Yellowstone director Christina Voros explained the real reason the show sealed Kevin Costner’s fate in the first 30 seconds of the bombshell season return. 

The show wasted no time by revealing that Costner’s, 69, character John Dutton died, seemingly by suicide, in the opening moments of the Season 5, part 2, premiere.

Voros opened up about creator Taylor Sheridan’s decision to have Dutton killed off, after Costner’s shock exit from the show amid rumors of a feud with Sheridan, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, published on Sunday. 

Following fan speculation that the quick and brutal death was a jab at Costner, Voros revealed that Sheridan wanted to swiftly address the actor’s departure and redirect the narrative to the remaining characters, and exploring how they deal with the ‘aftermath’ of Dutton’s death. 

‘I think Taylor’s decision to begin this way was incredibly brave,’ she said. 

Yellowstone director Christina Voros explained the real reason the show sealed Kevin Costner’s, 69, fate in the first 30 seconds of the season return; Costner seen in a still

Voros opened up about creator Taylor Sheridan’s decision to have Costner’s character, John Dutton, killed off in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter; Costner seen in 2023

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‘I think it is testament to his faith in the characters and the actors who embody them to go, “Let’s not make this about the incident. Let’s make this about how these human beings exist in the aftermath.” That was more interesting to [Taylor] than the incident itself.’

Voros went on to say that upon reading the script she had the ‘breath knocked out of me.’

Though she didn’t ‘see it coming’, and though many viewers were likely anticipating a drawn out mystery, Voros shared that by revealing Dutton’s death so early on, the show now shifted to a new mystery of what will happen next. 

She then praised Sheridan for crafting an unexpected and ‘brave’ storyline.

‘And so I think rather than stringing people along to get to a place everyone sees coming, the decision to just open with it is really brave and really interesting.’

Voros said she was captivated after reading the first episode and eager to know what would happen next, noting that Sheridan could have ‘dragged it out it’, but instead opted for the plot to unfold rapidly. 

‘I can’t talk to the decision: It’s Taylor’s world. He made the bold decision. It’s a tricky question, because I don’t want to foreshadow anything that’s coming. Because it has to do with the writing.’

‘It has to do with Taylor’s choice to not only deal with this episode, but the entire season.’ 

The show wasted no time by revealing that Dutton died, seemingly by suicide, in the opening moments of the Season 5, part 2, premiere

Following fan speculation that the quick and brutal death was a jab at Costner, Voros revealed that Sheridan wanted to swiftly address the actor’s departure and redirect the narrative to the remaining characters, and exploring how they deal with the ‘aftermath’ of Dutton’s death 

‘I think rather than stringing people along to get to a place everyone sees coming, the decision to just open with it is really brave and really interesting,’ she said

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‘I have a lot to say about it, but there’s nothing interesting to say without talking to the greater choice as a whole of how the season is going to develop, and I don’t want to tip our hats to any of that yet.’

She also told the publication the code words used to keep Dutton’s death a secret even from the cast.

‘We didn’t talk about it as a death. Any time there is a death or some sort of event, we called it an “arrival.” And we gave John’s character a pseudonym. We called him “Crosby.”‘

‘We were calling the opening scene, “Beth discovers that Crosby has arrived.” It was on call sheets and the crew were like, “Who is Crosby? And, where’s he coming from?” I did some random research: [John Schuyler] Crosby was the last governor of Montana before Montana was turned into a state, in the 1880s. It was a very random, obscure, esoteric reference [by Taylor Sheridan].’ 

Voros also explained the decision to show Dutton’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅ body without his face.

She said it was inherent to the script, and focusing on the impact of his loss on the remaining characters, like Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes).

Voros noted that their reactions allow the viewer to immediately know it’s John without having to show him.

She went on to praise the cast for how they handled Dutton’s exit. 

Voros said it was ‘tremendously rewarding’ to watch the characters grapple with the loss of their patriarch.

‘It’s sort of art imitating life imitating art.’

She went on: ‘I can’t talk to the decision: It’s Taylor’s world. He made the bold decision’; Voros pictured in 2023

‘It has to do with Taylor’s choice to not only deal with this episode, but the entire season,’ she added; Sheridan seen in 2021

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‘In the absence of John, the family has to come together to shoulder the weight of the world, much in the same way as the cast has come together to shoulder the weight of his absence in such a bold and beautiful way.’

After a nearly two-year hiatus, Paramount Network’s Yellowstone returned Sunday with the Season 5 midseason premiere, the first of its six final episodes.

Costner made a dramatic exit from the series over scheduling conflicts with his Western movie franchise Horizon, though fans were quite upset at how he was killed off.

Fans took to social media to react en mᴀsse to the beloved character’s exit as the neo-Western series comes to a close.

Given how hard John Dutton has fought for everything in his life, fans were furious, insisting he would never have killed himself.

@Thecraftyturtle said, ‘Ok no way John Dutton killed himself. They did his character dirty!!’

@KayCee1771 said, ‘Not the way i expected #Yellowstone to start,’ as @AmberLee_0123 said, ‘It hasn’t been 5 minutes of #Yellowstone and I AM NOT OKAY.’

@FolkToe said ‘#Yellowstone Run Jamie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ insinuating Dutton’s son Jamie (Wes Bentley) was involved.

It’s not too surprising that Jamie may be blamed, since the show’s last episode nearly two years ago showed Jamie entertaining various ways to have his father killed with his new romantic interest Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri).

She told Jamie there were companies that specialized in making murders look like accidents or even a heart attack.

However, as the episode continued, it became more clear that Sarah seemingly took matters into her own hands and organized John’s death to simply make it look like a suicide… covering up his actual murder.

She also told the publication the code words used to keep Dutton’s death a secret even from the cast. ‘We didn’t talk about it as a death. Any time there is a death or some sort of event, we called it an “arrival.” And we gave John’s character a pseudonym. We called him “Crosby”‘ 

Costner made a dramatic exit from the series over scheduling conflicts with his Western movie franchise Horizon, though fans were quite upset at how he was killed off; pictured with Kelly Reilly 

His exit came amid ongoing rumors of a feud between him and Sheridan over scheduling conflicts and creative differences; Costner and Taylor Sheridan in 2018

@thetvescape said, ‘Wait, so now it’s looking more and more likely that the “suicide” was staged!’

@BroGod4Life said, ‘They don’t believe John Dutton attempt suicide they believe either Sarah, Jamie or somebody had anything to do what happened to him if they have proof and it’s going to take time.’

After fans saw Sarah ultimately confirming her involvement in Governor Dutton’s death, she surprised Jamie at his home, scantily clad with champagne glᴀsses.

She was surprised that he was shedding tears over his father, adding she thought this is what he wanted.

‘Who are these tears for?’ Sarah asked, as Jamie insisted that his father and his political career both died that day.