Yellowstone star Kelly Reilly reveals that it was always creator Taylor Sheridan’s plan to have Kevin Costner be absent from season 5, part 2. After first airing in 2018, the hit Paramount Network neo-Western returned in 2022, continuing the story of Costner’s John Dutton and his attempts to protect his Montana ranch. After numerous delays and reports of behind-the-scenes drama, which ultimately resulted in Costner announcing that he wouldn’t be reprising his role, Yellowstone season 5, part 2, is now set to bring the show to a close.

In a recent interview with EW, Reilly, who plays Beth Dutton on the show, reveals that Sheridan always intended to have Costner’s character be absent from Yellowstone‘s final batch of episodes. Reilly doesn’t elaborate on exactly what Sheridan’s specific plan was, but the creator is said to have shared his vision for the end of the series with her back in season 1. Check out Reilly’s comment below:

What Sheridan’s Plan Means For The Show (& John)

Sheridan’s Vision Explained

The fact that Sheridan always planned to have John be absent from the final episodes of Yellowstone is good news for season 5, part 2. Sheridan has been steering the hit series since season 1 and the show has become massively popular. If a conclusion without John is what Sheridan has been building towards this whole time, the show could end up going out on a high note.

What Reilly doesn’t address, however, is exactly when and how John was supposed to leave the show. It’s very likely that Sheridan always intended to kill John off toward the end of the series, but he probably also thought he’d get to pull this moment off differently than how it will now end up playing out. If John does die, for example, it will now have to happen off-screen without any kind of proper end to that character arc.

Though behind-the-scenes conflicts may have caused Costner to depart the Yellowstone cast, his character has been crucial to the story of all five seasons thus far. Even if John was always supposed to die towards the show’s ending, it’s a shame that this moment now won’t have the emotional weight that it otherwise would have had. John dying off-screen, if that is how his arc concludes, is sure not to be as satisfying for audiences.

The fact that Sheridan’s larger plan for the show remains intact, however, could mean that other characters like Beth, Rip (Cole Hauser), Jamie (Wes Bentley), and Kayce (Luke Grimes) get strong endings. It remains to be seen how Yellowstone will wrap its story up (and whether it gets a season 6), but Sheridan has evidently been planning the conclusion of the Dutton storyline for some time.