The Yellowstone finale has divided viewers and left fans questioning whether the show will continue in a new form.
Taylor Sheridan’s long running Western drama has dominated screens since its 2018 debut with the season five premiere smashing records by drawing in 12.1million viewers.
Fans tuned in on Sunday night (15 December) to see how Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) would save the historic Montana ranch, which his ancestors took from the Broken Rock Indians in 1883.
*Warning — Spoilers ahead for the Yellowstone season finale*
Dutton followed through with his plans to save Yellowstone by selling the property to its original owners.
The Montana rancher sold the land for the same price his ancestors paid in 1883 – $1.25 an acre, meaning the largest ranch in the state sold for just $1.1m (£790,000) in total.
Elsewhere, Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) killed her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) and left to start a new life on a different ranch with her husband Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser).
Many viewers were left disappointed by the show’s finale. “Dumb ending,” one person wrote on X/Twitter. “That was probably the worst final season in television history,” another viewer added.
Meanwhile, a third person said: “It is official. Game of Throne is no longer the worst final season of any TV show ever. Yellowstone has taken that award. What a disaster of a final season.”
Other viewers questioned the pacing of the show, writing: “I felt like it was entirely too rushed. The whole season, the guys leaving, everything…Just all around felt like it was lazy, last minute put together.”
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However, other Yellowstone fans praised the finale calling the episode “perfection”.
“Thank you @Yellowstone for wrapping things up so beautifully,” one person said.
Just ahead of the Western drama’s series finale on Sunday (December 15), Deadline reported that a deal has been closed for another spin-off with Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser reprising their fan-favorite roles as Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, respectively.
“If the last episode of Yellowstone didn’t open it up to a spin off, I don’t know what did,” one viewer claimed of the finale’s plot.
“Anyone else want a spin off to see how Rip runs his own ranch?!” another questioned.
Taylor Sheridan, the co-creator responsible for Yellowstone and its numerous iterations, is reportedly “working on the creative” for the new show. It’s believed that other cast members from the original series will also be featured in the forthcoming spin-off.
It was originally reported in August that Hauser and Reilly had been in negotiations with Yellowstone producers for months about continuing with a sixth season of the show. While producers haven’t entirely ruled out an additional season, according to Deadline, they ultimately hope to continue Yellowstone’s story in the form of a new series.
The hit series has spawned several spin-offs, with 1883 serving as a prequel to Yellowstone. The miniseries — starring Isabel May, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Sam Elliott — debuted in 2021 and followed the Dutton family as they flee poverty in Texas in search of a better future in Montana.
Then came 1923, which returns for a second season on February 23, 2025. The series — led by Brandon Sklenar, Julia Schlaepfer, Isabel May, Helen Mirren, and Harrison Ford — follows the Dutton family as they face a new set of challenges in the early 20th century, including the Great Depression and the rise of Western expansion.
Another prequel series, The Madison, is expected to premiere sometime in 2025 led by Michelle Pfeiffer. An additional prequel series, titled 1944, has already been greenlit, though little information about it has been released.
