returned with a big swing on Sunday night by giving viewers the answer they were hoping to get right out of the gate. How would the hit Western saga the exit of star and the fate of his revered show patriarch John Dutton? , the writer and mastermind of the , did something rather unexpected when he quickly revealed during the season 5B premiere — and return of TV’s No. 1 show — that John Dutton has indeed died.
That fate was likely expected, given Costner’s high-profile and abrupt exit from the Paramount Network series the first and second half of season five. But the fact that it was revealed so quickly was a surprise. Related Stories Here’s how it played out: Beth Dutton ( ) and brother Kayce Dutton ( ) arrive at John’s Governor’s mansion, which is swarming with police, and eventually see for themselves that their larger-than-life father has taken his own life.
Costner is never shown — viewers see a limp body laying next to a gun — but the look on his children’s faces says it all. They oscillate between guttural grief and blinding vengeance, before the show then flashes back to six weeks earlier and catches up with the majority of the ensemble. That includes Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), the fixer girlfriend of estranged Dutton brother Jamie ( ), who is revealed to have put the hit out on John following the explosive midseason finale; she instructs her murderer-for-hire to make John’s death appear to be a suicide.
The episode ends with Beth vowing once .
