Episode 9 of Yellowstone Season 5 delivered the news many fans have been dreading – John Dutton is now dead. But instead of complaining, star Luke Grimes thinks you shouldn’t feel “cheated.”
We’ve known for a while that Kevin Costner wouldn’t be returning to the Dutton family ranch. Ever since he distanced himself from the Taylor Sheridan show for his own Western project Horizon, it’s seemed inevitable John would go.
However, that doesn’t mean fans expected him to die. In the back of our minds, many of us have been hoping for some kind of surprise cameo – especially given how much footage of Dutton was used in the Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 trailer.
Yet according to Luke Grimes (who plays Kayce Dutton on the show), fans are lucky John lived as long as he did. “I think they feel sort of cheated. And what I would say to that is, I think we were all lucky to have Kevin on the show as long as we did,” he explained to People Magazine.
“It was always the plan for him to have to go away for the story to really ramp up, and that was the story. You lose a patriarch of the family. Can the kids do it on their own?”
Grimes added, “I think originally he was supposed to die much earlier. So, in a way, they got way more of John Dutton than they were going to originally get. I would keep that in mind.”
It’s unsurprising that Dutton’s death has caused backlash, but it might have been the perfect exit for Costner and his character.
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As we learn in Episode 9, Dutton’s death is a staged murder, made to look like suicide. It’s all thanks to Jamie’s girlfriend Sarah Atwood, who carries out a hit after he blithely asks. This works doubly well for her – if Jamie wins the ongoing war, she wins more control over Jamie.
John Dutton deserved to go out like a gladiator, not a victim. Completely undoes the series. I’m not a fan at all how #Yellowstone handled Costner’s departure. pic.twitter.com/mECsM6gluf
— @Matthew Betley (@MatthewBetley) November 11, 2024
We don’t actually see Costner die on screen, which although disappointing, is to be expected. Some fans wanted him to “go out like Gladiator,” but we were arguably never going to get that given the circumstances.
In our own words, “If this is how he’d met his end, there’d be fewer complaints. Let’s face it, you’re not mad that he’s dead: you’re mad you didn’t get to see him die. And that, my cowboy-loving comrades, wasn’t Taylor Sheridan’s choice.”
Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 11 airs on November 24 on the Paramount Network.
For more on the series, here’s our list of the most shocking Yellowstone deaths, or you can check out guides to Billy Klapper, Jamie’s 10-56 call, and find out how to watch Yellowstone where you are.
