Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Yellowstone season 5 part 2.
The final episodes of Yellowstone season 5 are finally within our grasp, as episode one of the season’s second half begins on November 11 — with or without Kevin Costner’s involvement.
The future of the show had been shrouded in uncertainty for some time, after it was first rumoured that family patriarch Kevin ‘John Dutton’ Costner, would not return for the final episodes.
Costner exited the show after five and a half seasons because of Paramount’s choice to split Season five into two parts.
At the time, the actor said the filming decision created a scheduling conflict that interfered with his work on Horizon: An American Saga.
However, since then, the star has expressed his interest in returning to “Yellowstone” and closing out his arc as the show’s patriarchal protagonist, John Dutton.
“I’ve supported that thing and I’ve loved it. It’s been really important to me. I would love to go back under the right circumstances I think that all of us want. For me, it really needs to be the right circumstances,” Costner said in June. “Saying there’s a chance, there’s always a chance. I love the thing. You’ve got to be really clear about that.”
The questions surrounding Kevin Costner’s ‘would he or wouldn’t he’ involvement in the second half of the season had remained purely speculative, that was, until the first episode dropped and we were given quite the resounding answer.
So what does fate have in store for John Dutton, and what does this mean for the family as a whole?
Below, we share everything we know (so far) about Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2.
Where To Watch Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 In Australia
Season 5, part 2 of the cult family ranch drama is officially out, with episode one available to stream on Stan from Monday November 11, followed by weekly drops for the remaining five episodes each Monday.
Who Is Cast In Season 5 Of Yellowstone?
Most of the show’s original cast is returning for the second half of the season, despite the first half premiering in early 2023. Fan favourites including Kelly Reilly as Beth Dutton, Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, Wes Bentley as Jamie Dutton, Kelsey Asbille as Monica Long Dutton, Cole Hauser as Rip Wheeler, and Gil Birmingham as Chief Thomas Rainwater.
Is Kevin Costner in Season 5 Part 2 of Yellowstone?
***CAUTION SPOILERS FOR PART 2 EPISODE ONE AHEAD***
While we knew that the fate of Kevin Costner’s character, John Dutton, hung in limbo for the last 18-months, we certainly didn’t expect to get our answer quite as soon as this.
As episode one aired, viewers were shocked to see that powerhouse rancher John Dutton was indeed dead. While we aren’t shown his body directly, we do see a limp corpse lying next to a gun, in what appears to be a case of suicide.
But after the late rancher’s daughter Beth (played by Kelly Reilly), and her brother Kayce (played by Luke Grimes) stumble across the scene to fits of rage and grief, viewers are thrust back in time to six weeks earlier, where it’s revealed that Sarah Atwood, the fixer girlfriend of estranged brother Jamie Dutton (played by Wes Bentley), had put a hit out on John with instructions to make it look like a suicide.
The episode ends with Beth declaring her intentions to kill Jamie in retaliation, as news of John’s death prompts her on-again, off-again husband to return to the ranch.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the episode’s director Christina Voros spoke about the process of keeping Dutton’s fate a secret from the cast.
“We didn’t talk about it as a death. Any time there is a death or some sort of event, we called it an ‘arrival.’ And we gave John’s character a pseudonym. We called him ‘Crosby.’ We were calling the opening scene, ‘Beth discovers that Crosby has arrived.’ It was on call sheets and the crew were like, ‘Who is Crosby? And, where’s he coming from?’ I did some random research: [John Schuyler] Crosby was the last governor of Montana before Montana was turned into a state, in the 1880s. It was a very random, obscure, esoteric reference [by Taylor Sheridan].”
Speaking about Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s decision to start the second half of the season with a literal bang, Voros applauded the plotline’s focus.
“I think Taylor’s decision to begin this way was incredibly brave,” says Voros. “I think it is testament to his faith in the characters and the actors who embody them to go, ‘Let’s not make this about the incident. Let’s make this about how these human beings exist in the aftermath.’ That was more interesting to [Taylor] than the incident itself.”
So what can we expect from the rest of the season? With episodes airing weekly, it’s impossible to say, but scroll on for a teaser of what’s in store, as well as long we have left with season five of the Yellowstone-verse.
How Many Episodes Will Be In Season 5 Part 2?
Initially Yellowstone creator, Taylor Sheridan had stated that he was intending to make the second half of Season 5 as long as necessary to fit the storyline. “If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10,” Sheridan said. “It’ll be as long as it needs to be.”
However, as 5B episode one has just dropped, we now know that fans will have just 6 episodes in Yellowstone season 5 part 2 to come to terms with the future of Dutton family.
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This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
