Taylor Sheridan Told Us How 'Yellowstone' Would End Three Years Ago

Spoilers

For all of Taylor Sheridan’s egregious excesses as a television writer, it’s hard to speak ill of the Yellowstone finale. Sure, it dragged on for entirely too long—riding off into the sunset shouldn’t take until dawn—but Sheridan nailed the vision he likely had for the finale from the start, one he even articulated three years ago in the finale of the prequel, 1883.

In fact, I wrote about this two years ago in a piece titled “Yellowstone Has Already Spoiled Its Ending,” which cites the 1883 finale. The Yellowstone finale specifically called back to this earlier series through Ella Dutton’s (Isabel May) narration, mirroring her role in the prequel. As I wrote in that piece, it all ties back to a conversation in the 1883 finale between Spotted Eagle and James Dutton:

“The land will eventually end up in the hands of its original owners, Native Americans. Recall what Spotted Eagle, a Crow elder, told James Dutton in the final episode of 1883 after directing him toward the land that would become Yellowstone: ‘After seven generations, my people will rise up and take it back from you.’

‘In seven generations, you can have it,’ James Dutton tells him.”

And so it goes: Kayce and Beth come up with a straightforward plan to avoid selling the ranch to developers to pay inheritance taxes. They sell it back to the Native Americans for next to nothing, with Chief Rainwater pledging to conserve the land forever. The only condition? Deed a small parcel back to Kayce and Monica so they can continue ranching. Meanwhile, Beth buys a ranch near Dillon so she and Rip can live out their days working the land (and starring in the inevitable Beth-and-Rip spinoff).

As far as the land’s disposition goes, it’s hard to argue with that ending. It all comes full circle: the Natives effectively entrusted the Dutton family to watch over the land for seven generations, and the Duttons ultimately gave it back. Everyone wins — except for Jamie and the developers.

As for Jamie: as expected, Beth killed him. After John Dutton’s marathon funeral (which felt like it lasted 17 hours), Beth drove to Jamie’s house, knowing Rip would follow her. She baited Jamie into a physical fight, where he beat her savagely and tried to strangle her. Rip arrived just in time to save her, and Beth stabbed Jamie to death. Rip buried him at the infamous “train station” — a call back to where the Duttons bury the bodies of their enemies — and Beth told the police Jamie had tried to kill her before fleeing. She also provided enough evidence to tie him to John’s murder, so there’s no need for them to question Jamie’s decision to run.

And that’s it, aside from the cowboys: Ryan returned to an old girlfriend, now a popular country singer; Teeter joined Jimmy on the 6666 Ranch; and Lloyd stuck around, deciding whether to look for local ranch work, though there’s a standing offer from Rip to join him at his ranch with Beth.

The finale was surprisingly low-key, overly long, but ultimately restrained, closing with the perfect song: Willie Nelson’s “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.” It’s hard to top that.