Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2: Release Window for Final Episodes, Cast, Plot & More

Yellowstone fans, our time in limbo may never end. As viewers of the popular western series are well aware by now, creator Taylor Sheridan and leading man Kevin Costner remain locked in a feud that has effectively shut down the production. Back in January 2023, audiences were halfway through season 5 when the midseason finale ended with a significant cliffhanger. Since then, we’ve received an endless cycle of news consisting of Sheridan and Costner blaming each other for the delay. Costner eventually pulled out of the series entirely. Then Paramount announced its plans to end the show—with or without him. Now, over a year later, are we any closer to seeing more Yellowstone?

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Costner revealed that he’s still open to returning to the series. “I’d like to be able to do it but we haven’t been able to,” he said. “I thought I was going to make seven [seasons] but right now we’re at five. So how it works out—I hope it does—but they’ve got a lot of different shows going on. Maybe it will. Maybe this will circle back to me. If it does and I feel really comfortable with [it], I’d love to do it.”

Eagle-eyed detectives of the unfolding drama may recall this, but one of Costner’s alleged points of contention about returning for the season 5 finale was his belief that he’d negotiated payment for seasons 6 and 7—despite Paramount’s decision to end the popular western with season 5. The Dutton patriarch also reportedly has a clause in his contract that states the actor retains final say over how his character dies, should Sheridan choose to kill him off.

“Well, you know, he needs to be proactive in what happens, and I’ve kind of had my own fantasy how it might be,” Costner told ET when asked about his character’s potential fate. “But that’s Taylor’s thing. I said as much to him a while back. I had thoughts how it could happen, but we just have to see.”

The upcoming Yellowstone series finale continues Paramount’s expansion of the Sheridan universe following the Yellowstone prequel, 1883, and the Harrison Ford-starring 1923. (Yes, it’s… confusing.) In the meantime, Paramount hopes that the Yellowstone series finale will still come in guns a-blazing. Read on for everything we know about season 5 of Yellowstone.

When is the Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 release date?
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 will premiere in November 2024, but there is no exact date yet.

That’s a pretty clear window for release, and it’s also not that far away, which is excellent news. It’s a big relief, too, as the writers and actors strike almost derailed the show entirely. Part 2 was initially scheduled to shoot in August 2023, but that didn’t happen. The show is now set to resume filming in late spring 2024. That leaves a pretty tight turnaround, but where there’s a will, Taylor Sheridan will find a way.

It wasn’t always supposed to end like this. Yellowstone would have likely continued for more seasons, but with Kevin Costner leaving the cast, the show was brought to an early cancellation. Still, Taylor Sheridan is hard at work bringing several new spinoff shows to life, including Yellowstone 2024, 1944, and 6666.

Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 cast: Who’s in it?

The majority of the main players from Yellowstone are all but confirmed to return for the final leg of this journey. As it stands, the cast will likely include:

• Kelly Reilly as Beth Dutton
• Cole Hauser as Rip Wheeler
• Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton
• Wes Bentley as Jamie Dutton
• Kelsey Asbille as Monica Dutton
• Gil Birmingham as Thomas Rainwater
• Dawn Olivieri as Sarah Atwood
• Forrie J. Smith as Lloyd Pierce
• Brecken Merrill as Tate Dutton
• Finn Little as Carter

The one notable exception from this list at the moment is Kevin Costner. It’s looking unlikely that Costner will return to finish up John Dutton’s story, as it was announced last year that the star would be leaving Yellowstone. This sparked rumors of a Costner-Sheridan feud, resulting in the scripts being rewritten.

There’s also potential that Matthew McConaughey could appear in the final episodes, since fans suspect that he’s next in line for the Yellowstone throne after being added to Taylor Sheridan’s universe in an undisclosed capacity. Perhaps a long-lost Dutton relative? Alright, alright, alright…

Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 plot: What’s going to happen?

One storyline we expect to be central to the big finale is for Beth and Jamie’s longstanding feud to come to a head, with one or both of them probably getting killed off.

Another key plot point that needs addressing is the fate of John Dutton. If Costner does return, it’s almost certain he will want his character dealing in a very definitive way. So, as painful as it may be, it’s more than likely we will see the head of the Dutton family tree meet his maker one way or another.

The Grim Reaper clearly spends a lot of time in Montana. So much so, that we were able to create a list of the 10 most shocking deaths in Yellowstone and still struggled to narrow it down. With Taylor Sheridan closing this chapter, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him kill a few of his darlings.

Aside from all the misery, Kayce Dutton, his wife, Monica, and their son, Tate could find something of a happy ending. Kayce has got his priorities straight and insists he is putting family first, and let’s not forget, Tate is the only true heir to the Yellowstone empire at this point.

Enemies are closing in from all sides, and there are sure to be casualties along the way for the Duttons. However, we suspect Sheridan will want to wrap things up with the family getting a victory of sorts. As per the prophecy in 1883, don’t be surprised to see Tate being the one to unite the Duttons and the Native Americans by sharing up the land between them in the end.

How many episodes will Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 have?

Originally, Yellowstone Season 5 was set to have 14 episodes overall, and with eight already having aired, that would leave six to come in Part 2.

However, this was before the complications arose with Yellowstone’s cancellation and Costner’s exit. As such, Sheridan might need a little more room to navigate a coherent and satisfying ending. He himself has said [via The Hollywood Reporter]: “If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10. It’ll be as long as it needs to be.”

Yellowstone cast member Josh Lucas (who plays a younger version of John Dutton) has also mentioned that he believes at least 10 more episodes are on the cards.

Will Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 be on Paramount?

The final part of Yellowstone will be available to watch weekly on the Paramount Network upon release, but will likely be available to stream on Peacock.

The show (unlike the Yellowstone spin-offs) doesn’t run on the Paramount+ streaming service in its entirety, so it’ll likely air weekly before ending up available to stream on Peacock. If you’re outside the US, then you’ll be able to watch the new episodes on Paramount+ as normal.

Reruns of Yellowstone have been shown on CBS in early 2024, but it’ll likely be a while before the newest episodes are released there, if at all.

That’s everything we know about the Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 release date for now.