Is ‘Yellowstone’ Getting a Season 6? Here’s What We Know

Since 2018, Yellowstone has been a staple of the ever-growing Paramount Network and the flagship series of Taylor Sheridan‘s shared universe of neo-Western tales. But with the long-awaited end of Season 5, folks are undoubtedly wondering what’s next for the Dutton family. Will the formerly Kevin Costner-led drama continue on without John Dutton at the center of the narrative, or is this truly the end of Yellowstone as we know it? Well, despite some confusion on whether the Season 5B finale, “Life Is A Promise,” is a season finale or a series finale, we’ve got some answers concerning what comes next.

What Happened at the End of ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5?

When Season 5 of Yellowstone was first billed as a two-part season (with eight episodes up front and six in the back half), everyone knew it would be the final season. In fact, it was promoted as such when Season 5A first premiered back in 2022. But between pandemic-related scheduling issues and the Hollywood strikes, Season 5B continued to be pushed back. Eventually, Kevin Costner was forced to exit the series. When the show returned for its seemingly final batch of episodes in 2024, John Dutton was killed off instantly. This left Beth (Kelly Reilly), Kayce (Luke Grimes), and Rip (Cole Hauser) to pick up the pieces, and, eventually, the Dutton patriarch’s murder is connected back to none other than Jamie (Wes Bentley), who hoped to make a fat profit on the Market Equities airport deal he’s secured, something his father adamantly opposed.

Yellowstone‘s fifth season then concludes with the Dutton’s realizing that the best way to save the land is to make a deal, selling the Dutton’s ancestral home back to those who were there long beforehand. With Thomas Rainwater’s (Gil Birmingham) help, the Dutton land is saved, Jamie’s plans foiled, and Beth and Kayce (along with their families) are free to start a new life. Of course, Beth kills Jamie too, for his part in their father’s murder, and the season ends with the people of the Broken Rock Indian Reservation reclaiming the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch as their own, as was prophesied back in the prequel series, 1883. With that, the Dutton legacy is secure, and Kayce and Beth are free from the ranch, as well as the father, who shackled them their entire lives.

Is ‘Yellowstone’ Getting a Season 6?

With such a masterful ending and with no official word of a continuation, it’s hard to believe that Yellowstone will be picked up for a sixth season. After all, the Yellowstone itself — and all the cowboys who made the ranch what it was — is effectively no more. Now that Rainwater’s people control the land once again, Kayce, Rip, Beth, Monica (Kelsey Asbille), and the rest have moved on. While Kayce and his family remain close by at the east camp, they have moved on from the infamous “Y” brand and opted to make a new name for themselves. Likewise, Beth and Rip moved to western Montana, a place free of tourists where they could make a new living for themselves. Considering this, Yellowstone certainly could continue, but not as the series it once was.

Perhaps taking cues from The Walking Dead franchise (which ended its flagship series before producing multiple sequel shows following different cast members), Taylor Sheridan and Paramount are working closely on a batch of new spin-offs. The Madison was announced back in 2023 (with Michelle Pfeiffer set to star) and is set to be a contemporary sequel to the Yellowstone series. As far as we can tell, the series will premiere sometime in 2025. Likewise, a recent Rip/Beth-centric spin-off was just announced, which means that even if Yellowstone did continue for an official sixth season, the pair would likely not be as involved.

Nevertheless, Cole Hauser has noted that Yellowstone is still as popular as ever in America. In his words, “Hopefully, we can continue to get in people’s living rooms and entertain them the way we have over the last seven years.” While Hauser was less forthcoming about whether this means “Life Is A Promise” is the series finale, Kelly Reilly made things a little more transparent. “Whatever the future holds this is the ending of the show we have been making for the past 7 years,” she explained following the Yellowstone finale. Others, such as Gil Birmingham, have noted that the series finale was “beautifully written,” and it seems that, in the minds of everyone involved, Yellowstone has officially come to a close. Of course, that doesn’t mean the story is totally over. The future is still up in the air, so stay tuned as we await more information on a possible Season 6.

What’s Next for the Yellowstone Universe?

Aside from The Madison and the Rip/Beth sequel show, it’s clear that the Yellowstone Universe is still in full swing. These contemporary continuations will no doubt allow us to revisit many of the characters we’ve grown to love across Yellowstone, and will effectively serve as a sixth season, even if the flagship series has itself ended. But aside from sequels, there are still more prequels underway. The highly-anticipated second season of the prequel series 1923 is set to premiere in February 2025, and will continue the story of Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren) as they continue to build and expand the Dutton cattle empire. Likewise, the prequel series 1944 is still in the works, and there have been rumors of other projects taking form as well. Even if Yellowstone Season 5 is the end of the main series, there’s still plenty of expanded universe content to consume.

Where Can I Stream ‘Yellowstone’?

Unfortunately, Yellowstone cannot be streamed anywhere (so far) in its entirety. Due to a streaming deal made before Paramount+ was launched, the first four and a half seasons of Yellowstone are available for streaming exclusively on Peacock. This means that the vast majority of the show, from Season 1 through the first eight episodes of Season 5 (aka, Kevin Costner’s entire tenure on the series), can be watched there. There’s no official word yet as to when Season 5 Part 2 will join the rest of the series, but we can be sure that it will eventually. As for the rest of the Yellowstone Universe, the prequels 1883 and 1923 can both be streamed on Paramount+, and we can only assume the same will be true of any sequel programs in the future.