A new tease from Yellowstone star Kelly Reilly about the show’s ending makes John Dutton’s death all the more likely. Yellowstone has become an unparalleled success, with the modern-day Western from creator Taylor Sheridan having run for five seasons and produced many spinoffs. It certainly helped Yellowstone in its early years that it had a genuine movie icon in Kevin Costner, who plays Dutton family patriarch John. Despite the show’s success, behind-the-scenes issues between Sheridan and Costner and the latter’s focus on directing his multi-part film project Horizon led him to announce his exit from Yellowstone.
Hence, the upcoming Yellowstone season 5 part 2 will be the end of the main series, though a sequel series (which may or may not star Matthew McConaughey) is in the works. In truth, thanks to Yellowstone’s many spinoffs, the universe has grown much bigger than Costner, and it will continue to expand after he leaves. The second part of Yellowstone season 5 appears to be in limbo, as no filming dates have been confirmed and there’s no commitment from Costner that he’ll even return to film new scenes.
Yellowstone Season 5 Having An Unhappy Ending Makes John Dutton Dying More Likely
Assuming the star does return for Yellowstone’s final season, it’s almost certain that John Dutton will die before it ends. In a sense, that’s the ending Yellowstone has been building towards for years, and a prophecy stated in prequel series 1883 foretold that the Duttons would lose the land after seven generations. In an Insider interview with Beth Dutton actor Kelly Reilly, she stated she didn’t know how Yellowstone season 5 would end but that while it “… will probably be beautiful and epic,” she wasn’t sure it would be a “happy” one.
If John Dutton loses the Yellowstone ranch – which is looking incredibly likely despite his efforts to hold on – then the only way he’d ever leave it would be death. The ranch has been a source of great joy and sorrow to many generations of the Dutton clan, and John is utterly unwilling to let it go. Reilly’s comments once again point to the inevitability that Yellowstone will end on a bittersweet note, which shouldn’t be a shock considering the endings of most of Sheridan’s work as a writer and director are, at best, a little tragic.
Should John Dutton Die In Yellowstone Season 5?
It’s not necessarily a given that Kevin Costner’s Dutton will die in Yellowstone season 5 or that he’ll lose the land, but with the actor exiting, that feels like an outcome that’s hard to avoid. Assuming the Dutton family still has Yellowstone in the planned sequel show, it would be hard to work around Costner’s absence, particularly if it runs for multiple seasons. Dramatically, it feels right that John Dutton dies before Yellowstone ends. The ranch is where his son and father died, and if the character must exit, dying on the land feels like the most poetic way to do it.