Taylor Sheridan’s Final Image of Kevin Costner in 'Yellowstone' Feels Like a Lasting 'Screw You'

Season 5B of Yellowstone finally premiered last night after an eventful two-year off-screen hiatus, marked by the writers’ strike, Kevin Costner’s exit, and ongoing uncertainty about the series’ future. With Costner’s departure, Yellowstone loses its lead character, even though his screen time had already diminished.

Spoilers

So, how did he die? By the end of the first episode, it’s clear. The episode opens with Beth (Kelly Reilly) approaching the Governor’s Mansion, sealed off with crime tape. We soon learn that Governor Dutton is dead, giving Kelly Reilly two scenes to sob with the intensity of an actor who never met a scene she couldn’t chew to paste.

Despite the death of a major character, surprisingly little else happens in the episode. We flash back six weeks to Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) leading half the Yellowstone ranch crew to the 6666 ranch in Texas, reuniting with Jimmy (Jefferson White). There’s plenty of emo ranching as Rip laments the loss of a certain way of life, a recurring theme in the series.

After six weeks, Beth calls Rip back home because his father has died. Instead of flying from Texas to Montana like a normal person, Rip drives 1500 miles, and upon arrival, Beth breaks out into another one of those crying jags and nearly chews the scenery (and Rip’s face) clean off.

In the midst of these flashbacks, we learn Dutton’s death was not a suicide, as officially reported. Beth immediately suspects Jamie (Wes Bentley), and she’s not entirely wrong. Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) — a lawyer representing corporate interests bent on erasing that way of life — collaborated with Jamie, both politically and sexually, convincing him to allow John Dutton to be assassinated and framed as a suicide. Jamie didn’t expect Sarah to follow through and is heartbroken over his father’s death, but that doesn’t absolve him of responsibility.

It’s remarkable how much Taylor Sheridan appears to dislike Jamie’s character—a sentiment apparent since the beginning. Despite various evils perpetrated by the other Duttons, Jamie is consistently depicted as a sniveling suit, lacking his family’s fortitude, and even his girlfriend is a ballbusting vixen constantly emasculating Jamie.

Considering Sheridan’s fondness for a certain kind of quiet, rugged masculinity embodied by characters like Rip and John Dutton, the ending also feels like a final jab at Kevin Costner, not in how Sheridan wrote him out but in the lasting image of his character: weak, old, in his undershirt and boxers, dead on a bathroom floor. Costner’s character doesn’t get the dignified send-off of a tough, old cowboy with quiet strength.

That’s cold, Sheridan. RIP John Dutton.

What remains of the series appears to be a feud between Beth, Kayce, and Rip against Jamie and Sarah. The latter two likely will not survive to see a potential spin-off.