Yellowstone will yee its last haw when it returns in November, as Paramount has officially confirmed that the series will end with Season 5. (Don't worry, there's already a sequel series in the works.) The news comes after months of drama behind the scenes, with rumors of a feud between showrunner Taylor Sheridan and star Kevin Costner.
With just six episodes to go in Yellowstone Season 5, there's a lot of unfinished business to take care of before the Western signs off. Civil war has broken out among the Duttons, with Jamie (Wes Bentley) and Beth (Kelly Reilly) at each other's throats, John (Costner) at risk of being impeached, and a devastating illness spreading through Montana wildlife and endangering the Duttons' cattle. Below, we'll go through what we know about the final season, including the release date, trailer, and recaps of the first part of the season to set you up for what's to come.
Kevin Costner, Kelly Reilly, and Wes Bentley, Yellowstone
Paramount Network
Latest news
Yellowstone will end with Season 5, Paramount has announced. The series' final episodes will premiere in November, while a currently untitled sequel series is in the works and set to debut in December. (No casting announcements have been made for the new series, but Matthew McConaughey is reportedly in talks to star.)
This news comes after months of speculation surrounding the question of whether Kevin Costner would return for the remainder of Season 5 (and a report that claimed Costner would leave the show after Season 5, before the final season news was announced). It still remains unclear how involved Costner will be in the final episodes, which Deadline reports will begin production in August.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 release date
Along with the announcement that Yellowstone will end with the second half of its fifth season, Paramount Network confirmed that the series will return with its final episodes in November. There's no exact release date yet, but knowing what month it will return in is promising.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 teaser
Paramount did release a teaser for the back half of the season, but you may notice that it contains no new footage, since the new episodes haven't been filmed yet. Piper Perabo told TV Guide in mid-December that she had no idea what was coming after Episode 8.
Yellowstone Season 5 recaps
Need to catch up on the recent episodes? Read our full recaps and cast interviews for the latest Season 5 episodes.
After four seasons of manipulation, scheming, and fighting for power against the backdrop Montana's relatively untouched beauty, new governor John Dutton is now calling the shots, with Beth (Kelly Reilly) running the show behind him. His intentions are clear in the two-part premiere of Season 5. The ranch hands have not changed their ways, despite John's new gig, which makes for some of the best scenes in the premiere episodes. Read TV Guide's full review of the two-part premiere here:
It remains a mystery whether fans can expect to see Kevin Costner in the final episodes, but Season 5 has already brought a mix of familiar and new faces to the ranch. Josh Lucas returned as young John Dutton for the first time since Season 3. He was joined by Kylie Rogers as young Beth and Kyle Red Silverstein as young Rip. Jacki Weaver also returned as the Duttons' latest business foe, Market Equities CEO Caroline Warner, with Mo Brings Plenty and Wendy Moniz promoted to series regulars as Thomas Rainwater's (Gil Birmingham) right-hand man Mo and governor-turned-senator Lynelle Perry, respectively.
Four new characters have arrived on Yellowstone as well. Kai Caster plays a young cowboy named Rowdy. Lainey Wilson plays a musician, Abby. Lilli Kai plays Clara Brewer, Gov. Dutton's new assistant. And 1883's Dawn Olivieri joined the cast as Sarah Atwood, a Montana newcomer and "corporate shark" who has attached herself to Jamie.
Before the season premiered, it was announced that Kathryn Kelly, who plays Jimmy's fiancée, Emily, had also been promoted to series regular and returned to the show alongside Jefferson White as Jimmy. So far, they've only appeared in the midseason finale and are happily living and working at the Four Sixes Ranch in Texas.
The back half of the season is also likely to feature more Orli Gottesman as Halie, a young, confident girl drawn to Carter. So far, we've only seen her at the county fair and briefly in the midseason finale. "In Season 5, Halie becomes that person who gives Carter the chance to come out of his shell and to teach him not only about himself, but he finds himself always wanting Halie to be around," reads her character description. "Halie comes along and now there is someone who can fit that mold and be there for him."
Yellowstone Season 5 picked up after the bloody events of the Season 4 finale; Beth (Kelly Reilly), who we all know is the real brains behind every operation on the Yellowstone-Dutton Ranch, manipulated her adopted brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) into killing his biological father, Garrett (Will Patton). After it was revealed that Garrett was the one who ordered the attempted hits on John, Beth, and Kayce (Luke Grimes) back in Season 3, Beth figured he had it coming. She also made sure to hang onto the evidence, so now she's got Jamie under her thumb and out of the governor's race, clearing the way for their father to be the only Dutton running for office. She also just got hitched to Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and watched her father's new, confusing vegan special friend (Piper Perabo) head off to jail, so basically, it's Beth's world and everyone else is just living in it.
Complicating Beth's quest for world/Montana domination is the fact that Kayce has been on a heck of a spiritual journey that showed him a vision of two paths. At least one of those paths, as he told Monica (Kelsey Asbille), would result in "the end of us." Whatever that means, it can't be good.
Yellowstone is officially getting a sequel series, which will premiere in December. The series is currently untitled, and will reportedly star Matthew McConaughey.
A prequel limited series, 1883, aired on Paramount+ late in 2021, and revealed the origin story of the Dutton family arriving in Montana. The series starred Isabel May as the brave and adventurous teenager Elsa, elder sister to John Dutton's great-grandfather, John Sr., and Tim McGraw as her father, James.
A second Yellowstone prequel, titled 1923, premiered in December 2022. It picks up 40 years after 1883 with the next generation of Duttons tending to their ranch during the aftermath of World War I and the start of Prohibition. It stars Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as Jacob and Cara Dutton, the brother and sister-in-law to Tim McGraw's James Dutton from 1883. The premiere of 1923 also revealed some hidden secrets about the Dutton family tree.
Sheridan is also writing a Yellowstone spin-off called 6666, which takes place at the real historic Four Sixes ranch in Texas (which Sheridan owns) and tells the story of how the ranch has continued to operate in the same way today as it did over a century ago. That spin-off will air on Paramount Network, along with the original show.
A Sheridan-produced limited series, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, starring David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves, was originally expected to exist within the Yellowstone universe as a prequel to 1883, but will now function as its own standalone series.
30 fun facts about Yellowstone
If you think you're a fan of Yellowstone but want to become a super fan, then check out TV Guide's compilation of 30 (and counting) fun facts and behind-the-scenes secrets about the show, including how you can visit the real Dutton ranch and what it takes to be a cowboy on a Taylor Sheridan show.
