Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2's Big Death Is Leaving Fans Furious

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the latest episode of "Yellowstone."

As far as deaths of major television characters go, the premiere of "Yellowstone" season 5 part 2 will almost certainly rank among the most controversial of the last few decades when it's all said and done. Up until this point, the contenders for that unenviable crown likely went to usual suspects like "Game of Thrones" and "The Walking Dead," though at least fan-favorite protagonists like Daenerys Targaryen had the courtesy of actually meeting their demise on screen. (The less said about poor Glenn Rhee, the better.) The same can't be said for "Yellowstone" hero John Dutton, the rancher family patriarch played by Kevin Costner throughout every season of the popular Paramount+ series. Fans were in for the surprise of a lifetime when the premiere episode confirmed Dutton's fate once and for all without beating around the bush whatsoever.

The cliffhanger ending of the first half of season 5 left viewers primed and ready for John Dutton's potential demise back in January of last year and, to be fair, the writing had been on the wall for quite some time given many of Costner's public comments — but that hasn't made audiences any less furious about how it all ultimately went down. Fans wasted no time taking to social media to express their shock and disappointment after such a long wait to the biggest unanswered question of them all. Here's what they're saying.

All good things must come to an end eventually, but it's safe to say that nobody expected the main character of "Yellowstone" to end his tenure quite like this. Costner, of course, parted ways with the show partly to focus on his big-screen epic, "Horizon: An American Saga." (The flawed first chapter, which I reviewed for /Film here, didn't exactly go according to plan.) In order to accommodate his exit, however, creator and writer Taylor Sheridan had to scramble and find a way to do the character proper justice. At first, viewers are left completely in the dark. The series returns to John Dutton's mansion, which is now completely overtaken by police. As Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) arrive, they slowly realize that their father has died by his own hand ... or has he? The rest of the episode reveals a plot that resulted in John being assassinated and his death staged to look like a suicide. His killing catalyzes those around him to avenge him, but we never actually see Costner in the flesh even once.

Unfortunately, the biggest fans who've been along for the ride all these years aren't very pleased with how it's all gone down. Take this tweet by viewer Matthew Betley, who stated bluntly: "John Dutton deserved to go out like a gladiator, not a victim. Completely undoes the series. I'm not a fan at all how #Yellowstone handled Costner's departure." That's the prevailing theme to the many reactions, including this viral tweet: "If THAT'S how they decide to end a great character like John Dutton ... THAT'S BULL***T." Others took issue with such a quick resolution, calling out this aspect in particular: "STOP IT. We are 7 mins in and they killed John Dutton?! I DID NOT WAIT THIS LONG FOR THE FIRST EPISODE TO START THIS WAY."

As divisive as this narrative choice obviously is, it's worth noting that everyone involved had little choice but to make the best of circumstances that are the furthest thing from ideal. "Yellowstone" creator (and occasional actor) Taylor Sheridan made the final call to handle Costner's exit as John Dutton the way he did, but it was director Christina Voros who was entrusted with guiding this explosive premiere episode to its game-changing conclusion. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she opened up about this shocking development and how it all played out. When asked about the controversial decision to never show John's body on screen, Voros stated:

"It's not even a choice as a director, it was very much in the DNA of the writing that episode. The scenes that are in the present tense dealing with his death seem very intentionally about the characters that continue on and what their experience of his death is. So you know that it is him by virtue of the way that Beth and Kayce are reacting to it, and that's what matters. There was a very intentional perspective, and it relates to the flashbacks as well, because there's the juxtaposition of when everything was kind of idyllic and okay and tricky but also promising, juxtaposed against the stark reality of this loss. So it was present in the writing, but it was more important to me to focus on how you learn more about the death by looking at the lines on [Luke Grimes'] face and the tears in [Kelly Reilly's] eyes than you do by looking at a body absent of life on the ground."

Whether you agree with this or not, we'll be talking about this episode for a long time to come. New episodes of "Yellowstone" premiere on Paramount Network every Sunday night, followed by their linear release on CBS.