How ‘Yellowstone’ Ended Kevin Costner’s John Dutton Storyline in a Disturbing Way
“Yellowstone” Season 5, Episode 9: “Desire Is All You Need”
Thank you for your service, John Dutton.
In the first episode of the second half of Season 5, it was revealed that the Dutton family patriarch, played by Kevin Costner, has been killed by a fatal gunshot wound in the bathroom of the Montana governor’s mansion. Although the crime scene shows the bloodied body of an older man, Costner’s face is never shown. Dutton’s children, Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes), rush to the scene after John misses the start of his impeachment tribunal—a process pushed forward by his scheming son Jamie (Wes Bentley). Beth immediately suspects Jamie’s involvement in their father’s death, but Kayce struggles to believe his brother could be responsible.
Meanwhile, Jamie, who had recently conspired with his lover and fixer Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) to have Beth eliminated, receives a cryptic call that seems to confirm John’s death as a successful “hit.” Shortly after, Jamie holds a tearful press conference, where, in his role as Montana attorney general, he declares that John’s death was a suicide.
Beth and Kayce, driving back to Yellowstone Ranch upon hearing this news, are shocked and refuse to believe their father would take his own life. This mystery is set to drive much of the drama in the second half of Season 5.
Kevin Costner has been a central figure on “Yellowstone” since its premiere, but rumors of his exit began in February 2023 amid concerns that the show’s filming schedule clashed with his commitments to the film series “Horizon.” By June 2024, Costner confirmed he would not return to the show. Meanwhile, the first “Horizon” film released in June 2024 underperformed at the box office, and plans for the sequel’s theatrical release were scrapped.
Despite his absence from the new episodes, Costner remains the first cast member credited in the opening titles and appears in the end credits as an executive producer.
