How the Yellowstone premiere explains Kevin Costner’s absence

Note: The following story contains spoilers from Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 9

“Yellowstone” is finally back. And with that comes a new mystery – how exactly did the Taylor Sheridan juggernaut (the single most popular show on television) write off its biggest star?

If you’ve been following the show since the final episode of Yellowstone aired on January 1, 2023, you’ll know that Kevin Costner, who played patriarch John Dutton on the show, was at odds with Sheridan. This had to do with the time the show required of Costner, who was trying to start his own franchise with the Horizon films. (Two were filmed, one was actually released in theaters. He’s still hoping to find financing for parts two and three.) As the two reached an impasse, it was announced that Costner had left the show. He said that his work was in the cinema anyway.

Since Costner is still very much alive in the final episodes, which we’ll refer to as 5A, and early marketing materials heavily feature the star, you might be wondering: How exactly is “Yellowstone” handling his departure? Well, we are ready to tell you.

Did “Yellowstone” kill John Dutton?

Yes.

Is he really dead? Not a fun deal? No return from beyond the veil?

No.

How did they kill him?

In the cold open of the episode, John’s body is discovered. It’s a bloody scene, guts splattered on the walls and all. You can’t see Costner’s face, but you can see it’s John. And it quickly becomes known that “the 26th Governor of Montana” (remember, John was elected governor in 5A) is no more. He dies at the governor’s mansion, not at the Dutton ranch. Enough terrible things have already happened.

But did they say what happened to him?

Even before the cold opening is over, two narratives emerge – the official story is that John killed himself. Of course, Beth (Kelly Reilly) believes Jamie (Wes Bentley) orchestrated the whole thing. It’s easy to see why, the two were at odds and towards the end of 5A it seemed like he was going to take the next step and break up with his father. Sweet, trusting Kayce (Luke Grimes) doesn’t know what to believe. He’s always trying to keep the peace, and boy, is he torn. Beth urges Rip (Cole Hauser), who is at Ranch 6666 in Texas, to come back. And yes, we briefly see our favorite Jimmy (Jefferson White), still waiting for the spin-off that was announced years ago. Anyway…

Did Jamie actually order his father’s murder?

No. Instead, it was the evilly sexy Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) who ordered the hit. She meets with Jamie and says, “Isn’t this what you wanted?” And he says, “No.” And starts crying. She tells him that lions don’t die of old age, but rather in the mouths of younger lions.

What’s next?

Beth and Kayce are back at Dutton Ranch. None of them believe John committed suicide. And while Beth insists that Jamie had something to do with it, she also admits that he can’t do anything on his own. They decide that they need to look Jamie in the eyes to find out if he had something to do with John’s murder or if he was just an innocent jerk.

Then, Beth says, they can decide how to kill Jamie. Then Rip joins them. End of episode. Things will evolve ugly.

“Yellowstone airs Sundays at 8pm ET/PT on Paramount Network.