How ‘Yellowstone’ Said a Disturbing Goodbye to Kevin Costner’s Character John Dutton

Thank you for your service, John Dutton. In the first episode of the second half of “Yellowstone” Season 5, it was revealed that the Dutton family patriarch, played by Kevin Costner, was killed after a fatal gunshot wound in the bathroom of the Montana governor’s mansion. Although you see the bloodied body of an older man at the crime scene, Costner’s face is not seen.

Dutton’s children Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) have raced over when John is late to the first day of his impeachment tribunal, which was instigated by his opportunistic son Jamie (Wes Bentley). Beth immediately blames their father’s death on Jamie, but Kayce can not fathom that he would have anything to do with it.

Meanwhile, Jamie, who had previously discussed having Beth killed by a hitman with his lover and fixer Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) on the most recent episode of “Yellowstone”, gets a mysterious call from someone who sounds like they are confirming a successful hit on John using coded language. Jamie then calls a tearful press conference where, in his duty as Montana attorney general, he announces that John was found dead by suicide.

This revelation stuns Beth and Kayce, who are driving back to the Yellowstone ranch to regroup as they hear the announcement, and they are in disbelief that their father would ever commit suicide.

Clearly, this mystery will be central to the back half of Season 5. Costner has been on “Yellowstone” from the beginning of the series, but rumors that he would depart the show after the first half of Season 5 started in February 2023, as Costner was worried that the show’s shooting schedule conflicted with the shooting of his film series “Horizon”. By June 2024, Costner ruled out a return to the show.

Meanwhile, the first film in the “Horizon” saga debuted in theaters in June 2024 and was a box office bomb, and the second chapter was removed from its original theatrical release date. Despite being off the show, Costner is still the first cast member named in the opening credits, and appears in the end credits in his capacity as an executive producer. You can watch “Yellowstone” on Netflix.