“Yellowstone” came to a controversial end with its fifth season, and former star Kevin Costner has some ideas about how things should have wrapped up. Costner’s John Dutton was killed off in the premiere episode of Season 5B after an alleged feud between the star and series creator Taylor Sheridan. When the show finally returned, things were just as dramatic as ever. But by the end of the long-awaited final batch of episodes, the Yellowstone ranch had been sold off, John Dutton didn’t make it out alive, and most of the Duttons (save Wes Bentley’s Jamie) got off scot-free.
As far as Costner is concerned, however, the show should have ended quite differently. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actor praised “Yellowstone” for the way in which it showcased “modern-day ranching.” He then went on to describe the series as a “bit of a soap opera,” before adding his thoughts on where the Duttons ought to have ended up. “We should all be in prison,” he concluded.
There’s no doubt the Dutton clan has collectively carried out its share of shocking crimes and outright moral abominations. This is, after all, a family that had a special dumping ground for bodies known simply as “The Train Station.” If the show was slightly less “soapy,” then we might well have seen the Dutton clan jailed. Yet, it’s that soap opera element that is surely a major factor in the show’s success.
Kevin Costner is right — Yellowstone was a soap
It’s no secret that Taylor Sheridan and Kevin Costner butt heads over “Yellowstone.” During shooting delays, Costner filled the time filming his multi-part “Horizon: An American Saga” series, having grown frustrated with Paramount and Sheridan for not providing a concrete shooting schedule. This made it difficult to pursue his passion project in earnest. On the other hand, Sheridan and the network were hampered by industry-wide strikes. In the end, Costner departed “Yellowstone” on less-than-ideal terms.
As such, Costner’s comments could be seen as the actor taking a small jab at his former series. While “Yellowstone” certainly had the look of a premium drama, it was basically a soap opera that bore all the melodramatic shock-based hallmarks of the genre. It’s the same reason Sam Elliott, star of the “1883” prequel miniseries, told Marc Maron on his WTF podcast that the mothership series was “too much like f***ing ‘Dallas’,” a CBS soap that aired from 1978 to 1991.
Either way, “Yellowstone” is no more, and fans are eagerly awaiting the new Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser-led spinoff, which recently cast Annette Benning. Additionally, CBS is also set to debut a separate spinoff, “Y: Marshals,” starring Luke Grimes in March 2026, and there’s also the long-awaited Michelle Pfeiffer-led project “The Madison,” a present day off-shoot from the main “Yellowstone” timeline. How soapy these upcoming spin-offs will be remains to be seen.