Yellowstone has been plagued with drama and rumors for the past several months. Millions are anticipating the premiere of Season 5 Part 2, especially since we got word that the show is ending for good. But what’s actually in store for the Duttons?
A quick refresher: Jamie Dutton had just thrown down the gauntlet against his sister Beth Dutton and father John Dutton in a move that would usher in an all-out war between the family members. Will Jamie kill Beth? Or will John kill Jamie first? Those were the high-stakes questions viewers are still waiting to receive answers to.
Before we could find out, however, the fate of the Duttons was put on hold – and no one knows for how long.
Behind the scenes, a scheduling dispute with patriarch Kevin Costner significantly delayed production. The cast and crew had been planning to resume filming in March with an announced summer premiere date, but those dates came and went. In early May, it was announced the show was going back into production, but that the remaining episodes, which would now launch in November, would mark the end of the original Dutton drama. A new spinoff with Matthew McConaughey is in the works, slated to debut in December.
The announcement came just days after the May 2 writers strike, that effectively shut down Hollywood productions and grinding U.S.-produced series to a halt.
With the final episodes of Yellowstone still TBD, here’s everything we know about what’s to come:
When Will the Final Episodes Air?
Most likely, sometime in 2024. The ongoing strikes are predicted to be lengthy, with expectations that the work stoppage could continue into the fall. Yellowstone had not begun production before the strike was called, and the scripts from Taylor Sheridan, who writes the entire series, were not yet complete. The show typically shoots from April to October, but if the strikes aren’t resolved soon enough, winter could delay the season even longer.
Where Does the Cast Stand?
Months before the writers strike was called, reports of Costner wanting to exit the series sent a jolt through the Yellowstone universe. How could TV’s biggest show continue without its lead?
Fast forward over the months to follow: Costner was staying, then he was leaving to focus on his own Western epic, Horizon. Sheridan hinted that John Dutton was never going to be around for the very end of the show in his original script, “I’m disappointed. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
How Many Episodes Will There Be?
Although it’s been speculated the final run will have six episodes, an official episode count also has yet to be revealed. “If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10,” Sheridan says. “It’ll be as long as it needs to be.”
What Will the Final Run Be With Less John Dutton?
Yellowstone has built a sprawling cast of characters whom viewers have come to know and root for across the show’s five seasons. While the biggest storyline when the show left off was indeed centered around the battle between Beth and Jamie — with Montana Gov. John Dutton squarely putting himself on Beth’s side — the feud certainly set up the possibility that John could be quickly taken to the “train station.”
Wes Bentley, who plays Jamie Dutton, shared some insight, “Does Jamie go down with John? Does John go down because of Jamie? Does Jamie have a hand in it at all, or does it turn out Jamie tries to protect him? There are so many potential ways he deals with John’s ending,” he said. “We’re at a point where I think everything is possible with the Duttons. It’s so hot and combustible right now that it could blow them all up together. I think the potential for that is real. But I also know that I am always surprised by Taylor and the turns and directions. With the tension and danger right now, it potentially could be either they are all gone, or one of them survives.”
What Is the Future of the Franchise?
The Yellowstone universe isn’t going anywhere! Here are the spinoffs that are completed, in-the-works, or coming up (so far):
- 1883
- 1923, Season 1
- Bass Reeves
- 6666 Ranch featuring a storyline about Jimmy
- 1944 (speculated)
Where Will the Sequel Series Jump?
Sheridan hinted that the spinoff — which would be the first to take place after the events of Yellowstone — may lean on an entirely new cast and location. Though the spinoff is in its early stages of development, the creator hinted that his approach would be similar to that taken with the prequels, which functioned as stand-alone stories within the generational family tree. “There are lots of places where a way of life that existed for 150 years is slamming against a new way of life, but the challenges are completely different. There are a lot of places you can tell this story,” he said.
A new theory is circulating about what the final season could bring. What do you think is going to happen?