Major spoilers below for anyone who hasn't yet watched the Season5B premiere of Yellowstone — here's how to watch — so be warned!
While there's still some mystery to just how many upcoming Yellowstone series are on the way, and whether or not the rumored sixth season is yet to come, the first episode in 22 months already answered the biggest question heading into the final Season 5 episodes: How will the Duttons' story end without Kevin Costner? John Dutton's doomed fate was revealed in the opening minutes before a sudden flashback to the days immediately following the midseason finale, though we have yet to see what actually went down with John.
CinemaBlend’s Riley Utley spoke with Yellowstone stars Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly ahead of the long-awaited return, and the latter reflected on Rip’s departure for Texas as a prior scene worth revisiting ahead of the new episodes, and they teased Beth’s eventual trip down south to see her man. This led Reilly to talk about this six-episode half-season incorporating more flashbacks than usual, which led to a bit of speculation on my part. Here’s what she told us:
So you know how Taylor has always played with time-jumping? We go back, we always do flashbacks. So there's a lot of flashbacks in this season. But it's flashbacks from very recent. I think it's like three months before, a month before, and sometimes it's just literally a day before. So it kind of does take you a little bit to sort of [follow].We haven't seen it, but I remember when we were filming, it was like, ‘Well, how will the audience know? Where are we, before or after?' So this is something that's quite fun. This is a fun moment.
Kelly Reilly was pleased as punch to have a topic about the new season that she could actually talk about with any sort of frankness, since everything involving John's role in the season was kept under lockdown until the episode aired. So in the moment, it wasn't clear at all what the timeline context was for the flashbacks she talked about, nor how much the time difference mattered between six months prior and the day prior.
But after watching the premiere and understanding that this chapter of the story is essentially playing out across two different timelines, then those timespan deptails become extremely important. Since the "day before" has to be referring to the day before John's death, right?
Will Viewers Actually See John Dutton's Death Play Out?
The answer here is probably a mix of yes and no, and will depend on exactly how John was handled by whoever Sarah Atwell visited in "Desire Is All You Need." Had the death been a simpler situation, I could understand if that one shot of the nondescript body on the bathroom floor would be the only time this season went back to that scene.
But since that outcome was a result of Jamie's boneheaded musings, Sarah's ruthless ambition, and a mysterious hitman organization, with Beth and Kayce harboring suspicions about the claims of suicide, then that makes it fairly vital for viewers to in some way witness what John's final day or evening consisted of. It's obviously hard to do without Costner involved, but would still provide more closure than seeing a faceless body after all the recent trailers with John's face front and center.
Also, if not for adding more insight into John's death, would there be a better reason for Yellowstone to show viewers a flashback to the day before John died? Well, I guess something could happen down in Texas that would be cause for concern or celebration.
Cole Hauser shared his advice for the season's use of flashbacks, and shared a non-spoilery take on how cowboying at the Four Sixes shakes things up visually.
You must pay attention [to the flashbacks]. . . . I mean, it opens up with a bang, for sure. And it's cool to see a different place too. Texas is its own animal on its own. So it's a really different look for Yellowstone.
I can do without any Texas flashbacks with more characters getting stung by scorpions. I'm not sure if the show is taking requests or not, but...
Yellowstone airs Sunday nights on Paramount Network at 8:00 p.m. ET, with five episodes left to go in the fifth season.
