Why John Dutton’s fate in Yellowstone is so divisive (did Kevin Costner’s character deserve better?)

Warning: Major spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 9, “Desire Is All You Need”

yellow stone has finally revealed the fate of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton – and it’s been predictably divisive. Kevin Costner’s departure from yellow stone It came as a huge shock when the news broke in May 2023. The actor left the hit series to set up his planned four-part Western saga Horizonand many wondered how exactly this would deal with the absence of Costner’s character. Now, yellow stone Season 5, part 2 revealed that Costner’s Dutton died off-screen due to an apparent suicide.

In truth, this revelation shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as it would have been nearly impossible to logically explain Dutton’s absence until later in the season. Furthermore, it became clear that Costner would not return to yellow stoneBut it’s not so much Dutton’s death that’s causing problems – it’s the path this happened. Fans quickly took to social media to express their disappointment, while Costner himself weighed in on the matter (via SiriusXM The Michael Smerconish Program), stating the manner in which Dutton was killed “… Don’t make me want to run to see.”

How John Dutton died is very divisive

This isn’t how anyone imagined John Dutton’s end

Yellowstone “Desire Is All You Need” wastes little time establishing Dutton’s death, with her children Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) rushing to John’s house to find it raided by police. Up there, Kayce and Beth find John’s corpse (although his face is never shown), with the evidence pointing to Dutton taking his own life with a pistol. Dutton was an imposing figure in Taylor Sheridan’s story yellow stone universe and had already survived several assassination attempts, so some audiences hated the implication that Dutton would kill himself.

Many of these visceral and negative responses seem to have emerged soon after the revelation, however. Beth doesn’t believe her father would end his own life, even with the upcoming impeachment trial as governor. “Desire Is All You Need” soon makes it clear that Yellowstone the late patriarch was actually murdered, and Jaime’s (Wes Bentley) lover/lawyer, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), is primarily responsible for the murder. Following the conversation about killing John in yellow stone In the mid-season 5 finale, Sarah actually met with a mysterious organization to arrange John’s demise.

This group tells Sarah that a suicide was the “cleaner“option available to them, although John’s death will only lead Beth, Kayce and Rip (Cole Hauser) to take Jamie down for good. Leaving aside the furious initial response to John’s death, ‘Desire Is All You Need’ makes it clear that he was murdered, with the ending seeing Jamie consumed by guilt over his role in his ‘father’s’ death.

Killing John Dutton so early is a bold and risky move

Yellowstone ripped off the Band-Aid early

There was much speculation about how yellow stone would deal with Costner’s departure, or whether it would be possible to leave the door open for his possible return. Creator Taylor Sheridan took a very pragmatic approach, making it clear from the opening minutes of “Desire Is All You Need” that Dutton was gone and never returning. In this way, it is immediately apparent that Beth, Rip and Kayce will become the central focus of the yellow stoneand revenge for John’s murder will be the engine that drives the second half of the season.

Killing off John so abruptly is a gamble, and again, it’s no surprise that some fans responded so negatively. An alternative would have been for the episode to reveal Dutton’s fate, perhaps using archival footage of Costner to keep him present in the show, until he dies at the end or even in a later episode. Opening the second half of Season 5 with John dead is a blunt – but effective – solution. to the problem.

Works on Yellowstone favor because the audience feels the same sudden loss as Beth and the others. They spend the first episode reeling, and while the next few episodes will likely cover Dutton’s grief and funeral, it won’t be long before they focus their attention on Jamie’s destruction.

Kevin Costner’s departure was always going to be difficult for Yellowstone to deal with

Yellowstone chose the best bad option to deal with the John Dutton problem

There were several options on the table for dealing with the Costner situation. yellow stone exit. For example, Season 5 could give some excuse to explain his absence, like John falling into a coma or being called away from the ranch. However, without a reasonable chance of Costner returning for a future series, these options would have only delayed the inevitable.

The only realistic choice was to kill off the character, although without Costner returning to film a proper exit, that would have to be dealt with off-screen as well. Many theories have been proposed for the character’s exit – such as John’s death in his special place in Yellowstone Ranch – but the show choosing to make the reveal so early at least redirects the story to its other characters. John’s death and legacy will still play an important role yellow stone moving forwardand Sheridan chose the best option from a selection of bad options on how to approach John’s departure.

Kevin Costner was Yellowstone’s biggest attraction for a long time

Yellowstone’s success can be attributed to Costner’s involvement

There was a brief period when Sheridan wanted Robert Redford to yellow stonebut despite the veteran actor being genuinely interested, the network turned down the idea. While Costner’s stardom may have faded since his heyday in the 1990s, he’s still a screen legend, so he agreed to lead yellow stone it was a big deal. Kevin Costner’s Western films, such as Dancing with wolves or Open Range it also made him an icon of the genre and gave the series a lot of credibility.

No matter how soapy or outrageous yellow stone could be, Costner has always been a dignified and grounded presence in this. That said, with yellow stone spin-offs like 1883 and 1923 By increasingly expanding the scope of the series, it became clear that the show could survive Costner’s departure. Still, killing John Dutton before the end of yellow stone It’s a huge loss – and clearly never the original plan. It’s difficult to say what the long-term impact of this early exit will be, but Dutton’s death certainly starts the new season on a sad note.

Could Yellowstone have handled John Dutton’s fate better?

Should John Dutton have gone down swinging?

The death of John Dutton in Yellowstone ‘Desire Is All You Need’ Will Likely Remain Divisiveeven though producers had few other options available. Perhaps it’s the idea that the seemingly indestructible Dutton was taken down so easily that bothers some devotees. If the series had suggested that John was the victim of a home invasion and was shot to death fighting with the intruders, perhaps this would have worked better.

If there was even a faint hope that Costner could be lured back, Season 5 could have opted for the delaying option of having Dutton disappear as well, with the season following Beth and the others trying to figure out what happened to him. yellow stone Season 5 is trying to move on from Dutton’s departure as tactfully as possible under the circumstances, so answering the one question every returning viewer had in advance was wise – even if it wasn’t the answer they wanted.

Source: SiriusXM’s Michael Smerconish Show