How Did ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 End? Breaking Down [Spoiler’s] Death

Yellowstone’s fifth season has finally come to a close, and nothing will ever be the same at the Dutton Ranch.

After weeks of threatening Jamie (Wes Bentley), Beth (Kelly Reilly) came through on her promise to avenge the death of her father, John Dutton (Kevin Costner), in the Sunday, December 15, season finale. Following John’s funeral, Beth waits for Jamie at his home and then attacks him with bear spray. The two get into a violent altercation before Beth lets him know she sold the ranch for $1.1 million to the reservation. Rip (Cole Hauser) arrives and gets Jamie off of Beth, only for Beth to stab him to death. (Rip later took Jamie’s body to the train station to hide the evidence.)

Earlier in the episode, Kacey (Luke Grimes) refers to the vision he had in the season 4 finale, in which he realized he had two paths: to save his family or the ranch. He decides to save his family and sells the land to Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) for $1.25 per acre — the same price his ancestors bought it for — under the condition that Kayce can keep East Camp and that Thomas will never develop or sell the land. Thomas and Kayce share a blood oath, making them brothers to each other and to the land.

As for the bunkhouse crew, Walker (Ryan Bingham) follows Laramie (Hassie Harrison) to Texas, Jimmy (Jefferson White) heads back to the Four Sixes with fiancée Emily (Kathryn Kelly) and Teeter (Jen Landon) asks Travis (Yellowstone cocreator Taylor Sheridan) for a job at Bosque Ranch. Jake (Jake Ream) and Ethan (Ethan Lee) take jobs at N Bar Ranch in Montana, while Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) looks for work in West Yellowstone. Ryan (Ian Bohen) is the first to leave, heading to Fort Worth, Texas, to see Abby (Lainey Wilson) during her show at Billy Bob’s Texas in Forth Worth, where he professes his love for her.

Looking toward the future, Beth purchases a ranch 40 miles west of Dillon for her, Rip and Carter (Finn Little), while Kayce — who teased that he planned to start his own brand — enjoys life in East Camp with Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and Tate (Brecken Merrill).

The second half of Yellowstone’s fifth season premiered in November, nearly two years after season 5A wrapped in January 2023. The show’s return was initially delayed amid reports Sheridan and Costner were feuding over filming schedules. Both men denied the speculation at the time, but Costner, 69, confirmed his departure from the western drama earlier this year. Season 5B was further delayed by the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of last year.

The season 5B premiere finally confirmed how Sheridan, 54, wrote off Costner’s character. Police discovered John’s body in the governor’s mansion and initially ruled his death a suicide. It was soon revealed that Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) had hired a hitman to murder John and stage the scene.

Sarah claimed she did it for Jamie — who last season implied he wanted his father out of the picture — but the estranged Dutton wasn’t happy with the way she took matters into her own hands. Things only got worse for Jamie when Sarah died too, meeting her end when the hitman’s team assassinated her as an attempt to distance themselves from John’s murder.

Beth and Kayce, meanwhile, never believed that their father had died by suicide and quickly figured out that a nefarious operator was at work. They immediately suspected Jamie and made it their mission to ruin his life (with Beth reminding him along the way that he was never really a Dutton to begin with).

Related: Are Yellowstone’s Confusing Time Jumps Over for Good?

Paramount+ Yellowstone fans were prepared for the absence of Kevin Costner when season 5B finally premiered earlier this month, but they weren’t ready for the show to start playing with a nonlinear timeline. Since the Paramount Network drama returned on November 10, many viewers have been confused by the time jumps, which have been presented […]

While the season 5B finale was originally set to be Yellowstone’s series finale, it now appears the show will continue in another form. Earlier this month, Variety and Deadline reported that Reilly, 47, and Hauser, 49, had finalized deals to reprise their respective roles as Beth and Rip in a spinoff series. According to Deadline, the new show will have the word “Yellowstone” in the title — unlike previous spinoffs 1883 and 1923 — because it will share “the most DNA” with the flagship series.

Last month, Reilly said she would be happy regardless of Yellowstone’s fate.

“I loved this season. There were some really different territories to explore, so I’m not clinging to her. I’m happy to put her back in her padlocked box,” she told Town & Country in a November cover story. “I am definitely interested in Beth, and who she is after some things have happened. Who is she in peace? As an actor you’re like, ‘Ooh, let me at that.’ Wouldn’t it be fun to watch Beth go to therapy?”