“Yellowstone” apparently ends with a fiery, crazy finale

“Yellowstone” — the popular TV show about a family-run ranch in Montana and its clashes with political enemies, local tribes and bidding wars — apparently came to an end Sunday night with a finale that put the show on hold for now, not forever.

The finale, which aired on Paramount Network and Paramount Plus, concluded the saga of the Dutton family’s fight to maintain their Yellowstone ranch while leaving the doors open to co-creator Taylor Sheridan’s expansive “Yellowstone” television universe.

Although it is not entirely clear whether the episode was a season finale or a series finale (there is evidence to support both), the final episode of this block of episodes (“Season 5B”) was about a sibling murder, the realization of one centuries-old prophecy and a patriarch’s funeral all led to a relatively busy finale.

Released in 2018, “Yellowstone” follows John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and his family, who own one of the largest ranches in Montana. It became one of the most-watched television shows and a pop culture force, appealing to Western fans and even boosting tourism to Montana.

The first half of season five, which comprised eight episodes that aired from December 2022 to January 2023, focused on Costner’s Dutton as governor of Montana. The second half of the season started in November 2024, but without Costner, apparently due to a dispute with co-creator Taylor Sheridan (about which many details were reported in specialist publications). Meanwhile, Costner set about creating his own sprawling, if problematic, epic.

In the opening of the second half of season five, it was shown that Costner’s character had seemingly died from a gunshot wound. (It was later revealed that Jamie Dutton, his son and one of the series’ villainous characters, played by Wes Bentley, was involved in John’s death.) So the final part of the series focused on John’s daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) and her husband Rip (Cole Hauser). (This portion of the episodes also featured Sheridan himself as a horse trainer named Travis, whose girlfriend was played by Bella Hadid.)

The finale, titled “Life is a Promise,” answered numerous questions about the final season of the series. For one thing, ownership of the ranch was transferred from the Dutton family to Broken Rock Reservation leader Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), who agreed to purchase the ranch for $1.25 per acre and repatriate the land to return to its natural state. Ranch saved!

We also learned the ultimate fate of John Dutton. No, there is no twist return here. Instead, the Dutton family and all of Yellowstone’s workers bury John Dutton in a backyard burial, where he lies buried next to his ancestors. It is suggested that an eagle flying nearby may be John Dutton, but Costner himself does not appear.

As for Jamie’s murder plans, Dutton’s daughter Beth confronts him in a bloody sibling dispute. Beth even uses a bear attack mace on Jamie, throwing milk in his face to lessen the effects. Finally, Jamie gains an advantage and threatens to frame her for her father’s murder and then sell the Yellowstone land, but she reveals that the ranch has already been sold – giving her the opportunity to kill her brother by stabbing him. (Families – they’re tough.)

While Beth relaxes with a cigarette, Rip dumps the body into a ravine in Wyoming. He pours gasoline on Jamie’s car, lights a match and lets it burn. Goodbye, Jamie.

After a cameo from Lainey Wilson (her character is “the one who escaped from one of the ranch hands”), the episode ends with a prophecy that ties Sheridan’s sprawling universe together. After Rainwater’s tribe takes over the Yellowstone Ranch, we hear a voiceover from Elsa Dutton (the narrator of the spin-off show “1883”, played by Isabel May). She confirms that her father acquired the land seven generations ago and that he was told that he would eventually give the land back.

Well, here we are. The prophecy has now come true as the Dutton family no longer owns the ranch.

Not everyone liked the finale. Many fans on social media were a little disappointed that the show ended with a bit of a whimper given the heights it reached in its first three seasons. Sheridan also attracted some attention for including himself on the show, even though he was never part of the family drama. Hardcore fans missed Costner, while casual fans wondered whether or not this was really the end of Yellowstone.

It’s unclear whether Yellowstone will get another season. All signs point to this being the end of this particular show, especially with Costner out and a Rip and Beth spin-off on the horizon. Not to mention reports of another show called The Madison, a spin-off starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Fox about a family from New York who moves to Montana. However, the promo for Sunday’s episode doesn’t exactly scream “series finale,” and the ranch hasn’t burned down or been turned into a shopping center, so Sheridan has plenty of room to return to the Yellowstone Ranch.

But if this was the end, at least “Yellowstone” fans can look back on a finale that brought the series full circle and concluded the story of the Dutton Ranch – with fire, chaos and plenty of family drama.