Why John Dutton’s Fate In Yellowstone Is So Divisive (Did Kevin Costner’s Character Deserve Better?)

Yellowstone has finally revealed the fate of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton – and it’s been predictably divisive. Kevin Costner’s exit from Yellowstone came as a major shock when the news broke in May 2023. The actor left the hit series to mount his planned four-part Western saga Horizon, and many wondered how exactly it would deal with the absence of Costner’s character. Now, Yellowstone season 5 part 2 has revealed that Costner’s Dutton died offscreen of an apparent suicide.

In truth, this reveal shouldn’t be a huge surprise, since it would have been near impossible to logically explain Dutton’s absence for the remainder of the season. Plus, it became clear that Costner wouldn’t be returning to Yellowstone, but it’s not so much that Dutton died that’s causing problems – it’s the way it happened. Fans quickly took to social media to vent their disappointment, while Costner himself weighed in on the issue (via SiriusXM’s The Michael Smerconish Program), stating the way Dutton was killed “… doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it.”

How John Dutton Died Is Very Divisive

That’s not the way anybody pictured the end of John Dutton

Yellowstone’s “Desire Is All You Need” wastes little time establishing Dutton’s demise, with his children Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) rushing to John’s home to find it swarmed by police. Upstairs, Kayce and Beth find John’s dead body (though his face is never shown), with the evidence pointing to Dutton taking his own life with a pistol. Dutton was a towering figure in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe and had already survived multiple assassination attempts, so some audiences hated the implication that Dutton would kill himself.

Many of these visceral, negative responses seem to have come in the immediate aftermath of the reveal, however. Beth doesn’t buy the notion her father would end his own life, even with his upcoming impeachment trial as governor. “Desire Is All You Need” soon makes it plain that Yellowstone’s late patriarch was actually murdered, and Jaime’s (Wes Bentley) lover/lawyer Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) is the one primarily responsible for the killing. Following on from their conversation about killing John in Yellowstone season 5’s midseason finale, Sarah indeed met with a mysterious organization to arrange John’s end.

This group tells Sarah that a suicide was the “cleanest” option available to them, though the death of John will only drive Beth, Kayce and Rip (Cole Hauser) to take Jamie down for good. The furious initial response to John’s death aside, “Desire Is All You Need” makes it clear that he was murdered, with the ending seeing Jamie consumed with guilt for his role in his “father’s” killing.

Killing Off John Dutton So Early Is A Bold, Risky Move

Yellowstone ripped the band aid off early

There was much speculation as to how Yellowstone would deal with Costner’s departure, or if it was possible to leave the door open for his potential return. Creator Taylor Sheridan took a very pragmatic approach, making it clear from the opening minutes of “Desire Is All You Need” that Dutton was gone and never coming back. In this way, it’s immediately apparent that Beth, Rip and Kayce will become the central focus of Yellowstone, and revenge for John’s murder will be the engine that drives the second half of the season.

Killing John so abruptly is a gamble, and again, it’s no surprise that some fans responded so negatively. One alternative would have been for the episode to tease out Dutton’s fate, perhaps using archive footage of Costner to keep him a presence on the show, until he dies in the finale or even a later episode. To just cold open the second half of season 5 with John dead is a blunt – but effective – solution to the problem.

It works in Yellowstone’s favor because audiences feel the same sudden loss as Beth and the others. They spend the first episode reeling, and while the next couple of episodes will likely cover their grief and Dutton’s funeral, it won’t be long before they focus their attention on destroying Jamie.

Kevin Costner’s Exit Was Always Going To Be Difficult For Yellowstone To Handle

Yellowstone chose the best bad option for dealing with the John Dutton problem

There were various options on the table to deal with Costner’s Yellowstone exit. For instance, season 5 could made some excuse to explain away his absence, such as John falling into a coma or being called away from the ranch. Without a reasonable chance of Costner returning for a future series though, these options would have only delayed the inevitable.

The only realistic choice was to kill the character off, though without Costner returning to film a proper exit, this also had to be handled offscreen. Many theories have been proposed for the character’s exit – such as John dying in his special place in Yellowstone ranch – but the show choosing to make the reveal so early at least refocuses the story onto its other characters. John’s death and legacy will still play a big part in Yellowstone moving forward, and Sheridan picked the best option out of a selection of bad ones regarding how to approach John’s departure.

Kevin Costner Was Yellowstone’s Biggest Draw For A Long Time

Yellowstone’s success can be traced back to Costner’s involvement

There was a brief period where Sheridan wanted Robert Redford for Yellowstone, but despite the veteran actor actually being interested, the network balked at the idea. While Costner’s stardom may have faded since his 1990s heyday, he’s still a screen legend, so his agreeing to front Yellowstone was a big deal. Kevin Costner’s Western movies like Dance with Wolves or Open Range also made him an icon of the genre and loaned the series a lot of credibility.

No matter how soapy or outrageous Yellowstone could be, Costner was always a dignified, grounding presence on it. That said, with Yellowstone spinoffs like 1883 and 1923 expanding the scope of the series ever wider, it became clear the show could survive Costner’s departure. Still, killing John Dutton before the end of Yellowstone is a major loss – and clearly was never the original plan. It’s hard to say what the long-term impact of that early exit will be, but Dutton’s death certainly starts the new season on a mournful note.

Could Yellowstone Have Handled John Dutton’s Fate Better?

Should John Dutton have gone down swinging?

John Dutton’s death in Yellowstone’s “Desire Is All You Need” is likely to remain divisive, even with the knowledge the showrunners had few other choices available. Maybe it’s the idea that the seemingly indestructible Dutton was taken down so easily that bothers certain devotees. Had the series suggested John was the victim of a home invasion and was shot dead struggling with the intruders, maybe that would have worked better.

If there was a vague hope Costner could be lured back, season 5 could have gone for the stalling option of having Dutton disappear too, with the season following Beth and the others trying to find out what happened to him. Yellowstone season 5 is looking to push past Dutton’s exit as tactfully as possible given the circumstances, so answering the one question every returning viewer had upfront was wise – even if it wasn’t the answer they wanted.