A strong end to a season without Kevin Costner

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 14, “Life Is a Promise,” which premiered Sunday, December 15, on Paramount Network.

Kevin Costner’s early departure from Yellowstone brought the show to a halt.

This happens with almost every series that finds itself in this difficult situation. No “Office” fan cites the seasons following Steve Carell’s departure as their favorite. The X-Files failed when David Duchovny left. And while firing Kevin Spacey was the right decision, the final season of House of Cards on Netflix was forgettable without the lead.

Meanwhile, Costner took an unfortunate risk and left the lucrative “Yellowstone” after the first half of season five to concentrate on his big-budget vanity project, the “Horizon” film series. Cut to late 2024, where “Yellowstone” still has high ratings, while the first “Horizon” was a box office hit and the second doesn’t have a theatrical release date.

Although it was an unwise financial decision, Costner’s departure appeared to be permanent, forcing series co-creator Taylor Sheridan to write the final six episodes of this season as a tribute to Costner’s John Dutton, the owner of the eponymous ranch series and the emotional intersection of all storylines. And while the first five episodes were tough, Sunday night’s finale demonstrated the emotional resonance of one of television’s greatest dramas.

For a show where there are so many deals that have to suddenly come to an end, the first few episodes of Season 5 took a lot of time. John’s death was described several times before he actually died shown Three episodes later. There were frequent flashbacks that slowed the momentum of the narrative. Sheridan received numerous product placements and shots of his pecs. “Yellowstone” — a series known for wild gunfights, steamy sex and a scene in which Rip opened a cooler and threw a poisonous snake in a man’s face — was in danger of becoming boring.

However, the finale of “Life Is a Promise” was a successful episode because it highlighted the two most different yet compelling aspects of the series: the mix of soapy violence and thoughtful cowboy poetry. The former met Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Jamie (Wes Bentley), who fought a battle to the death in his ready-made kitchen, with blood flowing and flesh being torn like gladiators. But when Beth finally plunged a knife into her brother’s heart, it was the catharsis that the series had been leading to for years, as the sibling relationship took ever greater steps toward the inevitable.

But the real key to the series’ emotional core came at the climax of their fight, when Jamie growls at the troubled Beth: “You don’t even have to worry about the inheritance tax on the ranch anymore because of the class lawsuit that’s going to cover every inch of this place.” and then you can sit back and watch as I turn it into the most desirable vacation destination in America.” Yellowstone, like the prequel series 1883 and 1923, always about land: who owns it, who wants it and what do you want to do with it? For much of the series, John wanted to keep his land so that it would remain pristine and untouched, while Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) sought it for the reservation as it was their ancestral land. Meanwhile, townspeople were constantly flying out – almost always with Jamie’s help – trying to make Montana their vacation destination.

Ultimately, progress and development come with time, and it was inevitable that the Duttons, no matter how rich or high up in government they were, could not forever withstand the dirty political tricks they were confronted with week after week. By selling the land to the reservation at a rock-bottom price, Beth and Kayce (Luke Grimes) knew the move was more important than ownership. It stands for freedom and a blockade against the incursion of industry to build cheap condominiums.

In the first episode of Season 5B, in a relaxed scene around a campfire in Texas, Rip (Cole Hauser) laments the disappearance of Western traditions and the cowboy lifestyle, saying, “In 30 years, no one will be doing anything like this anymore.” Nobody.” Although As it looked like the fight against progress would be the theme of these final episodes, Walker (Ryan Bingham) delivered the truest wisdom, speaking of a country that will “forget you until you disappear.”

“We won,” Beth whispers to John’s coffin in the emotional heart of the ending. As their scars heal, the burns on the cowboys’ chests fade, and the memories of Jamie, John, and their ancestors fade, the vast property once known as Dutton’s Yellowstone Ranch lives on.