Now that Kevin Costner’s departure from “Yellowstone” is definitively confirmed, what is Taylor Sheridan, the creator of the series, planning for his character John Dutton?
It’s now official and fans will have to make up their minds: Kevin Costner will not return for the final episodes of Yellowstone, for the second part of the fifth and final season. On June 20, the actor announced on his Instagram account that he had hung up John Dutton’s stetson for good.
Make this western”was something that really changed me. I loved it and I know you loved it“, he told his subscribers on his social networks, “and I just wanted to tell you that I won’t come back“. Yellowstone season 5, part 2, is finally in production and should be broadcast for the first time on Sunday, November 10 on Paramount Network in the United States (and most likely immediately in France on Paramount+).
Given all the turmoil behind the scenes of Yellowstone, which reportedly included scheduling conflicts and requests for script approval, Kevin Costner’s departure isn’t much of a shock at this point. What may still come as a surprise, however, is how co-creator Taylor Sheridan chooses to eliminate the patriarch of the Dutton family.
In June 2023, the screenwriter told Hollywood Reporter : “I don’t do car accidents in ‘fuck you’ mode. That [ce qui arrive à John] inflates the ego [de son interprète] or the insult, it’s collateral damage that I don’t take into account when telling the story“. Here are the options that present themselves to resolve the fate of the patriarch.
- Jamie and Sarah have John murdered
At the end of the first part of season 5, Jamie (Wes Bentley) – known as the black sheep of the Dutton family – became so convinced that his twisted sister Beth (Kelly Reilly) was going to have him killed that he and his Machiavellian girlfriend Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) have hatched a plan to eliminate Beth first and with her, John.
And Sarah assured Jamie that he didn’t need to worry about being involved. Thanks to the professionalism of the company whose services she retained, “it will look like a heart attack or a car accident.“
- Another enemy tries to take down John
Given John’s knack for making enemies, it’s safe to assume that for every Malcolm Beck or Garrett Randall who ended up six feet under, there are a dozen opportunists and good-for-nothings who wouldn’t like anything to happen. more than “drive to the station” as they say in Yellowstone lingo, which means to kill him. Additionally, because John is focused on the threat that Jamie poses, he has made himself exceptionally vulnerable to any further attacks.
It would be very difficult to end the final part of season 5 with John still alive and well and never seen again. But it’s conceivable. If he spends his time playing politics in Helena (Montana’s capital), Beth could do the dirty work on the ranch. And while it seems unlikely that Kevin Costner will ever guest star in the new Yellowstone spinoff series, leaving the character still alive gives us that chance, even if it’s a slim one.
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- John’s cancer returns
In season 1, John and his family thought they had beaten cancer by having part of his colon removed. But if the operation allowed him to save time, it did not necessarily give him unlimited time. If the cancer returned, John could simply decide to isolate himself from his loved ones and avoid them witnessing his final days.
- Natural causes could lead to John’s death
He could also say that John is being overtaken by karma, as he is a powerful magnet for illness. We remember that in season 2, he suffered terribly from a perforated ulcer and that a caring veterinarian treated him. It wouldn’t really be unthinkable that the sum total of all his shots, punches and the like would catch up with him and leave him on the mat.
- Maybe not a “fuck you” car accident, but…
Accidents happen – and in Yellowstone, they happen often. The series began with a road accident that forced John to shoot a horse. And fans probably remember the accident between the pickup truck and a buffalo that caused Monica to lose the baby she was expecting with Kayce at the start of season 5. A wolf or other critter in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the governor could become yet another road casualty…
In short, we will have to wait until November to find out for sure!
