“Yellowstone” is over. At least for now.
The final episode of what was being referred to as Season 5B, “Life Is a Promise” closed the chapter on the mainline series and was written and directed by the show’s godhead Taylor Sheridan, who made sure to wrap up enough storylines while leaving the door open for further adventures. (Paramount Network refused to describe the show as a series finale and news that Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser had signed on for a follow-up series hit just before the finale aired.)
Here are the big things that happened in the “Yellowstone” finale:
The Yellowstone Ranch was sold
This was implied at the very end of the penultimate episode — that Kayce (Luke Grimes) had figured out a way to sell the ranch to Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and the tribe for almost nothing, and in return they would do almost nothing to the ranch. It would go back to the way it was when Rainwater’s ancestors lost the land. And they followed through with this plan in this episode, with Kayce proposing the arrangement just before John Dutton’s funeral and signed the paperwork right after. (It was unclear who on the reservation was getting the papers ready in those few hours. Whoever it was, give them a raise!)
Also, in a nice bit of writing, they sold the ranch for $1.25 an acre, what the Duttons originally paid for it all those years (and prequel series) ago. Rainwater bought it for $1.1 million. As he said — it’s as lousy a deal as when his ancestors sold Manhattan. But unlike Manhattan, there will be no skyscrapers on the Dutton ranch.
At the end of the episode, the process had already begun — the Yellowstone signage was being hoisted off of various buildings and the members of the tribe were seemingly dismantling some of the ranch house. Maybe they’ll rebuild it in a more appropriate style.
John Dutton was buried
This was, oddly, the main focal point of the episode. The batch of episodes started with the murder of John Dutton (Kevin Costner), so it might as well conclude with his burial. It was just the cowboys, the family (minus Jamie, of course) and a priest. It was pretty simple. As Beth remarked, “I don’t need ceremony to highlight the magnitude of this moment.”
Rip personally buried John at the end of the ceremony. People were moved. But Beth, leaning into the coffin, vowed vengeance against the man responsible for John’s death – Jamie (Wes Bentley), of course. Speaking of…
Beth killed Jamie
Yes, it finally happened. The showdown we had been waiting all (half) a season for was here. After the funeral, Beth slipped into her brother-murdering jeans and paid Jamie a visit. For most of the episode, it was looking like Jamie had a chance to slip away. He got in front of the investigation by publicly stating that his father’s death and the death of Sarah Atwood, the fixer who arranged the hit, were probably linked. He was going to do everything in his power to get to the bottom of this. And then Beth paid him a visit.
The confrontation itself was pretty vicious — they both threw themselves around Jamie’s conservatively furnished kitchen with much aplomb. Beth sprayed some horrible bear spray (or something) in his face, which caused Jamie to dump a truly comical amount of milk in his eyes. (Seriously — that was so much milk!)
And Jamie got the upper hand, pinning Beth down and choking her violently. He probably would have gotten away with that too, had Rip not shown up and kicked Jamie’s ass. Of course Beth made Rip stop – she wanted to finish him off. And she did. She plunged a big knife into his chest and told him that she wanted to be the last thing that Jamie ever saw. Yikes.
Of course, this was just the beginning — Rip and Lloyd took his body to “the train station” (the chasm between Montana and Wyoming where the enemies of the Dutton ranch are typically disposed of), burned Jamie’s car and Beth came up with a story just plausible enough for the cops to buy. All in a day’s work!
6666 got a new cowboy
Teeter (Jennifer Landon), distraught over the death of her beloved Colby, decides to follow Jimmy (Jefferson White) and Travis (Sheridan) back to the 6666, the iconic Texas ranch that Sheridan (in real life) now owns. For years they have been talking about another “Yellowstone” spinoff known simply as “6666” and tonight we got a new cowboy for that series, should it ever come to pass. Should be fun.
Kayce resigned from the livestock commission but stayed on the ranch
One of the provisions in the contract with Rainwater was that Kayce and his family can stay on the ranch, in the parcel of land where they’ve been for the past few episodes. He talked about the weight of the badge, which implies that he is resigning from the livestock commission but working animals on their section of the ranch. At the very end of the episode, Kayce and his son are seen buying cows. Hey, it’s not a lot but it’s a life.
Beth and Rip left town
Beth, Rip and their adoptive son Carter (Finn Little) have left town altogether, posting up in a new area that Beth had purchased. Just like Kayce, Rip will work the land with his son. There was a lovely symmetry to where they ended up, with Beth hanging on a fence post, like she did so many times at the Yellowstone, being one of the final images (for now) of the series. We’ll see where Beth and Rip go on the follow-up series. But for now, they’ve found peace.
Past episodes of “Yellowstone” are available to stream on Peacock. Season 5 will stream at a later date.
