Wes Bentley Just Teased Jamie's Arc in 'Yellowstone' Season 5

Earlier this year, doomsday struck for the number-one drama on cable television when news broke that Kevin Costner, the series lead, might be exiting the franchise. He's reportedly been butting heads with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, but the network is hopeful that the two will able to work something out. Since Costner plays the family patriarch, John Dutton, his departure would leave a massive hole in the series. Speaking at a Yellowstone panel in early April, Keith Cox, president of development and production at Paramount Network, said that the network is "very confident he’s going to continue with our show." It's a bold statement, considering all of the reports of turmoil we've heard from both sides. (More on that below.)

The franchise is currently on hiatus in the middle* of Season Five, with a big asterisk on "middle" as fans wonder if the series could end right where it stands. According to anonymous Paramount Network sources close to the New York Post, Yellowstone will likely end after Season Five should Costner return. Still, no filming dates, schedule, or scripts have been reported. "Hopefully Kevin will return for the remaining episodes if everyone works together," the production source said, "but it looks like Yellowstone will end after this season." Another source added that the cast has largely been left in the dark, and that "only Taylor truly knows what is going on."

Wes Bentley, who plays Jamie Dutton, recently confirmed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he still hasn't seen a word of dialogue for the end of Season Five. "I truly don’t have a clue where it’s going," he said. "I haven’t seen or heard anything." When asked to predict what will happen to Jamie, the actor responded that, "He’s going to go out like a cannonball, maybe. Just blow it all up." Sounds like the Yellowstone plans are all being blown up anyway.

Meanwhile, Matthew McConaughey is reportedly in talks to lead a potential franchise extension to continue the Dutton saga, but little is known when it comes to plot or continuing characters. It's probably because the second half of Season Five, which was originally set to return sometime this summer, still has one major cliffhanger to solve. The Dutton family was just about try and kill each other, which may give Sheridan the solution he needs—if not the one he had originally planned. So, instead of discussing the end of Season Five, now we’re scrambling to figure out what might happen in the potential series finale. Well, people, how could Yellowstone end? We're breaking down our favorite theories below.

Who Could Die When Season Five Returns?

Before Deadline's bombshell report, a Reddit theory posed by user SuperPowMom made a ton of sense. It speculated that Jamie’s hitman would accidentally mix up Summer Higgins for Beth—which seemed like a good bait-and-switch death to end the season. This event may very well still occur, but it sounded more exciting when Yellowstone was going to last at least five more seasons, instead of ending abruptly right now. If this is the end, then no one is safe.

Even Bentley sounds like he needs to move on from the role. He told The New York Times last month that “Jamie’s sadness permeates my life.” Bentley also revealed that his wife even remarks to him that“‘Jamie’s coming home, and we don’t want him here.’” His end may be drawing near, as his character was planning to send hitmen to kill his father and sister during Season Five's midseason finale. If the Dutton family retaliates, Bentley could see Jamie finally face some consequences.

How Will Yellowstone Handle the Kevin Costner Drama?

Remember: although we need to figure out who may continue onto the McConaughey-led series, Costner is the main role we need to replace. The threat of death is in the air—and John Dutton may take the first bullet. Getting big names to commit to television for five seasons is an industry-wide problem, and a recent report from The Town and Puck News's Matthew Belloni suggested that Sheridan considered killing off Costner once before. Remember that Season Three finale when John Dutton was shot and left for dead? Well, according to Belloni, Sheridan and lead producer David Glasser have reportedly "been planning for Costner’s eventual exit for a while."

Apparently, Costner was testy after Sheridan upped the 10-episode order for Season Five to a two-part, 16-episode series, extending the star's short-shooting window. Costner is also directing and starring in his own Western epic, Horizon, and supposedly did not have the time to shoot extensive scenes of Yellowstone. The Sheridan/Costner dynamic was said to be akin to “Silverbacks wrestling,” a source told Belloni. Rumors have also been circulating that their time on set together had to be minimized to keep the ball rolling on the first half of Season Five. Things became even more complicated after Costner contracted COVID-19, forcing everyone to come back months later and finish shooting his scenes. The reshoots were reportedly very costly to Paramount—and greatly annoyed his co-stars.

According to sources on Costner's side, Sheridan's busy workload has stretched him too thin. Allegedly, he's failed to deliver scripts on time and constantly moves the shooting schedule around. Along with Yellowstone, Sheridan is writing several other series, including Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, and upcoming projects such as Lioness, Land Man, and Bass Reeves. It's tough to tell who is right by standing their ground in this scenario. Belloni also reported that Costner's Horizon still has no planned release date as part of Warner Bros.'s upcoming schedule. The second half of Yellowstone's fifth season, originally planned for a summer release, re-announced that production would start again this summer with a November release. That was, of course, before the writers strike.

By the end of all these shenanigans, it's entirely possible that Costner and Sheridan return for Season Six, but it's more and more looking like the next six episodes of Yellowstone will be the series last. "More likely, this is a relationship that has run its course," Belloni reported. "Sheridan is certainly furious, I’m told; he can’t finish writing the 5B episodes until the Costner drama is resolved and his star is either in or out."

As many fans on Reddit have predicted, an ending where Tate inherits the ranch feels the perfect ending. He's not only John Dutton's grandson, but a bridge between the Duttons and the Native-Americans on the nearby Broken Rock reservation. The Yellowstone Ranch would then continue to remain in the Dutton family, while also possibly being annexed into the reservation. Costner’s departure may spoil that possibility, but not if the McConaughey sequel-spinoff continues whatever plot is left unfinished from the end of Yellowstone.

Will Creator Taylor Sheridan Stay With Paramount?

Yes, and in a big way. In an interview with Vulture, ViacomCBS's President of Entertainment, Chris McCarthy, revealed that the Sheridan-led projects are actually going to increase—even if Costner leaves Yellowstone. "Each year, we’re going to be launching at least one Yellowstone franchise as well as one complementary series... but we’re already ramping out well above that," McCarthy explained. "So, 2021 was Mayor of Kingstown and 1883 and last year was 1923 and Tulsa King. This year alone, it’s going to be a second season of 1923, it’s going to be Lioness and Bass Reeves—and that’s just on the streaming space."

McCarthy also cited stories that already hold fan interest, like future Yellowstone spinoffs (6666) and flashbacks to young John Dutton—played by actor Josh Lucas on Yellowstone. "Thankfully, Taylor’s mind and his creativity is endless," McCarthy continued. "So, while we’re not ready to commit and comment on it, as anyone who’s watched the most recent season, you see Jimmy go to the Four Sixes pretty often. You also see flashbacks to when these particular Duttons are younger, with Beth being in her teenage years, and you could easily see there being a story coming into that which fits very complementary into the present day."

The ViacomCBS head also had massive praise for Costner, saying the actor is "one of the reasons [Yellowstone is as] successful as it is today," adding "we hope that he stays for a long time to come." That said, McCarthy also claimed, "we’ve definitely proven that the franchise is well beyond any one series and well beyond any one star."

Who Will Matthew McConaughey Play?

The easiest way out would be to pull some sort of Fast & Furious-style Dutton family connection. Oh, you didn’t know that John Dutton had an estranged younger brother named Matthew Dutton? Something like that. Since it's been confirmed that McConaughey will star in his own sequel spinoff, we can remove him just taking over the role of John Dutton off the table. But McConaughey could still take over the ranch and deal with all of John Dutton’s kids and enemies like nothing ever transpired. Every now and then they would grieve the loss of John, and then keep on fighting. At the same time, Yellowstone could end completely. So, either we see an all-new Yellowstone story, or it’s time to meet Matthew Dutton.

You Might Also Like

• Kid Cudi Is All Right

• 16 Best Shoe Organizers For Storing and Displaying Your Kicks