“Yellowstone” went to the station.
After five seasons, the hit cowboy drama “Yellowstone” ended Sunday night — well, probably.
Season 5 was supposed to be the final season. However, on Wednesday it was reported that stars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser had reached deals to lead a spinoff show about their characters, husband and wife Beth and Rip.
In August, several media outlets also reported that a season 6 was in the works, but Paramount never announced or confirmed it. The Beth and Rip show would be a separate spinoff series, not a sixth season of the main show.
“Yellowstone” star Ian Bohen coyly told the Post that “it’s not necessarily” the end.
Nonetheless, this is apparently the series finale. Going into the supersized episode, the main loose ends to tie up included wondering what would happen to the ranch, whether Beth would kill Jamie, and whether John Dutton would finally be put to rest. All these questions have been answered.
Series stars Wes Bentley and Luke Grimes told The Post the ending would be “heartbreaking.” Were they right?
Spoilers ahead for the “Yellowstone” Season 5 finale, “Life Is a Promise.”
Created by Taylor Sheridan, “Yellowstone” is about the Dutton family, owners of the largest ranch in Montana. It focuses on patriarch John (Kevin Costner), who was also governor before his death, and his adult children Kayce (Luke Grimes), Jamie (Wes Bentley), Beth (Kelly Reilly), and Beth’s husband Rip (Cole Hauser).
Costner left after the first half of season 5, amid rumors of a feud with Sheridan. The series dealt with his absence by killing John, in a hitman attack that was initially staged to look like a suicide – but now everyone knows it was murder. Jamie, who is Montana’s attorney general, was partly guilty of his father’s murder, even though he was not directly involved.
In the finale, Kayce sells the ranch to Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birminghan), the leader of the local Native American community who was sometimes the enemy, sometimes the ally of John Dutton.
Kayce tells Rainwater, “When my ancestors first came here, land was selling for twenty-five dollars an acre, back when it was your land. This is the price I am offering you.
His condition is that Rainwater can never develop the ranch or sell it, and Kayce and his family can stay in East Camp, the area where he lives with his family.
Rainwater agrees to buy the ranch for $1.25 an acre and says, “Congratulations, you’ve just closed the worst land deal since my people sold Manhattan.” »
The family held a small private funeral for John Dutton and laid him to rest at the ranch. It’s just family (minus Jamie) and cowboys.
Beth whispers to her father’s coffin, “You made me promise not to sell an inch, and I hope you understand that I’m the one keeping it.” There might not be any cows on it, but there won’t be any condos either. We won.
She also whispers a promise that she will avenge John.
Rip lowers John’s coffin into the ground himself – even though the priest tells him, “we have people who do that.” And Rip promises at John’s grave that he will take care of Beth.
Later, Beth speeds to Jamie’s house in her car. Rip realizes where she’s going and chases her in his own car, but she has a head start. Rip threatens to call Kayce, but Beth retorts, “Keep Kayce out of this.”
When Jamie gets home, he doesn’t realize Beth is in his house and she attacks him by surprise. Their fight is dirty and vicious. As the siblings brutalize each other, at one point Jamie gains the upper hand and it looks like he might kill Beth. He’s on top of her, they’re both dripping blood and his hands are around her neck as she gasps for air. (Although the suspense is minimized for the viewer, since we know Beth will survive to appear on her spinoff show).
Rip finally catches up with Beth, breaks into the house and pulls Jamie away from her. As Rip holds Jamie in place, Beth fatally stabs Jamie in the chest, keeping his promise that she would be the last thing he would ever see.
Rip worries about what they should do with Jamie’s body, but Beth says she’ll call 911. “We don’t need to hide it, it’s part of the plan,” she explains.
When the cops arrive, an injured Beth tells a story that blames Jamie. In death, Jamie’s reputation is destroyed. A local reporter announces that he has a domestic violence charge (for his fight with Beth) and that impeachment proceedings are being launched against him, to oust him as attorney general.
Beth also tells Rip that she bought them a ranch, so they can get a fresh start. When they go there at the end, a satisfied Rip comments, “The grass here is good,” while Beth mocks the cowboys for being the only ones who are “excited about the grass.”
As Rainwater and his people take control of the ranch and let it return to its natural wildlife state, they ensure that the Dutton family graves remain in place, including John’s headstone.
