That Shocking ‘Yellowstone’ Death Just Changed the Show for the Better

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5.

Yellowstone solved its Kevin Costner problem pretty easily in the violent Season 5B premiere. John Dutton is declared dead by an apparent suicide, which is revealed to have been staged further on in Episode 9, “Desire Is All You Need.” It turned out to be a fantastic choice to liven up a series that has felt a bit dead in the water itself for the past several seasons. Now, John’s death has given the ending of Yellowstone real stakes, as well as placed John’s daughter, Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), at the forefront of the series.

As Beth suspected, her brother, Jamie (Wes Bentley), played a role in their father’s death. Looking back at Yellowstone as a whole, the inevitable showdown between Beth and Jamie was imminent, and Taylor Sheridan cleverly laid out the crumbs in flashbacks as well as current-day conflict between the two. In the latest episode that aired this past Sunday, Beth has decided to ride into battle against Jamie, but not alone this time. Their little brother Kayce played by Luke Grimes, is entering the big leagues, putting those skills he learned in war to join the fight and making the final episodes of Yellowstone a true family affair.

‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Sets Up a Final Showdown Between Beth and Jamie

The final dance between Beth and Jamie was always coming, and Season 5 serves as the perfect endgame for what Beth’s storyline has been about all along: revenge. A part of Beth died when she was a teenager after Jamie took away her right to choose what would happen to her body, a choice which led her to being infertile and unable to start a family with her now-husband, Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser). A second death occurred when her father died, also at the hands of Jamie, with the help of his diabolical girlfriend, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri). When Beth tells Jamie she will be the last thing he sees before he leaves this earth, it will be a third and final death that concludes a bloody saga of betrayal at the hands of her brother.

In this season’s riveting Episode 10, “The Apocalypse of Change,” Beth gets to rest her case of Jamie’s guilt with a chilling verdict. The crucial scene where Beth confronts Jamie at his place of work is the shot that kicks off the final act of Yellowstone without involving much dialogue at all. Instead, it’s all about action — or rather, inaction. Jamie can’t look Beth directly in the eye, and she knows she doesn’t even have to ask if he ordered the hit on their father.

Jamie’s character has always been rooted in weakness, and the scene is a juxtaposition between Beth’s ferocious nature and Jamie’s cowardly persona. Just like how he couldn’t actually pull the trigger himself on his father, Jamie’s inability to look his sister in the eye is another implication of guilt, because of his inability to take responsibility for anything in his life. It’s also a crucial moment, finally bringing another Dutton into the fold — someone who’s been drifting in the series for quite some time now.

Kayce Dutton Is Finally Taking Center Stage in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5

In the aftermath of John Dutton’s death, Yellowstone has finally figured out what to do with a character that has always deserved a bigger role. When Kayce was introduced all the way back in Season 1, he was depicted as a troubled military veteran, ultimately killing the person responsible for murdering his older brother, Lee (Dave Annable), in the pilot. The series often painted him as a tortured figure skating between a family man and a traumatized vet, someone trained in fighting and an excellent shot to boot. But from there, he was more often pigeonholed into a family-oriented drama with his wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille), and son, Tate (Brecken Merrill). Kayce’s biggest storylines have always had a lack of substance, nor placed Grimes’s full talent on display.

Finally, in Season 5, Yellowstone utilizes the core of Kayce’s character, which is that of a fighter and soldier, so that he can become the ultimate ally for Beth as she seeks to take Jamie down. When Beth calls Kayce after her meeting with Jamie, he takes on the role of her main co-conspirator. It’s a major moment for Beth, but it’s just as significant for Kayce too. After carrying the burden of having been unable to save his brother Lee, which comes to fruition during a revelatory drug hallucination in the Season 4 finale, “Grass on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftop,” avenging his father’s death may finally give Kayce peace. With a surplus of resources from serving in the army, he calls in a favor with an old friend he used to serve with, Cade McPherson (Jake McLaughlin). Kayce is going full soldier mode, and based on what we witnessed from him in the pilot all those years ago, it’s a warning and a foreshadowing of the man he will be forced to become again.

John’s Death Has Brought the Dutton Family Back Together in ‘Yellowstone’

John Dutton’s death is the most explosive thing to happen on Yellowstone, but it’s also brought most of the family closer together, albeit in the most tragic way. Throughout the series, Beth and Kayce have never shared many scenes. But it makes perfect sense that as the two main “warriors” in the family — one in wits, the other on the actual battlefield — they’d make the best team at getting vengeance for their father by bringing their brother down together. It makes for an excellent end to a saga that’s always been about family, betrayal, and violence.

While John Dutton’s death may have been shocking, it also gives a renewed purpose to a series that had begun to lose its luster, and though fans remain heartbroken over Costner’s departure, it ensures Yellowstone will go out with a bang, not a whimper. All John Dutton ever wanted was for his family to come together — even if he never likely envisioned that it would play out like this.

Yellowstone Season 5 airs Sunday nights at 8 PM ET on the Paramount Network. Former seasons are available to stream on Peacock.

Watch on Peacock