John Dutton's Controversial Yellowstone Season 5 Death Scene Explained By Its Director

"Yellowstone" spoilers follow.

The death of Kevin Costner's John Dutton on "Yellowstone" season 5 is a controversial talking point. Some fans believe its sudden nature is an insult to the actor and the cowboy he played, as Dutton went out with a whimper instead of a bang. However, director Christina Voros insists that the character had to be killed off this way, as she explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

"There is something terrifying about people breaking into your home and putting you in a chokehold, and then murdering you and framing it as suicide. There's no way that could resonate unless you saw it. In our story, it's also the last moment we were with John. And to have created this character who is so bold and brave and noble and strong, that the violation of that person being taken off guard when they thought they were safe and experiencing this horrible death, it's supposed to be infuriating."

"Yellowstone" season 5 part 2 opens with Dutton lying dead in the bathroom of the Montana governor's mansion. However, it's later revealed that Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) hired assassins to perform the deed. The episode titled "Three Fifty-Three" revisits the events in more gruesome detail, showing Dutton being dragged out of his bed by three masked men, strapped down, and injected with a serum. It's arguably far from the dignified death for Dutton that's reportedly stipulated in Costner's "Yellowstone" contract, but Voros believes the scene is effective from the viewer's perspective.

Kevin Costner's unexpected exit from "Yellowstone" season 5 left the show's creators in a pickle. The story had to continue, and whether one loves or hates John Dutton's final storyline, it's a definitive send-off for the character. Costner's lack of availability meant that his cowboy couldn't go out all guns blazing, but Christina Voros claims that having assassins sneak up on the rancher-turned-politician while he slept was powerful in its own way.

"Taylor [Sheridan] had a very strong image in mind of what that final moment was ... It was scripted as being down a long hallway from a distance, from a voyeuristic standpoint. And I think it's very effective. You are somehow, as a spectator, removed and embodying what the children are feeling in their gut but can't see."

Despite Voros' reasoning for the controversial storyline, some "Yellowstone" fans are furious about John Dutton's death — and not in the way the creators intended. At best, the naysayers argue that was killed off like a dog, while others believe it was Sheridan's way of getting back at Costner for all of the behind-the-scenes drama that's rocked the series. Either way, it marks the end of a popular character, and the "Yellowstone" franchise won't be the same moving forward.