Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the Yellowstone Season 5 finale.
Yellowstone’s Season 5 finale, “Life is a Promise,” is a significant event for plenty of reasons. Not only does it mark the end of the long-running Western series, but it also caps off the latest — and bloodiest — power struggle for the Dutton family. It did so despiteKevin Costnerdeparting the series earlier in the season, which led tothe death of John Dutton. “Life is a Promise” manages to answer some ofYellowstone’s biggest questions but also leaves the door open for series creatorTaylor Sheridanto pursue future stories.
Kayce Sells the Dutton Ranch to Rainwater and Broken Rock
Most ofYellowstoneSeason 5 has been dedicated to the bitter rivalry between Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley), which escalates to another level when Beth learns that Jamie is responsible for John’s death. Their brother, Kayce (Luke Grimes), is often caught between them and wants nothing more than to build his own legacy, free of his family and the shadows of his actions as a former Navy SEAL. Kayce eventually gets his wish when he suggests that Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), who often clashed with John over the rights to the land the Dutton ranch laid on, buy the ranch:that way, the Broken Rock tribe — who the land originally belonged to — could settle there while Kayce built his new house.
The deal even works out, as Kayce offers to sell for $1.25 an acre, the same price his ancestor, James Dutton (1883’sTim McGraw) initially paid, which means that the Broken Rock reservation would only pay taxes on the land towards that price. (In the funniest line of the finale, Rainwater quips: “Congratulations, you just made the worst land deal since my people sold Manhattan.") Once the deal is finalized, it leaves Kayce free to ride off into the sunset with his wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and son Tate (Brecken Merrill). Toward the end of “Life is a Promise,” the members of Broken Rock begin to dismantle the Dutton ranch — but are stopped from desecrating the graves of the Dutton family alone by Mo (Mo Brings Plenty). “They protected this land. They died for this land. And this land is where they’ll stay,” he says.
‘Yellowstone’s Finale Is a Full-Circle Moment for the Show
Who would’ve thought it would end up back here?
Beth and Jamie’s Rivalry Comes to a Bloody End
While one Dutton finds a measure of peace, another is determined to exact her revenge. First, Beth, her husband Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), Kayce and his family, Senator Lynelle Perry (Wendy Moniz), and the rest of the Yellowstone cowboys attend John’s funeral, where Beth promises that she’ll avenge her father’s death. And avenge it she does, as she tracks Jamie down to his houseand engages her brother in a rather brutal fight. Not only is Jamie sprayed multiple times in the face with bear mace, but he gives Beth just as many good hits in return, to the point where it’s a miracle the two are still standing upright. Eventually, Jamie gets the upper hand and starts choking Beth, but Rip arrives on the scene and throws him through a wall — and shortly after that,Beth stabs Jamie in the heart, killing him. With help from loyal Yellowstone hand Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith), Rip dumps Jamie’s body at the train station, the ravine where most of the Duttons’ enemies end up, and sets fire to his SUV after leaving it across the border in Idaho. To top things off, Beth is able to spin the situation in her favor, telling Detective Dillard (Rory Cochrane) that Jamie attempted to kill her before fleeing the scene.
Now that the Dutton ranch is sold and John’s death has been avenged,what’s next for Beth and Rip?Early in the episode, Beth tells Rip she bought a plot of land for them to live on outside of Dillon, Montana so that they can have a fresh start. A spin-off series focused on the twois in the works, though Hauser and Reilly say that Rip and Beth’s next chapter lies in Sheridan’s hands. “It’s up to him. We trust him. He’s a master storyteller, and we help him tell these characters’ stories, and it’s been such a ride and so electrifying to play and so invigorating. I trust him with wherever he takes her; whether we’re leaving her where we’ve left her, or we’re going to find her somewhere else, I trust him,” Reilly toldThe Hollywood Reporterfollowing theYellowstonefinale.
Is This the End of ‘Yellowstone’?
The biggest surprise of “Life is a Promise” is how it’s billed: rather than being the series finale, as originally touted,it’s now just the Season 5 finale. The Paramount Network has yet to officially renewYellowstone, but everything pretty much came to a close during this finale. If this truly is the end ofYellowstone, then fans don’t have to worry, asParamount has plenty more Taylor Sheridan shows in the works. In addition to the prequel series1923, which returns with its second season next year, other spin-offs are in the works, includingThe Madisonand6666. DirectorChristina Voroshad this to say to the Hollywood Reporterabout the future ofYellowstone:
“There is clearly an appetite for it to continue. Any great TV series that has a following that touches so many different people from so many different walks of life and so many different geographical locations… this story has had a profound effect on TV viewers. The dream is that there is more of the story to tell, and I think Taylor has left the door open for that to be true. What story he decides to tell? I don’t know.”
Whatever the future holds forYellowstone,the series ended as it began:with people fighting for their family and forging a future for themselves, in the same vein as their ancestors. It’s also safe to say that the upcoming series will continue to feature bloody betrayals and characters desperate to defend what’s theirs.
Yellowstoneis currently available to stream on Peacock.
Yellowstone
A ranching family in Montana faces off against others encroaching on their land.
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