Yellowstone Fans Divided Over Gruesome End of Kevin Costner’s Character—And Death of This Major Player
Week after Yellowstone's final season revealed Kevin Costner's John Dutton was murdered, the show confirmed his cause of death as another major character met a grisly fate.
Yellowstone’s highly anticipated final season has received mixed reviews from viewers.
During the Nov. 24 episode, the real cause of death for Kevin Costner’s John Dutton was revealed as another major charater was killed off, leaving fans both on the edge of their seats and up in arms.
Though John’s death was initially made to look like a suicide during the season five, part two premiere, the Montana rancher actually was killed courtesy of a group of hitmen hired by Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri)—the woman his son Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) is currently seeing.
As for how they staged the death, a flashback scene showed John being grabbed by soldiers dressed in black, who inject something into his foot to kill him. When police arrive to the governor’s mansion and find his body, however, the soldiers are gone.
While this is happening, John’s other two kids Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) have gut feelings that something is wrong and later are convinced that Jamie was involved in their father’s death.
And after Kayce met with the medical examiner, he determined that John’s death was not a suicide but rather a homicide.
But that wasn’t even the most shocking moment from the episode. In a twist, Sarah was shot and killed by two assassins posing as drivers asking for directions while she’s on the phone with Jamie.
ParamountThe intense twists left fans divided on the internet as they tried to make sense of one of the western drama’s final episodes.
“I really want these final six episodes of #Yellowstone to bring the series to a worthy conclusion,” one X user wrote, “but after two of them I’m officially concerned they’ve lost their way. Anyone else?”
Another viewer noted how disruptive they found the flashback scenes, adding, “Dear Yellowstone writers, all of this jumping around between characters and time jumping has got me beyond confused and not enjoying the show. Please stop.”
And one X user added that the assassination scene left them scarred, writing, “This scene made me afraid to ever give someone directions again. #YellowstoneTV #Yellowstone #driving.”
YellowstoneCostner previously shared his reaction to the news that John Dutton had died, prior to the reveal that it was a homicide instead of a suicide.
“Fans have a voice in things and they choose to follow stuff,” he told E! News on Nov. 17. “I suggested a while back ways to do it. I’m not gonna exactly say it now. Who am I? They do what they want to do. That’s fine with me.”
Yellowstone airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount and has three episodes remaining to close out its final season.
Keep reading to see other characters’ fates that shocked audiences everywhere…
Paramount NetworkKevin Costner, Yellowstone
More than a year after the actor was rumored to have unexpectedly walked away from the hit Paramount drama after four and a half seasons, he confirmed in June 2024 that he will not return to finish out the series’ fifth and final season.
