This article contains spoilers for “Yellowstone”.
The ratings for “Yellowstone” season 5 part 2 without Kevin Costner prove that the series is still a great hit. Over 16 million people watched the premiere episode, but many of those viewers were probably curious to see how the show handled the messy departure of its leading star. But while Furious response to John Dutton’s death among fans indicates that many viewers feel the show has suffered in quality without Costner, the truth is that “Yellowstone” has been on a downward spiral for quite some time.
That’s not to say that Taylor Sheridan’s neo-western series is bad, mind you. “Yellowstone” boasts a strong cast that are fun to hang out with in any circumstance; the show would still be entertaining if it solely revolved around its top ranchers playing cards and drinking beer in the bunkhouse. Also, while the plot holes are bigger than the “train station” the Duttons dump their victims’ bodies into, “Yellowstone” admirably distracts viewers with fun soap opera-like drama, action-packed mayhem, and lush scenery. Sure, it’s a mess, but it’s an entertaining and visually impressive one.
Meanwhile, “Yellowstone” used to be a much better show than it has become, and the series will go down in history as a bag of missed opportunities and unrealized potential. With that in mind, let’s explore how this cowboy drama got lost.
Yellowstone stories became too convenient
“Yellowstone” is a story about the Dutton family fighting against powerful threats that want to end their lives. This requires them to get their hands dirty, but the series has become reluctant to throw anything away real danger to its protagonists – and no, John Dutton’s Controversial ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Death does not count, as Kevin Costner leaving the series forced the creative decision. With that in mind, let’s look at the facts.
In Season 2, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) kills reporter Sarah Nguyen (Michaela Conlin) because she intends to publish a story about his family’s corruption—a story he initially helped her with before backing out. No one even investigates her suspicious death afterwards, which is strange since she worked for a newspaper whose editor would have been aware of the exposé she was working on. “Yellowstone” is clearly not concerned with standard journalistic practices.
That said, the third and fourth seasons of “Yellowstone” take the cake in terms of convenience. Roarke Carter (Josh Holloway), a primary antagonist, is murdered by a rattlesnake that Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) shoots at his face and his death is not mentioned afterwards. Meanwhile, in the Season 3 finale, John is shot multiple times while Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) is blown up in an office explosion, but everyone is happy and healthy again in the Season 4 premiere. The list goes on.
Convenient conclusions to storylines have always been a problem on “Yellowstone” to some extent. The early seasons did have stakes, however, as evidenced by Tate Dutton (Brecken Merrill) being kidnapped by neo-Nazis and the Beck brothers killing the family’s cows. These moments made us fear for Dutton’s safety and livelihood, proving that “Yellowstone” is capable of delivering intense stories when it wants to.
Jamie and John Dutton’s feud was a missed opportunity
John Dutton and his adopted son, Jamie Dutton, are at the head in “Yellowstone”. The latter wants to be governor of Montana, but his old man wants to keep him on a leash, fearing that Jamie’s political ambitions will damage their ranch. John and Jamie eventually compete for the coveted governorship – until the latter drops out of the race and pretends to support his father.
A plot about two rival family members fighting for a political position and stabbing each other in the back to get ahead could have been exciting. There’s even a moment in Season 4 where a meeting is teased between the pair to discuss how dirty they want to get, but it never materializes. This political rivalry is also why Jamie reveals his family’s dirt to Sarah Ngygen, only to kill her because god forbid this show makes a mess for the Duttons that is hard to clean up.
In the end, Jamie’s lover, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), has John murdered and he supports her, ultimately ending the father-son rivalry. However, it’s the payoff for a feud that “Yellowstone” ironed out until then, which lessens the impact of such a major death.
Yellowstone downplays Dutton’s atrocities
The Duttons are bad people, and that’s what makes them interesting. John Dutton is a tyrant who will stop at nothing to save his country. Jamie Dutton killed his biological father to save his own skin. Beth Dutton lets an innocent activist take the case for doing her dirty work and bullies everyone. Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) is nice enough, but he still held a child at gunpoint while threatening her father. These are all terrible actions, but “Yellowstone” has become complacent in addressing its protagonists’ evil with any nuance.
However, it wasn’t always like that. For example, Season 1 sees Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) murder a flawed but innocent doctor to prevent him from publishing a report on the true cause of death of Kayce’s wife’s brother. The coroner was only doing his job, but the report would have drawn attention to the Dutton family’s crimes and potentially exposed Kayce as his brother-in-law’s executioner. “Yellowstone” has since backed away from even acknowledging that there are innocent skeletons in the family’s closet, which is a cop out.
Convict-turned-rancher Walker (Ryan Bingham) also used to highlight the family’s evil antics, but he fell into line after Rip tied him to a murder he didn’t commit. Since then, “Yellowstone” has felt comfortable portraying the Duttons as likable anti-heroes, but the series was more interesting when it sometimes made us feel bad rooting for them.
Thomas Rainwater became an afterthought
Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) is John Dutton’s fiercest rival in “Yellowstone” season 1. He wants a part of the Yellowstone ranch because the land originally belonged to his Native American ancestors, and he aims to develop projects that will provide more jobs for the people of Broken Rock Reserve. Of course, John objects to this, and the pair continue to try to sabotage each other until they quit.
John and Thomas’ rivalry is not violent, but it is the most fascinating feud on “Yellowstone” because both men are ideologically motivated and want the best for their people. It’s more interesting than the show’s prototypical tales of evil capitalists turning ugly in an attempt to claim land that doesn’t belong to them, and it raises some thought-provoking questions about the displacement of Native Americans — a theme that Taylor Sheridan argues is at the heart of “Yellowstone “, but hasn’t been explored in any great detail since the boss took a back seat.
Season 2 sees John and Thomas become strangers teaming up to fend off greater threats, their rivalry not meaningfully rekindled until the former’s death. From time to time Thomas reminded John that he was unhappy about the situation, but his words amounted to nothing more than finger wagging. Thomas has been a background character since season 2, and he deserves more than that, as the threats from the Duttons affect him as well.
Death became meaningless at Yellowstone
“Yellowstone” gives every show a run in the body count department, but some of the big deaths are laughable, especially in Season 5. Look no further than the murder of John Dutton, who was tied up by assassins and injected with a serum to make it look as suicide. He didn’t argue, which was strange because scrapping was all he knew. granted, Kevin Costner’s ‘Yellowstone’ departure left the show’s writers in the lurch, but a stunt double could have thrown a punch on his behalf.
However, Colby Mayfield’s (Denim Richards) in “Yellowstone” Season 5, Episode 12 is even more puzzling. The rancher was trampled by a horse during a work shift, with the scene intended to highlight that ranching is a dangerous job. But in the context of the show, Colby’s death comes across as shock value for the sake of it, especially since his romance with Teeter (Jessica Landon) was just starting to gain some focus.
Back in the day, “Yellowstone” knew how to deliver impactful deaths. Dan Jenkins’ (Danny Huston) demise in Season 2 was effective because he put up a good fight after an arc that saw him nearly hit rock bottom, and it established the Beck brothers as formidable villains with unpredictable tendencies. Meanwhile, the plot where Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Kayce Dutton lose their newborn child was the catalyst for an emotional examination of grief. But for the most part, “Yellowstone” treats death as wasted and pointless, even when it comes to its main characters.
New episodes of “Yellowstone” premiere Sundays on the Paramount Network.
