As sad as it is, Yellowstone didn’t have any choice but to kill Kevin Costner’s John Dutton III. Taylor Sheridan’s popular Neo-Western series is back on Paramount Network following an extended hiatus.
This time, Yellowstone season 5 continues the story of the Dutton family as they deal with external threats to their ranch and power, while also handling internal conflicts.
Throughout its run, Costner’s John was at the forefront of its storytelling, but after the actor’s exit, Sheridan had to immediately address his character’s absence in future episodes.
Costner’s unexpected departure from Yellowstone was due to several factors. For starters, its lengthy filming schedule hampered the actor from devoting time to his other passion projects, particularly, Horizon: An American Saga.
Secondly, there were also reports about pay disputes, which supposedly delayed, and ultimately, failed, the contract negotiations.
There were also claims that there was a rift between Costner and Sheridan in terms of the creative direction of Yellowstone.
All of these elements ended up prompting the actor to exit the series, leaving the project with the daunting task of writing out John Dutton III.
Instead of prolonging the mystery about the character’s fate, Yellowstone season 5, episode 9, “All You Need Is Desire,” immediately addresses the narrative conundrum with the revelation that John is dead.
The outing doesn’t show his body, but it effectively establishes that he was killed by a gunshot wound.
Beth and Kayce rush to their father’s side, as his body is found. Meanwhile, Jamie is tasked with announcing the tragedy. However, instead of actually waiting for a proper investigation, he claims that John died by suicide.
There’s a good discussion to be had about how uncharacteristic it is for John to kill himself, considering everything that he has gone through during the events of Yellowstone.
Admittedly, it’s such a gory way to wrap up the character’s storyline. There’s a good discussion to be had about how uncharacteristic it is for John to kill himself, considering everything that he has gone through during the events of Yellowstone.
It’s worth noting that the jury is still out if the Dutton patriarch really ended his life. However, regardless of the specifics, John’s death was inevitable, especially based on what he meant to the show.
On the heels of Yellowstone season 5, episode 9, there has been some pushback about the way Costner’s character was written out of the series.
Since there was no clear set-up for John’s death in “All You Need Is Desire,” Sheridan could have found other ways to explain his absence.
He could have left the ranch for business or even on vacation — two stories that don’t demand another tragedy for the Duttons.
While this is the case, these or any other explanation for John not being on the ranch would feel like a cop-out.
For starters, it would be very difficult to sell the idea that John would intentionally leave the ranch for pleasure.
He was fearless in protecting it, considering his relationship with his father, and given all the chaos that had been happening before his demise, leaving would be more uncharacteristic for him.
Secondly, he already had Rip to take care of the out-of-town business, which would just raise more questions about his seemingly unexpected trip.
Since Costner is officially done with Yellowstone, going this route means that the series will never be able to fully provide an answer to his whereabouts.
Finally, keeping the door open for John’s return, knowing that Costner would never be part of the Yellowstone cast again, would just have set up a more difficult situation for the show moving forward.
The remainder of its storytelling would have been hampered by questions about the Dutton patriarch’s whereabouts.
This would have made it difficult for Sheridan to shift the focus on the fates of the remaining characters, which is very important if reports about the show continuing past this season turn out to be true.
