What happened to Kevin Costner’s John Dutton

On By Littum

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Spoiler alert! We break down the crucial first episode of “Yellowstone” from Part 2 of Season 5.

It didn’t take long to figure out Kevin Costner’s “Yellowstone” fate.

Sunday’s Paramount Network premiere of the highly anticipated second half of “Yellowstone” Season 5 kicks off with emergency crews at the Montana governor’s mansion, home of Costner’s embattled patriarch, Gov. John Dutton.

Even director and longtime collaborator Christina Voros was blown away when she discovered how “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan handled John Dutton’s exit (after Costner officially left the show in June).

“When I read the first paragraph, I was shocked,” says Voros. “Like a lot of fans, I thought, ‘So we’re doing this now!’ I’m paraphrasing here, but (Sheridan) was more interested in the season’s story being about those who remain — rather than complicating, sentimentalizing, or preparing for the inevitable. Seeing how the rest of the season plays out is such a ballad. brave and beautiful choice.”

Here’s how the return of Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone” (Sundays, 8 EST/PST) handled Costner’s departure from America’s No. 1 show after six years.

Spoilers ahead! Last warning!

‘Yellowstone’: Kevin Costner’s dark fate turns Beth Dutton into ‘a hurricane’

What happened to Governor John Dutton in ‘Yellowstone’?

Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) screams to the emergency crew at the governor’s home (played by the historic Daly Mansionwhich is located in Hamilton, Montana).

“What the hell?” Beth says frantically. “My dad!”

Beth’s worst fears are confirmed after Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) pulls up and the two push through police tape to investigate. There’s a gun on the bathroom floor and blood. The camera never shows John’s face, but you can see his body sprawled on the ground (Costner’s stunt double) and the distraught looks of his grown children. Their reaction is the “conscious choice” to confirm the “truth” of Dutton’s death, Voros says.

“It cannot be denied that they have lost their father,” says Voros. “You don’t see that in blood and a gun on a bathroom floor, but in the tears that come down Beth’s face and Luke’s gut-wrenching performance. It leaves no shadow of a doubt.”

It looks like suicide, but Beth knows better. “It was Jamie!” she whispers to her brother.

When Season 5 opened in November 2022, and Costner played the embattled governor, his son, Attorney General Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley), teamed up with attorney Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) to elevate his father’s political and business life. At Atwood’s urging, Jamie started impeachment proceedings against the governor and even considered going “on the offensive” and hiring professionals to take him out. Such sinister “companies” exist, his lover Atwood told him.

Fast forward to Sunday’s premiere: “Some kind of tragedy has occurred,” a news reporter says in a live report from the mansion. “To recap, day one of the hearing against the governor was set to begin at 8 o’clock in the morning and the governor did not show up for that hearing.”

Beth frantically calls her husband Rip (Cole Hauser), who has moved the Yellowstone cattle to Texas to save the herd from a deadly outbreak of brucellosis. “They killed my father,” she tells him. Rip thunders off on his horse to his truck so he can start the long drive home.

AG Jamie faces the media grimly, but can’t even finish the statement about his father’s death.

How do we know Jamie Dutton is responsible?

A flashback scene shows Atwood entering a heavily fortified building and being searched (extensively) for recording devices. She meets a mysterious operative who secretly reviews the best options to kill Dutton. Faking a heart attack is too risky with toxicology reports and an autopsy.

“Suicide offers the highest reward and lowest risk,” he says, seeking Atwood’s verbal approval to “carry out” the mission. She agrees.

In another flashback, Jamie gets a call that the unspecified deed has been done. He is lost and crying when he stumbles into his bedroom, where the lingerie-clad Atwood is waiting for him. He tells her that he just mentioned hired killers, but never thought she would do it.

“You’re completely protected,” Atwood tells him. “Old lions die in the jaws of younger lions, and you are the younger lion.”

What will Beth do about her father’s death?

Kayce is relying on his credentials from the Bureau of Land Management to find out what the police know. A power transponder mysteriously went off in the neighborhood in the early morning hours after his father’s death, so there is no security footage. The police buy the suicide theory. But Beth and Kayce are sure that if Jamie didn’t do the dirty deed, Dutton nemesis Atwood had the contacts.

“Come home and help me decide how to kill him,” Beth tells the still traveling Rip. The final scene of the episode features Rip pulling himself up as Beth runs from the house and jumps into his arms.

Will Season 5 End ‘Yellowstone’? How does it end?

Voros claims she doesn’t know if “Yellowstone” will end after the second half of Season 5 (as originally reported) or continue with a Beth-and-Rip-centric spinoff or a Season 6 (cast members have hinted at both scenarios) . But the new Season 5 six-episode will provide “a real conclusion” while also allowing for more.

Sheridan “has made some very strong choices that the world of ‘Yellowstone’ is forever changed in John Dutton’s absence,” Voros says. “But when you write characters with depth, heart and complexity, there’s always room to wonder what happens next. These are some of the most popular characters in modern television.”

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