During its run, Yellowstone was one of the most popular shows on television, and while it ended on a relatively high note, the final season

faced a lot of challenges. The electric cast of Yellowstone was one of the show’s biggest strengths, with the Dutton family remaining the

center of the narrative across all five seasons.

However, Kevin Costner left Yellowstone midway through season 5. Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe features incredibly complex characters across a variety of periods, with the Duttons being the focal point for most of it. While the family is naturally positioned as the protagonists of the show, there is much more to them than that.

For most of Yellowstone, Kevin Costner was the star, with everything happening at the Dutton Ranch being the will of John Dutton. Despite portraying the Dutton patriarch, Kevin Costner had some thoughts about the family’s ending. Speaking to ET, Costner talked about the series and how he thought that the Duttons could have ended up in prison, stating:

Honestly, Kevin Costner is right about the Dutton family as well as the more soapy aspects of Yellowstone in general, but that is also what makes the show so compelling. It could have been easy to have them end up in prison, and that would have changed the fabric of the series and even Taylor Sheridan’s universe as a whole.

Prior to the second half of season five, Kevin Costner left Yellowstone, causing the show to have to kill off the character off-screen. This left Beth and Kayce Dutton, alongside Rip Wheeler, to carry the final episodes to the finish line. His departure came as a shock to fans who loved his portrayal of John Dutton, but it made sense from Costner’s perspective.

On The Rich Eisen Show, Kevin Costner opened up about leaving, explaining his desire to work and feeling obligated to those working on Horizon: An American Saga. Costner explained, “I kept Yellowstone in, but it needed to stay on course. It needed to have an exact amount of time so I could go on to do other things.