It’s not easy being a Yellowstone fan. One minute you’re jumping for joy that the series is back, and the next you’re wondering just how the hell it will end. Thankfully, creator Taylor Sheridan took the high road after his cameo-filled outing last week. In the season 5 finale, the writer let audiences indulge in just about everything they suspected was coming their way. In short: The Dutton family saves the ranch, and Beth (Kelly Reilly) kills Jamie (Wes Bentley). When they inevitably ask what’s next, well, a spin-off featuring the Dutton daughter and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) feels imminent.
Paramount has yet to make the news official, but that could change at the drop of a hat. Over the past few months, we’ve already gone from a potential Matthew McConaughey–led sequel to Kevin Costner’s character dead in his own bathroom. McConaughey’s Dutton outing has also been replaced with a sequel series titled The Madison starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Lost’s Matthew Fox as members of a new family, the Clyburns. That news had already opened a can of worms regarding Yellowstone’s future—namely, who the hell are the Clyburns?
According to Luke Grimes (Kayce Dutton), a sixth season just doesn’t make sense. “I’d do it, [but] I just don’t understand how it would work once the story ends,” the actor tells Esquire. “Kayce wants to cowboy and be happy with his family. He doesn’t want to kill people anymore. He doesn’t want the weight of a huge mega ranch that isn’t sustainable in today’s times. He wants his little slice of heaven. It’s that simple.”
Will There Be a Season 6 of Yellowstone?
Possibly! Paramount previously announced that season 6 was scrapped in favor of a sequel series, which would reportedly star Matthew McConaughey. For whatever reason, McConaughey never officially signed on to the project and/or Paramount moved in another direction. The network is now eyeing select Yellowstone cast members (not named Kevin Costner) to potentially return for another spin-off series. Audiences should view any show involving returning cast members as season 6 by another name. Series creator Taylor Sheridan is reportedly also working on a prequel spin-off set in 1944.
Want more from the Sheridan-verse? Read essential ‘Yellowstone’ news and ‘1923’ recaps in our newsletter.
Sign Up Now
Okay, So Where Does the Story Even Go from Here? 
In the season 5, part 2 premiere of Yellowstone, John Dutton met his untimely end. A feud between the leading patriarch and Paramount led to Costner exiting the series. He’s now filming his own western film franchise, titled Horizon. So Sheridan staged an assassination to kill his character off within the first five minutes. As John Dutton lies dead in his bathroom, his children are left to pick up the pieces and move on.
Beth (Reilly) naturally pins the crime on her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley), since he said before the hiatus that he planned to eliminate both his sister and their father. Jamie is only partly to blame, however. His evil girlfriend, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Oliveiri), pulled off the hit. The future wasn’t so bright for Atwood, but hope is on the horizon for Beth, her brother Kayce, and her husband, Rip. Yellowstone fans can’t bring John Dutton back from the dead, but we still saw a beautiful ending for the Dutton family in the finale.
Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) purchased the ranch and set it up as a wildlife preserve. The Dutton Family Ranch is now part of the Native American reservation, with a spot for Kayce and his family to tend a small herd. Plus, Beth and Rip bought a new ranch outside Dillon, Montana. Sheridan wrapped everything up fairly neatly. The only new Yellowstone-adjacent project teased during the season 5 finale was 1923 season 2. If there’s more story to tell, it’s up to Sheridan to figure it out. We just need Paramount to officially tell us WTF is going on.
