Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Yellowstone’ Charts New Melodramatic Pastures Without Kevin Costner

Alci Rengifo

It is hard to keep a big franchise down. Following an imposed hiatus and the loss of its major star, Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” returns, grasping on to its most melodramatic impulses to survive. Fans know of the drama that has taken place behind the scenes. Pandemic-related delays, the big WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and Kevin Costner’s own filmmaking ambitions led to a two-year gap between the first and second half of season five. After waiting around, Costner eventually wiggled out of his commitment to the show and Sheridan was left having to figure out what to do without the face that defined its rugged, all-American spirit. The midseason premiere, “Desire Is All You Need,” manages to kill off Costner’s John Dutton before turning into a soapy elegy for the fading away of cowboy culture.

It begins outside of the Montana governor’s mansion. Police have surrounded the place. What could have possibly happened to patriarch-turned-governor John Dutton? Tracey Dutton (Luke Grimes) arrives and learns John apparently shot himself during the night. His impeachment trial was set to begin later that day. Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) soon arrives and refuses to believe it. She instantly suspects adoptive sibling, State Attorney General Jamie (Wes Bentley), is behind it. It is a terrible time for Beth to be alone. Her husband and Dutton family ranch foreman Rip (Cole Hauser) left Montana six weeks earlier to graze their herd at the 6666 Ranch in Texas. The reason being that bison left their own pastures with brucellosis. He needs to get back soon, since conspiracy is in the air in Montana, where we learn it was Jamie’s malevolent girlfriend, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Oliveri), who planned John’s demise.

When “Yellowstone” premiered in 2018, it became a hit as a grandiose piece of television with its widescreen images framing Sheridan’s update on the modern Western. He has always been a writer of overly dramatic gestures, but “Yellowstone” has allowed him to go off the rails. By the fourth season, the show had become a big-budget exaggeration, like “Dallas” on steroids. One can’t deny that for certain fans its soapiness has become its addictive quality, with John fighting against corporate outsiders wanting to encroach on his land, running for governor, surviving assassination attempts, etc. The Dutton children all have their own dramas swirling around this series, from Jamie’s own trauma over realizing he was adopted to Beth not being able to have children because of a long ago abortion incident. Meanwhile, Sheridan expanded his own Stetson-wearing universe with spinoffs including “1883” and “1923,” the latter lassoing A-listers Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. Basking in the perks of being a major showrunner, Sheridan won’t stop and has yet another spinoff, “6666,” in the works, and a modern oil industry-focused Western, “Landman,” premiering this month, starring Billy Bob Thornton.

“Yellowstone” is his biggest brand, with its legions of fans, and Sheridan works around the absence of Costner in a sly way. “Desire Is All You Need” spends only bits of time on the twists. Of course we know John didn’t kill himself, since that would go against the sheer ethos of the man. We all know he would have preferred to go down fighting for his beloved territory. The episode gives a quick, dark explanation when Sarah sits down with the representative of some shadowy organization that can organize an expensive, convincing death. She wants a heart attack but an autopsy might reveal toxins. Suicide is offered as a much better option, with easier ways of planting physical evidence. Later, in a classic moment of absurd “Yellowstone” dramatics, Sarah gleefully meets Jamie in a bedroom with champagne, reminding him that he wanted his father dead. Wes Bentley can still sell the guilt in such an overcooked moment.

Most of the episode follows Rip through drier Texas vistas with his team of ranch hands. As if to ease everyone back into the show and shift more attention toward Sheridan’s “6666,” the writing prefers to focus on sweeping ideas of West Texas cowboy life. The gang makes a pit stop and some children ask if they can pet their horses. A boy tells Rip he knew cowboys were real. “Not for long,” replies the foreman. This will be Rip’s running theme, that his way of life is quickly dissipating. At 6666 Ranch, where Rip reunites with Jimmy (Jefferson White), characters lament that the old legends are dying and no one is trying to replace them. Billy Ray Klapper, a renowned spur maker who died recently, makes an endearing cameo when Rip admires his handy work. Rip will then camp with the ranch hands, looking up at the sky and reminding them that with new industries and free trade agreements, in 30 years there may not be any real cowboys left. 

The episode ends with Rip returning home and Beth rushing into his arms, howling with rage and eager to go after Jamie. Sheridan tries to create the clear mood that despite Costner leaving, this show will carry on – or at least be finished off on his terms. The writing doesn’t linger too much on requiems for John Dutton. Costner departing one of the biggest shows in America, leaving behind a showrunner that some might think is getting a little big for his britches, probably left little desire by Sheridan for anything like a tribute episode. The actor’s own post-“Yellowstone” venture, the bloated Western movie project “Horizon: An American Saga,” was met with tepid box office and hostile reviews. Sheridan now has to prove whether “Yellowstone” will be worth following beyond this season, or just use these final season five episodes to set the stage for “6666,” as this series is beginning to mirror the outsized ambitions of its maker. How it survives may prove as entertaining to watch as the Dutton clan now going to war with itself.

“Yellowstone” season five part two premieres Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount Network and 10 p.m. ET on CBS and airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount Network.