Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2 is proof the series can’t survive without Kevin Costner

After almost two years off the air, Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2 resumed in November, and it’s shaping up to be a meandering disappointment.

John Dutton was unceremoniously killed off during the midseason premiere after Kevin Costner’s controversial departure, leaving the show in a sorry state as the remaining characters tried to pick up the pieces.

As we inch towards the finish line, it’s hard not to worry about how the show will end because there’s been a lack of focus on the important characters and, of course, this great John Dutton-sized hole that won’t be repaired by the time the show concludes.

If the rumors are true that Yellowstone Season 6 is in the works, the series will need a creative reset to make any future Dutton family adventures worthwhile.

John’s death could have been a spectacle, but it played out with a whimper because series creator Taylor Sheridan didn’t want Kevin on the cast list for the final episodes.

It was impossible to write out the show’s biggest draw. Let’s face it: Kevin is probably responsible for the series reaching such a broad audience.

He has a legion of fans who will follow him wherever he goes, but Taylor is putting too much stock in the other characters’ ability to anchor the series in his absence.

Kevin Costner was the glue that held Yellowstone together

Yellowstone has always centered around John and the people in his orbit, whether that’s enemies or allies.

Taking him out of the show has eradicated that constant, and the rest of the characters are trying to find their footing to prove the series can stand on its own two feet without him.

With the extra screen time, the series has focused on the wrong characters, such as Jimmy (Jefferson White) in his new life at 6666.

Once upon a time, we were supposed to get a spinoff set at the iconic ranch, but the action and intrigue paled compared to what we’ve come to expect from the show.

The beauty of Yellowstone has always been that, due to John’s presence, all of the characters’ lives were intertwined. Now, we have a show with many characters floating around without much connective tissue.

While the plot to kill John could have been compelling, the actual act of killing him off ruined some of the series’ most promising characters.

Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2 has squandered the potential to tell a compelling final storyline

When Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) arrived on the scene and immersed herself in Jamie’s (Wes Bentley) life, she was brimming with potential. She was clever and cunning and knew how to get results while considering the bigger picture.

She had the potential to become one of Yellowstone’s best adversaries, but the writing for her fell off a cliff when the show returned, and the great character was sacrificed to use her as a plot device to end John’s life.

Sarah’s role in his death was despicable, but the Sarah we met in the first half of the season would have covered all bases and not left anything that could blow back on her or Jamie.

It’s a shame that Yellowstone killed Sarah before she got any comeuppance or even a last argument with Beth (Kelly Reilly).

Had John still been in the mix in these final episodes, there could have been some payoff for Sarah, but like many other characters, she became an afterthought in the wake of his demise.

Beth, Rip (Cole Hauser), and Kayce (Luke Grimes) are perfectly capable of keeping the series going, but the creatives seem focused on padding out these final episodes with more of the peripheral characters, which has completely ruined our interest in the show.

The stakes have never been higher, but the series has imploded over a handful of episodes, and we can confidently say that it won’t end while the show is still great, which is a shame.

If this really is the end, it would have been far more worthwhile to work around Kevin’s schedule to give Yellowstone the send-off it deserves. The series finale of Yellowstone could tarnish the franchise to the point that more spinoffs may not be possible.

What are your thoughts on how Yellowstone has handled John’s demise?

Yellowstone airs on Sundays at 8/7c on Paramount Network. You can stream Seasons 1-5A on Peacock.