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Warning: This article contains spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 9.
Paramount’s hit drama Yellowstone is back for its final batch of episodes as part of season five, part two, and there’s one huge absence in the form of a noticeably missing Kevin Costner.
Despite playing the patriarch of the Dutton family, Costner did not return for the final episodes, but his character John Dutton did. Before we get into specifics, this is your last warning. The following paragraphs will include huge spoilers for Yellowstone season five, episode nine, so be sure to check out the new release before reading on. Okay, now that is out of the way.
John Dutton is found dead right at the start of Yellowstone’s latest episode, and as you’d expect, his death takes place off-screen without any need to bring Costner back for new scenes. We are told that his death was by suicide at first, but the reality becomes clear later in the episode it is revealed that it wasn’t his own doing.
Following the episode’s release, Costner spoke on The Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM, and shared his thoughts not-so-deep thoughts about his character’s recent reappearance (per Deadline).
“I didn’t see it,” Costner said during the show. “I heard it’s a suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it.”
Having Dutton’s story end in this way has come as a complete shock to some fans, who have taken to social media to voice their thoughts on the decision.
For what it’s worth, Costner — without even seeing the episode — correctly predicted that the death wasn’t actually a suicide, proving once again how well he knows the character he made famous.
“Well, they’re pretty smart people,” Costner said during his interview. “Maybe it’s a red herring. Who knows? They’re very good. And they’ll figure that out.”
Seeing Yellowstone without Kevin Costner marks the end of an era. Since the very beginning, he was a focal character for the series and one of its biggest stars. The actor’s departure from the series appears to have stemmed from career desires, and ultimately Costner felt it was time to move on from the series.
It isn’t clear exactly what the plans for John Dutton would have been if Costner remained a part of the cast or if they would have been any different. When speaking to People, Luke Grimes who plays Kayce Dutton in the show said that the family patriarch leaving was always in the show’s plans, so it may not have changed all that much. Given how secretive the production of this final season is said to have been, it’s impossible to know for sure whether the ending was always in the plans.
One thing we can be sure about is that this death will massively influence the choices the characters make in the final episodes. Yellowstone is well and truly back, and if you’re following along as new episodes arrive then you can check them out each Sunday at 8 pm on the Paramount Network. However, if you miss out on the broadcast, or just want to go back through the story and refresh your memory then you can stream the show on the Paramount Plus app.