‘Yellowstone’ creator hints at a major character plot twist in highly anticipated season 5

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Yellowstone fans have finally been given their first look into the much-awaited fifth season of their favourite Western drama.

While the trailer itself gave massive hints for what to expect in the upcoming season, the show’s creator Taylor Sheridan is warning Yellowstone fans not to get too comfortable with seeing their beloved characters appearing on screen again, as this might finally be the season a member of the Dutton family gets killed off.

Sheridan has had a history of playing with his audience’s expectations, having previously ended the show’s third season with a bloody shooting that left many wondering if John Dutton (Kevin Coster) lives or dies, spoiler: He lives.

However, speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Sheridan has suggested that it’s likely one of the show’s other main characters won’t make it through the new season alive.

“If you look at everyone as a chess piece in [Yellowstone] season 5, it is impossible to keep playing the game without taking chess pieces off the board,” he told ET.

But whether or not a member of the Dutton family dies this upcoming season, Sheridan has made it clear their death is not the end of the show.

“I know how it ends. I’m writing to that ending,” he told  The New York Times.

“There’s only so much hovering one can do before the story starts to lose its locomotion – you can’t put it in neutral just because it’s successful.

“It will go as many years as it takes for me to tell the story, but you’re not going to see nine seasons of it. No way.”

The forthcoming season, which is scheduled for release on November 14, is expected to be an extra large affair. The season’s trailer alone has already shattered records by gaining over 14 million views within the first 24 hours of its release.

Prior to the release of the trailer, the show’s season four finale, which aired in January 2022, had broken all of the show’s previous ratings and became Yellowstone’s most-watched episode.

The Western drama has also become the most-watched on cable television since it launched in 2018 with its cast regularly being nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

The massive success of Yellowstone has also created multiple spinoffs, including 1883, which stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as James and Margaret Dutton, the great-great-grandparents of  John Dutton, (Costner), and tells the origin story of Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.

Watch the trailer for Yellowstone season 5 below