What happened in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5, Part 1? A plot refresher ahead of Part 2

It’s been a long ride.

The hit ranch drama “Yellowstone” is finally ending, as the second half of Season 5 premieres Sunday, Nov. 10 on Paramount Network at 8 p.m. ET.

It will be the final stretch of episodes – unless rumors of a Season 6 come true, but Paramount has not confirmed or announced that.

“Yellowstone” premiered in 2018. The story follows the Dutton family, owners of the largest ranch in Montana, including patriarch John (Costner) and his adult children Kayce (Luke Grimes), Jamie (Wes Bentley), Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Beth’s husband, Rip (Cole Hauser).

The show has been a sensation, spawning several spinoffs. According to Paramount, the first half of Season 5 drew in an eye-popping 17 million viewers.

Costner left after the first part of Season 5, so he won’t be in the final stretch of episodes, despite appearing in the trailer.

If you forgot what happened in Season 5A ahead of Season 5B, here’s what to know.

Governor John 

When the show left off, John Dutton had risen to become the governor of Montana.

In doing so, he said that he’d protect Montana’s land from the ever-encroaching threat of outside forces. This forged an unexpected alliance between John the local Native American reservation leader Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), who had previously often been at odds with John.

Elsewhere in the plot, John helped his former lover, environmental activist Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo), get out of prison and finish out her sentence under house arrest.

Naturally, John’s volatile daughter, Beth, got into a physical fight with Summer.

Family Matters

Meanwhile, Beth and Rip are married (as of Season 4). However, Rip doesn’t know why Beth is unable to have kids, so that might be a revelation that comes out. She can’t have kids because Jamie secretly got her sterilized as a teenager, and that’s an explosive secret that’s a loose end in the story.

It’s possible Rip could find out, and react to this news with violence towards Jamie. Rip and Beth are also raising teen runaway Carter (Finn Little).

Meanwhile, Kayce and his pregnant wife, Monica (Kelsey Asbille), suffered a tragedy when she lost their baby after getting into a car accident.

The Jamie problem 

Jamie – who turned out to be adopted – has been on a villain arc, working against the family. At this point, he’s the primary antagonist who needs to be dealt with.

He’s involved with Market Equities, the firm seeking to buy out Montana land owners to put in a resort and an airport — but the Duttons stand in their way.

To make matters worse, he’s romantically connected to Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), another scheming lawyer who wants to ruin the Duttons.

Jamie also tried to get John impeached, and that plot line will likely be ongoing.

The first half of Season 5 ended with Beth and John agreeing that it was finally time to take Jamie to the Train Station – the show’s way of saying, “let’s kill him.”

So, if the show decides to deal with Costner’s exit by axing John, it could happen if John fights Jamie and loses.

Why did Kevin Costner leave?

Although this is behind-the scenes drama, it impacts the story, since John Dutton was the main character. It’s unclear yet if “Yellowstone” will deal with Costner’s absence by killing John off, or finding a different way to keep him offscreen.

In May 2023, news broke that Costner would not return to “Yellowstone” after Season 5. (This was before Paramount said that Season 5 would be the show’s last.) That same month, it was announced that the show would end with Season 5, leading to speculation that the show was ending in part because Costner was leaving.

There were also reports that Costner refused to be on set filming for more than one week for the second half of Season 5, which Costner’s attorney denied.

“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” Sheridan told the Hollywood Reporter in June, referring to “Horizon.”

Sheridan’s account made it sound like Costner was prioritizing “Horizon” over “Yellowstone.”

“He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with ‘Yellowstone.’ I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did,” the creator said.

Sheridan added, “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.”

Costner’s account was vastly different. In May 2024, the Oscar winner broke his silence about the matter. 

“They’ve been pretty slick about keeping their hands off; nobody was ever on the record,” he told Deadline, referring to Sheridan and “Yellowstone” producers.

Costner said that “Yellowstone” had “first position” in his list of priorities. “I didn’t do ‘Horizon’ because I was tired of doing ‘Yellowstone.’ That’s a bulls – – t story. I didn’t do ‘Horizon’ to compete with ‘Yellowstone.’ This [project] is something I’ve had a long time,” he said.

Costner said he hasn’t “felt good about it the last year,” and added that ongoing speculation about what was happening “wasn’t truthful.”

The “Dances with Wolves” star said that his movie “Horizon” was supposed to “fit into the gaps” between filming “Yellowstone,” but, “they just kept moving their gaps.”

There were “no scripts” for the final stretch of “Yellowstone” episodes, he alleged.

“They don’t ever talk about that,” Costner said. “I was straight up with [Sheridan], and he said what we would do, and I believed him and we didn’t get there.”

In April 2023, a source told the Daily Mail that Sheridan developed a “God complex,” which also added fuel to the fire of his alleged feud with Costner.

Additionally, a source told The Post that Sheridan’s “overburdened” schedule interfered with preparing and filming, even though Costner made himself available.

“Only Taylor truly knows what is going on,” they said. “Taylor spent years not being truly appreciated in Hollywood, and now that he’s the top of the heap, there’s definitely some ego to all of this.”

“Yellowstone” returns on Paramount on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. ET.