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SPOILER WARNING: This article contains MAJOR spoilers for the fifth season of the hit Paramount series Yellowstone.
Dominic Monaghan on Lost. Jennifer Carpenter on Dexter. Darce Montgomery on Stranger Things. Peter Horton on Thirtysomething. McLean Stevenson on M*A*S*H*. These are but a few of the many on and off-screen deaths of beloved characters from iconic TV shows which have, for better or for worst, struck hard and struck deep in the hearts and minds of television viewers across the globe. And, on November 10, 2024, hit Taylor Sheridan TV series Yellowstone added to our collective heartbreaks for fictional yet fascinating and riveting characters by killing one of the most popular in recent years, Kevin Costner’s beloved rancher John Dutton. This tin-eared scribe at least, might never recover (I take these sorts of things personally).
From our ‘Death be not proud’ pals over at the black armband-wearing venue known as The Hollywood Reporter comes the eye-opening response from iconic actor Kevin Costner (The Untouchables, Horizon, Dances With Wolves) regarding the final fate of his storied Yellowstone character John Dutton in the ninth episode of season five. In case you hadn’t heard, it didn’t end well for the patriarch of the Dutton family.
“I’m going to be perfectly honest,” Costner said during an interview on The Michael Smerconish Program after he had been asked about his character’s off-screen death. “I didn’t know it was actually airing last night. That’s a swear to God moment. I swear to God. I mean, I’ve been seeing ads with my face all over the place and I’m thinking, ‘Gee, I’m not in that one.’ I’m not in this season…I didn’t see it. I heard it’s a suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it.”
After Smerconish said out loud what most Yellowstone fans have been saying since that controversial episode aired – Dutton didn’t seem the sort to consider a date with a self-inflicted gunshot – Costner answered diplomatically while also offering some hope to fans looking for a little more nuance in his character’s death: “Well, they’re pretty smart people. Maybe it’s a red herring. Who knows? They’re very good. And they’ll figure that out.”
During the long-winding interview with Smerconish, Costner also talked about his ultimately deciding to leave Yellowstone in favor of working on his passion project, the four film epic Horizon: “There was contractual things that would allow for both things to be done, but because both things were contractual, you had to make room for the other thing. There was room, but it was difficult for them to keep their schedule. It seemed to be, it was just too difficult for them to do it. I didn’t leave. I didn’t quit.”
Perhaps it simply comes down to the fact that, as amazing as Costner’s tenure on Yellowstone was, it always felt like a placeholder for the Oscar-winning visionary until the next big movie came along; Costner has always felt more at home on the big screen than a small screen.
We’ll keep everyone posted on the status of Kevin Costner’s Horizon Chapter II just as soon as New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Gets their respective acts together and gives fans a release date for the finished film (yep, that’s a none too subtle dig at the Powers That Be)!
