Yellowstone fans might be getting way more episodes than they initially thought.
Most Yellowstone fans seem to have an understanding of what is going on with one of the most popular television shows in America, but we can catch you up really quick with everything we know about Paramount Network’s smash series.
Very long story short… Yellowstone as we know it will come to end following the conclusion of the second half of Season 5, which will start filming soon and premiere in November of this year. After such a long delay, you might as well just call it Season 6, but whatever…
As of right now, the conclusion will NOT feature Kevin Costner, who plays the role of John Dutton, after scheduling conflicts, delayed scripts and the writer’s strike left Costner frustrated with the filming schedule. Costner wants to make his own western film series Horizon, and has alleged that creator Taylor Sheridan (who has a dozen irons in the fire right now) has no regard for his tight schedule, and is asking for more time (which means less money) than Costner was contracted for. Part of me thinks Costner is just kind of over the direction of the storyline too, but either way, the relationship between the two seems to have soured, and rather than working it out, Sheridan and company have opted to just end the series here, and move on to other corners of the Yellowstone universe (a 1944 prequel is in the works as well as a modern day spinoff with Matthew McConaughey… maybe).
Ian Bohen, who plays ranch hand Ryan, recently said they were going to start filming soon, and he seemed pretty confident that 6 episodes was all they had left to do. He said:
“We will go back, rumor has it in May. This summer and then we should be on in November, roughly. We shoot six episodes, November maybe December, and then we go through the holidays and maybe season finale, series finale, maybe around Super Bowl? And then it’ll be the end of an era.”
However, Josh Lucas, who plays a younger John Dutton in the various flashbacks, said that there will be “10, or so, more” coming our way. And here’s the thing… I don’t quite believe him. He seemed way more unsure than Ian Bohen did when discussing the future of the show.
You just read Bohen’s words, listen to Lucas talk about whether or not he will be returning to the show, and then tell me who you believe more:
“As far as I know I am, I did text Taylor a couple months back… I think we’re gonna do 10 or so more episodes and wrap up the story.”
“As far as I know” sounds a lot more speculative than Ian Bohen who specifically said when he as going back to shoot, and how many episodes he was going to shoot. Did something change? I don’t know… does anyone have scripts yet? Probably not.
I probably won’t believe anything until we hear word from the studio, Lord knows how much Sheridan likes to pivot last minute. But if I were a betting man, I’m thinking the final installment of Yellowstone will be 6 more episodes, not 10, and certainly not more than 10.
But… we’ll find out in November. Until then, here’s your mid-season recap of Season 5:
