Some spoilers below for Yellowstone’s Season 4 conclusion regarding Rip and Beth’s storylines, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched!
2022 kicked off in one of the best and worst ways possible, as Yellowstone's super-sized Season 4 finale wrapped up its roller coaster of a season with some big moments and one fairly major death. But I think many hardcore fans would agree that one of the episode’s most pleasurable highlights was the scene in which Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton and Cole Hauser’s Rip Wheeler finally celebrated an impromptu wedding ceremony, complete with a kidnapped priest who could not have been more good-natured and agreeable. And the actors were just as happy to bring that moment to fans as we were to watch it play out, John’s discomfort notwithstanding.
Now that the fourth season is behind us, though, both Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly are looking ahead to the future, with the stars taking to social media to thank viewers for supporting the Paramount Network drama on the road to Season 5. Here’s what Hauser had to say.
The actor isn’t just being cocky with that last comment, either. Even though the finalized numbers hadn’t been released yet at the time Cole Hauser shared that post on Instagram, Yellowstone’s Season 4 finale brought in 10.3 million total viewers, with 9.3 million tuning in on Paramount Plus, and the other million or so watching on CMT. It’s the biggest cable TV audience since The Walking Dead’s Season 8 premiere in 2017, and one can only imagine how big those numbers will get once Live + 7 Day delayed totals are tallied.
Yellowstone also proved itself to be a winner with adult viewers of all ages, as Season 4 cemented the western drama as the #1 series on all of TV (broadcast, cable, and premium) when it comes to the 18-49 age demographic, as well as the 25-54 age demo. Those totals, as well as the viewership numbers, mark huge rises from Season 3’s stats, so one has to wonder if Season 5 could possibly push Yellowstone to land the biggest cable TV audience of all time. At least for a scripted non-sports series.
I would imagine if Kelly Reilly has anything to say about it, fans will be tuning into Season 5 in droves, waiting to see how Beth and Jamie’s new life wrinkles will work themselves out, as well as whether or not Beth and Rip will get their chance to wed in a location without so much dark history attached to it. Before all that, though, Reilly had her own thankful Instagram message to fans for keeping the show so close to our hearts.
Thank you, you the fans!! For all the support, the passion for the show and these characters. For watching every Sunday! We are so lucky we get to do it, now we do it for you... See you season 5 x @colehauser22
Making Kelly Reilly’s post all the more fun is the kissy-kissy image she used, as well as the cowboy-marrying emoji strand she threw together. Now I’m kind of interested in seeing someone put together an entire episode of Yellowstone just through emojis. Depending on how long it takes Season 5 to get here, it may just happen.
While waiting for more new episodes to come down the line, fans can rewatch the first three seasons of Yellowstone on Peacock, though Paramount Network will no doubt be airing marathons a plenty in the coming months. Keep watching the awesome standalone prequel 1883, too, with new episodes streaming on Paramount+ every Sunday, and stay up to date with what’s on the way via our 2022 TV premiere schedule!
