One of the most popular television shows in America returns today, but there’s a catch

On By Littum

Updated 11/11/2024 — See update below.

It’s been almost two years since the wildly popular modern western drama Yellowstone last sent an episode. Season 5, Part 1 ended with its 7th episode in December 2022. Episode 8 is out today.

It’s a long horrible wait, y’all. I’m allowed to write those kinds of sentences because I’m from the place where this show takes place: Bozeman, Montana, born and raised. This is where I rode my first horse, although I didn’t do any bronc riding and I can’t lasso to save my life. I can hit the side of a barn with a rifle, but I’m no John Dutton.

In fact, “no John Dutton”. speaking of because Kevin Costner will not appear in this half-season of the series. The movie star and creator of the show had a very heated dispute with mega-producer Taylor Sheridan over how long he should be on set. Costner was – and still is – in the process of making his epic four-part western series Horizon: An American Saga, and his attention was too divided to remain a part of Yellowstone melodrama.

(I rather liked Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, and I’m excited to see Chapter 2 later this year).

In any case, the story of the Dutton family continues on Paramount Network tonight at 8 PM ET and 10 PM ET on CBS (a special broadcast).

The big “catch” in the title of this post is that this is the only way to see unless you wait for the streaming release on Peacock months later. That’s not quite right. You can too buy the season on Prime Video and watch episodes online faster. But the only way to keep up with Beth (Kelly Reilly), Rip (Cole Hauser), Kayce (Luke Grimes), Monica (Kelsey Asbille), Jamie (Wes Bentley), Jimmy (Jefferson White) and all the rest of the scattered cast of cowboys and their antagonists, must have traditional cable television.

Are you watching? Yellowstone still? I know a lot of fans have been unhappy with the show’s trajectory over the last few seasons, but it’s still a wildly popular soap opera (I call it a soap opera, just like I considered Sons of Anarchy to be a soap opera, but you may disagree). Let me hear your thoughts on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also, be sure to subscribe my YouTube channel and follow me here on the blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more entertainment and culture reviews and commentary.

For more shows and movies out this weekend, check out my weekend streaming guide. Netflix also just dropped the final season of one of its best shows, though it’s about as different from Yellowstone that you can get.

Update 11.11.24

Spoilers for Season 5, Part 2 ahead.

I thought I’d take a look at reviews of the fifth season of Yellowstone, and interestingly, 84% of critics give it a “Fresh” rating, while only 41% of viewers dowhich makes it rotten on the Popcorn meter. On reddit and social media, people are deeply unhappy about one thing in particular: the death of John Dutton.

As mentioned above, Costner wanted out, so Sheridan wrote him out of the show in perhaps the most absurd way imaginable: By having him shoot and kill himself. As many commentators note, there is no way Dutton kills himself. It is so far out of character that it is beyond all plausibility.

“John Dutton was a great character and despite the Kevin Costner drama he deserved a better farewell than Yellowstone gave him,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “Yellowstone has its first episode without Kevin Costner and they already ruined it in the first 5 minutes,” said another.

It’s possible that the shooting wasn’t a suicide, and that we’ll find out that Dutton was murdered, but it certainly feels like Sheridan could have given Dutton a more peaceful end — a heart attack, for example.

Many fans blame Sheridan for the mess. “I didn’t realize how completely the John Dutton character WAS the show until this episode,” one fan wrote on reddit. “As much as any family that seems to collapse when it’s matriarch or patriarch dies. Sometimes a strong child or grandchild lifts everyone up from the ashes and sometimes the family never recovers. But either Taylor or Kevin rocked us with 5B. My guess is that arrogant megalomaniac Taylor ruined his own series with this sh*tshow. Will never be invested in another Sheridan series.”

I’ll be honest, it makes me even less interested in finishing season 5. I’m only a few episodes behind, but knowing that John Dutton may have killed himself has drained any enthusiasm I had for getting back into the show. What a shame.

Have you seen the latest episode? What are your thoughts? Let me know Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also, be sure to subscribe my YouTube channel and follow me here on the blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more entertainment and culture reviews and commentary.