“He isn’t the reason the show went to sh*t”: Kevin Costner is a Wise Man for Leaving Yellowstone as Taylor Sheridan Bids Farewell to Logic in 5B
- Kevin Costner's character John Dutton is shown dead in the first episode of 5B.
- However, the bizarre circumstances of his death have left fans completely baffled.
- Costner is willing to return to the show if the right circumstances show up.
Kevin Costner’s sudden exit from Yellowstone ahead of the release of the second part of Season 5 caused a lot of complications as one can imagine. The 5B of the show opened to reveal the fate of his character, John Dutton, and while it was somewhat expected, how it was executed has left most people baffled.
John Dutton played the central character in the show for four seasons and the first half of the fifth season. So, his exit was bound to affect the show in some capacity, even if it had to go on to deal with the rest of the characters. However, some decisions showrunner Taylor Sheridan made regarding John’s fate do not seem very logical and fans have not been blind to them.
[Spoiler]
Kevin Costner Leaving Yellowstone Was Probably for the Best Considering How Poorly His Character John Dutton Was Dealt With in 5B
The ninth episode of the show, Desire Is All You Need opens with emergency crews at the Montana governor’s mansion, home of Governor John Dutton. It is revealed that he lost his life to a fatal gunwound shot in the bathroom of the mansion. Although his face cannot be seen, the bloodied body of an older man is enough to confirm that it’s him.
John fails to make it on time to the first day of his impeachment tribunal, which was instigated by his opportunistic adopted son Jamie (Wes Bentley). This leads John’s children, Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), to go over to the mansion, where they find out about their father’s death. Beth and Kayce go through the police tape, and the former immediately blames Jamie for John’s death.
As the episode unfolds, it is revealed that Jamie’s partner, Sarah Atwood is the one responsible for John’s death. So, indirectly, the murder is on Jamie since he was the one who suggested getting his sister, Beth out of the way previously. However, the part that does not make sense in all of this is how was John in his governor’s mansion without any kind of safety at all. A Redditor has also pointed this out in their comment.
So, Costner might have left the season halfway through, but that does not seem to be the reason behind how lousily John’s fate was dealt with. If John had to be shown dead and Jamie had to be the one responsible for his death, perhaps the creative forces behind the show should have tried to exhibit it better. That way, at least John’s death would be justified, especially since he was a central character.
Kevin Costner On Why He Exited from Yellowstone in the Middle of Season 5
Although it is not Costner’s fault that John had to go in such an unjustifiable manner from the character, his exit has definitely had at least some impact on the show. He was asked about the reason he left the season halfway through during his appearance on Today earlier this year.
The actor stated that it was primarily due to the delay in the writing and development process of the show. He insisted that it prevented him from doing other projects.
I did it for five years, and I wanted to work more than once a year. We lost an entire year at one point, and I thought, that can’t happen again. It was well over a year. I thought I have to be in a position to make the things. Material has to be ready at certain times, and we weren’t able to do that. After five years, I thought, ‘I’m not going to do this.‘
As far as his return as the patriarch is concerned, Costner said that he would not mind doing it again “under the right circumstances”. He also claimed that he has always loved the show and it has been very important to him.
Yellowstone is available for streaming on Peacock.
