‘Yellowstone’ is back! Here’s what we finally learned about John Dutton’s fate
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‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Recaps
“Yellowstone” is back, and it’s bigger than ever. Check here for episode recaps throughout season 5.
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The fate of John Dutton has finally been revealed after Kevin Costner’s much publicized exit from “Yellowstone.”
Two years to the day after Season 5 began, the Paramount Network series returned Sunday with new episodes that will presumably wrap up the series as a whole. Audiences can expect six episodes total in what Paramount is calling “Season 5B.”
Brayden Garcia, Star-Telegram reporter who covers all things in the Taylor Sheridan universe:
A calm blue sky opened “Desire Is All You Need,” followed by old ranch hand Lloyd taking a somber morning walk. Does Lloyd have a spider-sense for his old friend?
Beth arrives at the Governor’s Mansion to find it swarmed by police and yellow crime scene tape. Everyone is mum on what’s going on inside the house, much to Beth’s frustration.
She does find some nugget information in a crying Clara, the governor’s assistant, who mouths, “I’m sorry” to Beth. About this time, Kayce rolls up the scene and the pair of siblings skip past police and go inside.
Upstairs Kayce finds a blood-splatted bathroom, handgun on the floor and a corpse – John Dutton. Beth goes in for her own look and the two Dutton siblings appear shellshocked.
A television news report says that Dutton’s death came on the first day of the governor’s impeachment trial. Impeachment, what? In case you forgot, the final episode of season 5A showed Jamie calling for his father’s impeachment as the Dutton Civil War reached a boiling point.
After watching the report, Jamie gets a call saying John died at 3:53 a.m. by suicide. Sen. Lynelle Perry enters the frame and Jamie tells her about the death, but she urges him not to reveal the cause in his forthcoming press conference.
Beth and Kayce listen to Jamie’s speech over the radio, before pulling over on the side of the road. An enraged Beth says Jamie had John killed, then calls Rip about the news prompting him to leave Texas and head home.
Bring on the title sequence.
Ryan J. Rusak, Opinion editor: Fans have long wondered how the short remaining season will wrap up so many loose ends. Will we see Costner at all? What will be the fate of the ranch? What comes of the Broken Rock Indian Reservation? Of Rip and Beth, and Kayce and Monica?
But after the first chunk of the show, all we really wanted to know was: How did John Dutton really die?
Beth’s reaction was classic. Rather than shock or grief, she is consumed by anger and vengeance. She’s immediately convinced that Jamie was behind the shooting.
SIX WEEKS EARLIER
Brayden: After the electric opening, we take a step back six weeks earlier to see what the gang is up to prior to John’s death.
Rip and his fellow Yellowstone ranch hands are on their way to the Four Sixes Ranch in Texas. Beth is seen doing her community service for her disorderly contact charge (Remember when she bashed that woman over the head with a bottle?).
The next check-in with the Dutton family sees Kayce, Monica and Tate exploring an empty house on the ranch. The trio approve of their new digs and plan to move in.
Market Equities lawyer Sarah Atwood enters a dark windowless room where she discusses plans on how John should be executed. Sarah gives the OK on the hit, which will be made to look like suicide.
Rip and crew finally reach the Four Sixes to work the cattle they sent down from Montana. In an all-too-short reunion with former Yellowstone cowboy Jimmy, the boys from up north are still cracking jokes at his expense.
Mo and Rainwater arrive at a lake and look over plans for the proposed pipeline that will go under it. The two men ponder if/when the pipeline will burst and poison the reservation’s water supply.
After that short scene, we’re with Rip at an old metal shop in Pampa, Texas. An older gentleman played by real-life spurmaker Billy Klapper gives Rip a pair of one-of-a-kind spurs.
We’re now back in the current timeline, as a somber Jamie arrives home and finds Sarah in her skivvies with champagne classes.
Jamie learns that Sarah put out the hit after the two discussed the possibility. Sarah tells Jamie to stop crying for a father who didn’t love or support him.
The final scene of the episode is Beth and Kayce back at the ranch going over the family trust. Kayce becomes the executor, while his son, Tate, is the beneficiary.
Beth again cries that it’s all Jamie’s fault and encourages Kayce to call state police for the camera footage. Kayce does so and finds out the power went out at 3:50 a.m., John’s time of death was at 3:53 a.m. and the power was restored by 5:18 a.m.
After the call, a vehicle is heard approaching and it’s Rip returning home from Texas. Our final shot of the episode is Beth running into Rip’s arms and the two falling to the ground in sadness.
Ryan: Not gonna lie, after almost two years without “Yellowstone,” this was a pretty subdued return. Under normal circumstances, the death of the main character and learning that his son (or at least his son’s girlfriend) were responsible would have been a gut punch. But much of that was foreshadowed by the show and Costner’s departure.
At least, after the long wait, we know there’s a ton of drama yet to come.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS ON EPISODE 9:
When Beth is picking up trash for community service, the man overseeing the group is played by W. Earl Brown. Brown is a working character actor, who I remember best from playing Kenny the cameraman in 1996’s “Scream.”
Walker gives a speech about the land they’re standing on in Texas being the same that Comanche leader Quanah Parker roamed. Earlier this year, it was announced that Taylor Sheridan is working on a movie based on Parker’s life.
Trailers for Sheridan’s other Paramount series made appearances during this episode’s commercial break. I counted two for “Landman,” two for “Lioness” and one for “1923.”
From Ryan:
In previous recaps, I expressed some frustration with the show’s completely unrealistic portrayal of politics. So, it was nice to see that the governor does actually use the Governor’s Mansion.
But a minor nit to pick: Pretty sure that if the governor was murdered, the head of the state police would be the person Kayce would call, not a random detective assigned to the case.
W. Earl Brown: Well spotted, Brayden! I couldn’t place him. His greatest role, of course, was on “Deadwood” as Al Swearengen’s violent henchman, Dan Dority.
A rest-stop scene during the flashback perfectly showed the two sides of Rip. He gently teaches a young boy how to approach a horse. But then he torches a couple that wants a picture with the horse, as if their mere act of asking is an insult to his way of life.
Line of the night: There were plenty of options for this one. Most people will love Rip’s reaction to the young couple at the rest stop. But remember, Yellowstone is an elegy for a disappearing way of life. So, for me, the more poignant moment comes when Rip shows a Four Sixes cowboy the old-fashioned spurs he picked up from the local craftsman. The cowboy responds: “When he’s gone, we’re all out of legends — with nobody trying to be the next one.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2024 at 5:28 AM.
