‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan Goes Back On His Word, Gives Kevin Costner’s John Dutton A “F–k You Car Crash Death”
Despite the behind-the-scenes animosity between Yellowstone star Kevin Costner and series creators Taylor Sheridan, when the actor left the ranch and left the fate of one of the greatest TV shows of all time in limbo, the latter promised that he wouldn’t give the former’s character of John Dutton a summary execution.
However, with the event having finally come to pass, it seems Sheridan did precisely that.
RELATED: ‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan Explains Why Kevin Costner Will Exit Series Following Season 5
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in June 2023, Sheridan said that although he was disappointed that Costner’s exit would affect how the show ended, he not only held no animosity towards the actor, but he also didn’t see his absence having as significant of an impact as fans were predicting.
“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” he said. “His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful…and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone. But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.
“It truncates the closure of his character,” he added. “It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
As for how he planned to write Costner’s character out of the show, Sheridan insisted that Dutton was never intended to be in the picture at the end of Yellowstone, as he had an end without him in mind ever since the show was originally in development as a feature film.
“I don’t do ‘f–k you car crashes’,” said the series creator. “Whether [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t factor in about storytelling.”
Notably, the term ‘f–k you car crash’ refers to the trend of television writers explosively killing off any character whose actor they currently have a disagreement with, its name taken from Shonda Rhimes’ use of such an accident to write off Patrick Dempsey’s character of Derek Shepherd in Grey’s Anatomy.
As to why Costner chose to leave, per THR, “The actor requested to work fewer and fewer days on Yellowstone the last few seasons to focus on his movies, which frustrated producers. Yet one source insists Costner kept ‘waiting on scripts’ and that he repeatedly blocked out time to shoot, only to see his dates pushed.”
To this end, when Yellowstone finally came back to Paramount and CBS on November 10th after its 23-month hiatus, the series rang in its return by revealing the final fate of Governor Dutton.
In the opening moments the ninth episode of season five, the series’ now-former protagonist is discovered dead in his mansion from a gunshot wound to the head – and though his immediate surroundings suggest he took his own life, his daughter, Beth, immediately points the finger at her adopted brother Jamie.
While not a typical ‘f–k you car crash’, this ending still feels like one to the many fans who felt Dutton deserved a heroic end. To make matters worse, his death hasn’t affected the show’s mood as Yellowstone fans would expect, as Beth is the only person who seems to be mourning the fallen patriarch. Meanwhile, everyone else, including the cowboys whom Dutton so closely identified with, just move on with their lives
Interestingly enough, Costner himself has not yet seen the episode.
Speaking during an appearance on the Michael Smerconish Show the actor revealed that not only was he on set for the second part of his historical film duology Horizon: An American Saga during the episode’s premiere, he didn’t even know it was airing.
Asked by the show’s eponymous host if he was “okay with the way [Dutton’s story] ended”, Costner affirmed, “I didn’t see it. I heard it was a suicide. That doesn’t make me wanna rush to watch it.”
However, he also admitted that because the people writing Yellowstone are “pretty smart people”, there exists a distinct possibility that the ‘suicide angle’ could be “a red herring”.
“They’re very good,” the actor added. “They’ll figure that out.”
Ultimately, Costner and Sheridan’s disagreement proved irreconcilable, to the point where the former chose to jump ship to his passion project.
However, despite his physical absence, Dutton’s character is still a vital part of the show, as his death will undoubtedly shape the fates of Beth, Lee, Jamie, Kayce, and the rest of the residents of Paradise Valley.
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