone.’ It’s a good story. I didn’t make ‘Horizon’ to compete with ‘Yellowstone.’ This (project) is something that I had Has been for a long time,” he said.
Costner said he “didn’t feel good about it last year,” and said ongoing speculation about what was happening “was not the truth.”
The “Dances with Wolves” star said his movie “Horizon” was supposed to “fit into the gap” between filming “Yellowstone,” but, “They just kept extending their gaps.”
He alleged that there was “no script” for the final episode of “Yellowstone”.
“They never talk about it,” Costner said. “I was straight with (Sheridan), and he said what we would do, and I believed him and we didn’t get there.”
In April 2023, a source told the daily mail Sheridan developed a “God complex”, which also fueled her alleged feud with Costner.
Additionally, a source told The Post that Sheridan’s “overburdened” schedule hindered preparation and filming, even though Costner made himself available.
“Only Taylor really knows what’s going on,” he said. “Taylor felt truly unappreciated in Hollywood for years, and now that she’s at the top, there’s definitely some ego involved in all this.”
“Yellowstone” returns to Paramount on Sunday, November 10 at 8pm ET.
(TagstoTranslate)TV(T)Entertainment(T)Kevin Costner(T)Paramount(T)Taylor Sheridan(T)Television
