Yellowstone Season 5: The “most-watched scripted series in all of television” in 2021, according to CBS, is back for another season — and fans are anxiously waiting to find out what’s in store for the Dutton family.
“Episode one will immediately surprise everybody — where our story starts and what has happened,” executive producer David Glasser told TV Insider.
While it’s a montage of intense and chaotic clips, a couple of plot points can be gleaned from the official season 5 trailer. John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner, is sworn in as Montana’s governor; and his daughter, Beth Dutton, played by Kelly Reilly, is appointed his chief of staff.
In May 2023, Paramount announced that season 5 will be Yellowstone’s final season. However, a sequel series is slated to air in December 2023.
Yellowstone Season 5
There’s a lot of unfinished business to take care of before the flagship series signs off. Civil war has broken out among the Duttons, with Jamie (Wes Bentley) and Beth (Kelly Reilly) at each other’s throats, John (Costner) at risk of being impeached, and a devastating illness spreading through Montana wildlife and endangering the Duttons’ cattle.
Below, we’ll go through what we know about the second half of the final season, including the latest release date, cast information, and recaps of the first part of the season to set you up for what’s to come.
How did Yellowstone season 4 leave off?
In case you need a quick refresher, season 4 ended with Jamie Dutton killing his biological father, Garrett Randall, after it was revealed that he ordered the hit on the Dutton family. In a spur-of-the-moment ceremony, Beth Dutton and Rip wed. And Kayce Dutton returned from his spiritual journey that lasted four days and four nights.
Yellowstone latest news
Just because the writers and actors strikes are over, it doesn’t mean CBS is done airing Yellowstone. Season 3 of the Western will begin airing on CBS starting Sunday, Jan. 14, following the first two seasons’ impressive ratings on the network. The season will end with a two-night finale event on Sunday, Jan. 28 and Monday, Jan. 29.
Yellowstone is ending with Season 5
Yellowstone will end with Season 5, Paramount has announced. At the time of the announcement in early May, the show’s final episodes were scheduled to premiere in November 2023, while a currently untitled sequel series was confirmed to be in the works and set to debut in December. However, the writers strike and the actors strike delayed both projects, and Season 5 is now set to return in November 2024.
The news that the show will be ending came after months of speculation surrounding the question of whether Kevin Costner would return for the remainder of Season 5 (and a report that claimed Costner would leave the show after Season 5, before the final season news was announced). It still remains unclear how involved Costner will be in the final episodes. But in an eye-opening interview with The Hollywood Reporter in June, Sheridan insisted that his intended ending is still in play, and The Hollywood Reporter says there are ongoing discussions with Costner’s camp to film more scenes to wrap up his character.
“I’m disappointed,” Sheridan said in the interview. “It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
That doesn’t mean the final season will be truncated, though. Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 was supposed to be just six episodes, but that may no longer be the case. Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter, “If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, [Paramount Network will] give me 10. It’ll be as long as it needs to be.”
Paramount has announced a new contemporary Yellowstone spin-off series called 2024, which appears to be the highly anticipated Yellowstone follow-up that Matthew McConaughey is in discussions to lead. Sheridan previously indicated that the series might take place in a different location than the flagship show.
“There are lots of places where a way of life that existed for 150 years is slamming against a new way of life, but the challenges are completely different,” Sheridan told THR. “There are a lot of places you can tell this story.”
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One of those places Sheridan wanted to tell that story was on the 6666 ranch, the real-life North Texas ranch that became part of Yellowstone‘s story and the property that Sheridan now owns. However, production on 6666 is now on hold, because Sheridan is looking to spend extra time on it given that he’s personally witnessed its storied history.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 release date
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 will premiere in November 2024, Variety reported on Nov. 2. This means Season 5 will now be returning a year later than it was originally expected to return. An exact premiere date has not been announced, but production is scheduled to begin in late spring, according to Variety.
You can watch Yellowstone on CBS during the break
While Yellowstone is on hiatus, why not watch Yellowstone? The Paramount Network series made its broadcast debut Sept. 17 on CBS, where it airs Sundays, starting from the beginning of Season 1. And CBS isn’t stopping with Season 1. On Friday, Oct. 20, CBS announced that it would continue to air Yellowstone on Sunday nights after the conclusion of the first season. Season 2 began airing on Sunday, Oct. 29.
On Dec. 4, CBS announced it will continue to air Yellowstone in 2024, even though the writers and actors strikes ended. Season 3 will begin its run on CBS with three episodes on Jan. 14, and conclude with a two-night finale event on Sunday, Jan. 28 and Monday, Jan. 29. Because CBS returns to regular programming after the Super Bowl on Feb. 11, it’s unclear whether the network will air Season 4 of Yellowstone. A possible solution would be holding Season 4 and Season 5 Part 1 until the summer, which could help promote the final episodes when they air on Paramount Network in November.
In its first week on CBS, Yellowstone drew 6.6 million viewers, much more than the 2.8 million who tuned into the series premiere when it debuted on Paramount Network back in 2018. (As the audience grew, episodes on Paramount Network peaked at almost 10 million viewers.)
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 teaser
Paramount did release a teaser for the back half of the season, but it contained no new footage, since the new episodes haven’t been filmed yet. Piper Perabo told TV Guide in mid-December that she had no idea what was coming after Episode 8.
When will Yellowstone season 5 air?
This will be Yellowstone‘s lengthiest season yet — 14 episodes with a mid-season hiatus. The first two episodes of season 5 aired back-to-back on Nov. 13, 2022, and more than 12 million people tuned in — a record for the show.
“After four seasons, the show’s massive audience base continues to impress with its latest season premiere becoming the most watched scripted television premiere of 2022,” said Ashwin Navin, co-founder of Samba TV. “Yellowstone continues to tap into the passions of a broad swath of viewers throughout the American Midwest hungry for Western-themed genres that have been largely underrepresented on television in recent years.”
In May 2023, Peacock announced that all eight episodes of the first half of season 5 would be available to stream on May 25.
According to Paramount, the final six episodes of season 5 will air in November 2023.
Where can I watch Yellowstone season 5?
Season 5 airs on the Paramount Network and the Paramount Network app. The episodes won’t immediately be available on a streaming service, though seasons 1-4 are currently available to stream on Peacock.