Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2: The fate of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton has fans displeased.
SlateThis post contains spoilers for Season 5, Episode 9 of Yellowstone. Seconds into Sunday’s “Desire Is All You Need,” Beth, the faithful daughter of the Dutton ranching family, races up to her father’s house in her fast little car. Kevin Costner has played John Dutton, the beleaguered patriarch of showrunner and empire-builder Taylor Sheridan’s dreams, since 2018. Among some annoyed viewers, “Taylor Sheridan did John Dutton dirty in the very first scene to get back at Kevin Costner” has gained traction as a concept. One thing that speaks against this “Dutton’s bad death is Sheridan’s revenge” theory is the fact that you don’t see Costner’s face as the camera fixes on the body on the bathroom floor, sparing the actor some indignity in his character’s demise.