Beth kills Jamie when Rainwater buys the ranch

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from “Yellowstone” season 5, episode 14, “Life Is a Promise,” which premiered Sunday, Dec. 15, on the Paramount Network.

Although the Paramount Network isn’t calling it the series finale, Sunday’s “Yellowstone” episode certainly felt like the end of the show fans have known for five seasons.

In the wake of last week’s fire sale of nearly everything at the ranch, the series’ wandering souls were left adrift.

There were some goodbyes early on as Jimmy (Jefferson White), Mia (Eden Brolin) and Travis (Taylor Sheridan) headed home to 6666 in Texas, where Teeter (Jen Landon) promised to come down in a week looking for work. Walker (Ryan Bingham) says he wants to follow his rodeo champ boyfriend around the track. Beth (Kelly Reilly) announces that she has bought a ranch outside Dillion – far from tourists and airports – so she can live with Rip (Cole Hauser). Rip offers Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) a job at their new ranch, but he declines, saying he needs to find himself.

Meanwhile, Beth and Rip prepare for the funeral of her father, John Dutton (Kevin Costner). At the same time, Kayce (Luke Grimes) tells Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) about his plan from the end of the last episode, specifically to have the Broken Rock Reservation buy Yellowstone for $1.25 an acre when it was sold to the Duttons originally.

It’s a lovely moment as Chief Rainwater and John Dutton were always the men most concerned with keeping the land pristine. And considering how their conflicts were always mild in the past, it’s a sensible partnership. Plus, Kayce makes a deal to keep his little ranch with Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Brecken Merrill), which is a sweet touch.

Cut to everyone at the ranch preparing for John’s funeral – and the metaphorical burial of Yellowstone itself. Jamie (Wes Bentley) spends the time preparing how he will launch an investigation into both John and Sarah’s (Dawn Olivieri) murders, hoping to avoid any political ramifications as discussed in the previous episode.

The funeral was elegant and small, with Beth promising retribution to John’s casket, and then Rip buried it himself, saying he would take care of Beth. Of course, immediately after, Beth tears off in her car, armed with bear spray and a big old knife.

After sneaking up on Jamie at his house, Beth and her estranged brother have a bloody fight. It appears that Jamie may choke Beth to death, only for Rip to interrupt, grab him, and free Beth to deliver a fatal stab to Jamie. Bye Jamie – your planning always kept things interesting!

Rip and Lloyd make another trip to the train station with Jamie’s body as Beth promises to cooperate with the police to tie him to both John and Sarah’s murders.

As things wind down, cowboy Ryan (Ian Bohen) apologizes to country star Abby (Lainey Wilson) and takes off with her for life on the road. Rip walks through the ranch’s empty lot and closes the door to the bunkhouse, while Beth examines the large, empty main house once more with Kayce.

As the episode ends, the tribe takes over the land and begins removing the Dutton sign while preserving the cemetery. The closing voiceover is from Elsa Dutton (Isabel May), their ancestor who appeared in the prequel series “1883” and “1923”, as Kayce’s family begins to ranch on their own terms, as do Rip and Carter (Finn Little) on their land with Beth.

As for the future of the show? Just this week, Reilly and Hauser signed on for a new spinoff of the series, so it’s clear that “Yellowstone” will return — albeit in a different capacity.

Happy trails, “Yellowstone” fans!