7 Burning Questions for the Second Half of ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5
The wait until the rest of Yellowstone Season 5 (November 2024) feels even longer, given how the first half ended: with the “war” between Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Jamie (Wes Bentley) presumably just beginning in earnest and both thinking about having the other killed.
Meanwhile, the midseason finale also finally showed us how Jimmy (Jefferson White) is doing, saw Jamie make a big move to impeach John (Kevin Costner) as governor, and the cowboys head out to bring the cattle to Texas in hopes they’ll survive the winter.
With the fifth season, the Paramount Network drama’s longest yet, some storylines seem to be drawn out in a way they wouldn’t have previously, especially with more flashbacks than in the past. For example, it took eight episodes to see Jimmy again and for Jamie to make a move against John. And now with possible question marks regarding Costner’s future on the show, anything can happen.
Scroll down to check out our burning questions for the second half of the season.
Yellowstone, Season 5 Return, November 2024, Paramount Network
Will John be killed off?
Given Costner’s reported dispute with Taylor Sheridan brought on by apparent scheduling conflicts, it’s highly likely that John won’t be in Yellowstone Season 5’s second half at all. Costner is said to have a clause in his contract that assures his character gets a worthwhile death, should he perish, and we have several theories about how that could be handled. But before we theorize how the Dutton patriarch could be written out, we first need to know if that will even be necessary.
Will Beth have Jamie killed?
After Beth learned that Jamie was making moves to impeach John, she went to his house and learned about the “train station.” When she then confronted her father, John asked, “Where do you think the men who attacked you in your office and attacked our ranch went? You’re shocked we found a way to circumvent the consequences of defending ourselves? I’m shocked we need a way. But we do; we always have. Unless we’re willing to walk away from 120 years of our family bleeding into this ground, we always will.”
But that also gave Beth an idea: “If there is a place our enemies go and nobody ever knows they went, then they will never come back. Then I think that’s the place for Jamie.” What did John think? We didn’t see his answer. But would it matter? If Beth really wants Jamie dead, she knows exactly what she has to do to make that happen immediately: tell her husband Rip (Cole Hauser) that Jamie took her to a clinic that sterilized her — without her knowledge — for an abortion when she was younger. It wouldn’t matter how loyal Rip is to John after that. Jamie would be dead soon after.
Will Jamie have Beth killed?
Knowing that Beth would try to have him killed, Jamie asked Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) if she knew anyone to help him “play offense.” Sarah does know companies with professionals, who would make it look like a heart attack or car accident, but she advised him to let her handle it. But saying he wants to do this is much different than actually taking the steps to have it done. Will he go through with it?
“I don’t think Jamie wanted anybody necessarily dead,” Bentley told TV Insider. “I don’t know if that’s in him, but the hatred for her is there, it might be enough. It certainly felt like that to me, but it also felt more like a necessity, like this has to happen. She says something at the end of that fight where he says, ‘It’s over, Beth,’ and she goes, ‘No, Jamie, it’s not.’ He knows what that means. That’s his cue to make that move he was waiting for.”
Can Kayce and Monica avoid "the end of us"?
It was in the Season 4 finale after a vision quest that Kayce (Luke Grimes) told Monica (Kelsey Asbille), “I saw the end of us.” Then, in the Season 5 midseason finale, he told her that the choice he saw was between the ranch and her. But with John’s request — for them to watch over the ranch and set up at East Camp — they might have found a way to have both. How might that be challenged in the remaining episodes of Season 5?
Grimes says he’s ready to bring the show to a close. “Nothing will ever be the same because of this show in all sorts of ways, good and bad,” he told People. “I will miss it terribly. I know that. I mean, I think I’m ready to know how it ends. I’m ready to tell the end of the story.”
Will Jimmy return to the Dutton ranch?
Listen, Jimmy is thriving at the 6666 Ranch, between being a cowboy and his relationship with Emily (Kathryn Kelly). And coming back to the Dutton ranch might cause him to backslide. But he can’t be gone for good, right? Seeing him again in the midseason finale has to be setting something up.
Will John be impeached?
In the midseason finale, Jamie went before the people of the legislature and assembly and called for John’s impeachment, claiming he’s only been acting in his best interest. With a vote of 67-33 in favor, John is being subjected to the first impeachment tribunal in the state’s history. It’s not that John wants to be governor (he doesn’t), but this could mean bad news for the Duttons and the ranch. The outcome of this might very well depend on how much Costner is in the rest of Season 5, if that indeed is something that will have a major impact.
Will it set up that 6666 spinoff?
Could it be that the midseason finale reintroduced Jimmy because it also wanted to remind viewers of the 6666 Ranch, the setting for an upcoming Yellowstone spinoff? Very little has been said about it but there is speculation that Jimmy could be involved, given his new location.
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