Warning: This article contains spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5John Dutton’s fate had been uncertain ever since news of Kevin Costner’s departure fromYellowstonefirst broke, but his passing still stunned viewers. WhenYellowstonereturned for its (supposedly) concluding episodes earlier this month,Costner’s beloved characterwas quickly killed off. Series fans took to social media to express their anger and disappointment with the show’s farewell to John. Despite fan opinions, however, some of those closest to the series think that his death shouldn’t be that shocking. Director Christina Voros and actorLuke Grimeshave recently shared their thoughts on John Dutton’s final chapter.
According to Voros, who was at the helm of severalYellowstoneepisodes, including “Desire Is All You Need,” where John dies, the audience reaction was “strange” given that it was known Costner would not return to the series (viaThe Hollywood Reporter). She explained:
I was reading Twitter and it’s strange the number of people who seemed upset that John Dutton was killed off, despite knowing that Kevin himself said he wasn’t coming back to the show.
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Christina Voros added:
“I think even in the face of that information, people don’t want it to be true. And in a weird way, it’s life imitating art. There were a lot of people who were outraged that John was killed — and you’re supposed to be outraged he was killed. The characters are outraged that he’s killed. So in a strange way, it is the point. You are not supposed to be okay with it.”
Luke Grimes Defends John Dutton’s Shocking Death
In an interview withPEOPLE, Grimes, who has starred in the series as Kayce Dutton, John’s youngest son, since its 2018 premiere, said thatJohn’s sudden demisehighlighted the unexpected nature of death, sparking real life emotions:
If it happened in such a shocking, quick way, that’s how life works, right? I mean, when you lose people, it’s sometimes not how you planned and not when you think it’s going to be.
Yellowstone Couple Luke Grimes & Kelsey Asbille Tease Their Fate in the Final Season
Luke Grimes stars as Kayce Dutton, husband to Monica Long Dutton, played by Kelsey Asbille, and the actors spoke with us about the final episodes.
“There’s been some negative reactions. I think they feel sort of cheated,” admitted Grimes, who also revealed that not only was John’s exit from the series always part of the plan, but that audiences likely saw more of the character than was initially anticipated:
“And what I would say to that is, I think we were all lucky to have Kevin on the show as long as we did.It was always the plan for him to have to go away for the story to really ramp up, and that was the story. You lose a patriarch of the family. Can the kids do it on their own? […]I think originally he was supposed to die much earlier. So, in a way, they got way more of John Dutton than they were going to originally get. I would keep that in mind.”
Following the release of “Desire Is All You Need,” which marks the Part 2 premiere of the show’s ongoing fifth season,Costner said he had not seen the episodeand that hearing that his character had died by suicide didn’t make him “wanna rush to go see it.” Costner also speculated that John’s death could be a “red herring,” and as viewers now know, it turns out that John’s demise was not a result of suicide after all. Costner famously exitedYellowstoneafter scheduling conflicts interfered with his passion project, the film seriesHorizon: An American Saga;the first part of that Western epic is available to stream on Max.
Taylor Sheridan’sYellowstoneairsSundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Paramount Network. The final episode is set to air on August 24, 2025.
Yellowstone
Yellowstone stars Kevin Costner and centers on his character John Dutton. Dutton and his family live on a cattle ranch just a few hours away from Yellowstone National Park. The series chronicles the family’s struggle to defend their home from an Indian reservation and land developers. As if their life wasn’t complicated enough, the Duttons also have medical issues, political aspirations, and family secrets stacked against them.
