Despite being able to continue after he left, Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone ending proves that Kevin Costner still has the last laugh. Playing the Dutton family patriarch, John III, the veteran actor was at the forefront of the Neo-Western hit on Paramount+. Yellowstone is technically an ensemble, with compelling stories for Beth, Kayce, and Jamie, as well as the rest of the ranch. However, it was clear from the get-go that Costner was going to be its face, which made sense, considering his star power. That was until he left the project following a lengthy hiatus.

Costner’s exit from Yellowstone was for several reasons. None of the involved parties have really sat down and talked about it extensively, but according to reports, one of the main reasons for the actor’s decision to walk away from the show is creative friction with Sheridan. At one point during the show’s extended break, there were hopes that a middle ground would be reached, but that didn’t happen. Ultimately, Sheridan found a way to explain his main star’s absence by kicking off Yellowstone season 5, part 2 with the murder of John III.

Yellowstone Was Forced To End Because Of Kevin Costner’s Exit
Sheridan Had Long Decided On Yellowstone’s Ending
Kevin Costner as John Dutton looking intensely at something in Yellowstone
John’s murder set the final stories of the rest of the Duttons in motion. Considering Costner permanently leaving Yellowstone, Sheridan didn’t really have a choice but to give his character a definitive farewell. As subsequently revealed, however, John’s death was always going to be a precursor to the show’s ending. Sheridan had long decided how the Dutton ranch’s story would end, and Costner’s exit only fast-tracked Yellowstone’s send-off. This means that if the actor opted to stay in the series, the hit Neo-Western hit would likely have continued.

That being said, John’s funeral taking up a significant screentime of the Yellowstone finale shows that the narrative lives and dies with Costner and his character.

Paramount+ and Sheridan moving beyond season 5 isn’t difficult to imagine, considering how popular Yellowstone continues to be. This is evidenced by the upcoming sequel spinoff for Beth and Rip, which is essentially a follow-up to the flagship series, only this time, it’s more focused on them. Admittedly, because of the limited remaining episodes, the Dutton patriarch’s death wasn’t as explored as in-depth as possible. That being said, John’s funeral taking up a significant screentime of the Yellowstone finale shows that the narrative lives and dies with Costner and his character.

Why Yellowstone Couldn’t Continue Much Longer After Kevin Costner Left
John III’s Kids Were Leading Separate Lives
When Yellowstone season 5, part 2 returned, it only had 6 episodes left to tie all the lingering storylines for a satisfying ending. It felt rushed at times, but doing another full season of the show without John III also didn’t seem like the right decision. Without the Dutton family patriarch, the core of the show is lost. All of John III’s kids were living quite separate lives. Granted that Beth and Jamie had a collective arc, but it was adversarial.

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Yellowstone stars Kevin Costner and centers on his character John Dutton. Dutton and his family live on a cattle ranch just a few hours away from Yellowstone National Park. The series chronicles the family’s struggle to defend their home from an Indian reservation and land developers. As if their life wasn’t complicated enough, the Duttons also have medical issues, political aspirations, and family secrets stacked against them.
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