Posted in: Paramount+, TV | Tagged: taylor sheridan, yellowstone

Yellowstone Reveals Fate of Kevin Costner's John Dutton (SPOILERS)

Taylor Sheridan and John Linson's Yellowstone wasted little time revealing the fate of Kevin Costner's John Dutton during tonight's return.

Heading into the "final" run of episodes of Taylor Sheridan and John Linson's Yellowstone, it wasn't a mystery that Kevin Costner's John Dutton wasn't going to be a physical presence in Season 5B – but how were they going to explain his absence? Tonight's return episode, "Desire Is All You Need" (directed by Christina Alexandra Voros and written by Sheridan), wasted no time offering an answer – so at this point, we're throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and dropping an image spoiler buffer before we get into the details…

After not appearing for the first day of his impeachment trial, we learn that Dutton's body was found in the bathroom of the Montana governor's mansion – an apparent victim of a fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound. Beth (Kelly Reilly) arrives on the scene first, followed by Kayce (Luke Grimes). Though Kayce can't see him having anything to do with it, Beth is certain that Jamie (Wes Bentley) was responsible – not surprising, considering Beth and Dutton vowed to kill Jamie and vice-versa heading into the midseason break. We're going to stop the spoilers there, but let's just say there's some question as to how much involvement Jamie and/or Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) had – but let's just say that not a lot of folks on Dutton's side are buying suicide.

Yellowstone Season 5B: So What About John Dutton?

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, director Christina Voros – who is helming four of the six "final" chapters, revealed that John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) "presence is integral" to where the series is heading while also making sure to stay in a spoiler-safe zone. "I think to say any more than that would potentially compromise all the work that went into redacting the scripts! [Laughs] But I think the reason people are wondering, 'Is he, isn't he? Where is he, where is he not?' is because he is the patriarch, and his presence is an essential component of the story. John Dutton is still central."

In terms of how Sheridan handled adjusting the timeline of ending John Dutton's story in light of Costner's departure, Voros shared that it was a "joy" being able to see how Sheridan works and being able to bring those words to life. "It made me feel really lucky to get to direct it. Taylor always has a sense of where something is going to end and the joy is watching him find how we get there," the director explained. "So all I can say is when I read the scripts, I felt tremendously grateful to be a part of telling this chapter in the story."

Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios and distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution, Paramount Network's Yellowstone is executive-produced by Sheridan, Linson, Costner, Art Linson, David C. Glasser, Bob Yari, Stephen Kay, Michael Friedman, Christina Voros, and Keith Cox.

If you or anyone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.

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