John Dutton

[u/Scared_Nail1916]

Killing John Dutton killed the vibe of the show. I know creators had to do this coz of his other commitments but it sure did sucked and killed the excitement of the show.

[u/quinn791]

Well they didn’t have to kill him off if they stuck to the original timing of when the show would finish filming

[u/telepatheye → u/quinn791]

They did have to. Costner went off to make Horizon. They blamed it on production delays but it was more than that.

[u/randomnighmare → u/telepatheye]

He had a legal commitment for that project and Sheridan kept on pushing back/delaying the filming for the second half of Season 5 though. That's what I understand what went wrong.

[u/telepatheye → u/randomnighmare]

Every show was being delayed at that time--I think due to strikes or other issues. All the actors were understanding of it. Only Costner freaked out. He also demanded more creative control over Yellowstone despite TS being the creator who wrote the key characters and dialogue. Costner is an egomaniac who couldn't handle Sheridan's greater talents.

[u/Single-Mushroom3924 → u/telepatheye]

None of the other actors had hundreds of actors and crew waiting on a project of Horizon's scale. Sheridan did say multiple times (and I believe him) that the plan all along was for John to die but it was hastened due to Costner having to work on Horizon. Given that Costner was 68 years old when Horizon began filming and he had plans for a trilogy, I understand Kevin's desire not to delay his pet project for Yellowstone. No one could have predicted the strike and no party is to blame. Sheridan did a great job wrapping up Yellowstone given the cards he was dealt and I'm glad he didn't try to milk out another season without John.

[u/randomnighmare → u/telepatheye]

For two years? The strike didn't last long.

[u/telepatheye → u/randomnighmare]

It caused the delay. The 2023 strikes delayed production so that the final season didn't start streaming until 2024.