Yellowstone Season 5 has returned after a lengthy, complex break, and with it come questions about its future and countless swirling rumors. The magnetic Kelly Reilly, who stars as Beth Dutton, cleared some of these things up but also looked ahead to a potential future for her beloved character and the massively popular franchise. The final episodes of Season 5 are now airing on the Paramount Network, but the internet is already stirring the pot with claims of a sixth season and a return of Beth and her husband Rip. Reilly told MovieWeb:
” There are so many rumors and I don’t know where they all come from. Literally don’t believe what you read . There are creative conversations that can happen but in their own time, and I think that’s what we’re going to wait for. We only just finished this, we only finished filming in September. They’re still cutting this thing together. We’re both just going to do some other things, and then we’ll see. We’ll see.”
However, one thing is clear. Reilly shared:
If Taylor Sheridan is inspired, then I will be there in a heartbeat if he wants to do it.
The way Reilly describes coming back to film the final stretch of Season 5 makes it clear that she loves this world and that we may not have seen the last of Beth Dutton. “We couldn’t wait to come back,” gushed Reilly. “We all love this job, we all love coming back together and making something, and we missed it. Coming back and finishing off this show, the scripts were brilliant, we were all just champing at the bit to get back.”
Sheridan’s Yellowstoniverse is no stranger to spin-offs at this point, having dug into the Dutton family history with the series 1883 and 1923. What this means for fan-favorite Dutton characters from the original show is anyone’s guess. For all we know, Reilly is just playing it close to the vest and the character of Beth’s life ends along with the series. In the soapy Western epic, a main character’s death is never in doubt. Then again, maybe a deal gets struck with Costner at some point and he miraculously returns in a sequel. It may seem unlikely, but never count anything out when there is this kind of fan base and this kind of money at stake.
On Beth Dutton’s War with Jamie
In many ways, it feels like Beth and her brother Jamie were destined to clash in ways that transcend basic sibling issues, and Season 5 is bringing that conflict to a head in major ways. Reilly had strong feelings about the why and how of it all, telling us:
“It is one of those things that has been building over the years, as you know. At first, in season one, you just thought it was sibling rivalry, then as the years progressed, you realized this is a deep betrayal on a soul level that has burdened both of these characters. It’s been complicated, and heavy, and emotional. And she never trusted him. “
How this sibling rivalry on steroids plays out will be the meat of the epic series’ final half-season. The hardest thing for any long-running popular series to do is to end. The nature of television is to extend a conflict and renew it. The creative forces always keep finding a way to revisit the core conflicts and stir up new drama. This creates a world of loose ends, and a sense that nothing can ever truly be completed. That’s why more times than not we are left with unsatisfying endings, or open-ended ones. Can Yellowstone buck the trend and leave everyone happy? It’s a tall order and we’ll know soon. Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 airs on Paramount Network Sunday nights at 8pm through Dec. 15, 2024.
