Warning: This article contains spoilers yellow stone season 5, part 2.

In Yellowstone explosive first episode of season 5B, fans finally got to see how Kevin Costner’s departure It would be addressed on the show after seeing how her real-life tensions with co-creator Taylor Sheridan played out over the summer of last year. But did Costner himself know The end of John Dutton?

The premiere episode The long-awaited final episode of the Paramount Network series begins with Dutton members arriving at John’s mansion, pushing past the cops to see a body lying on the bathroom floor, a gun on the floor, and blood splattered on the walls.

The death is ruled a suicide, but who could have ordered a hit on John seems a mystery and could dominate the rest of the season.

As yellow stone Fans are shocked at one of the show’s best-kept plot secrets, we’re learning more about the efforts to keep the twist a secret and who knew it.

Did Kevin Costner know about John Dutton’s death?

Yellowstone Executive producer Christina Voros made it clear that the story of John Dutton’s death was kept mostly secret, suggesting that Costner likely didn’t know about his character’s fate even though he is still credited as an executive producer.

Voros, who directed four of the final six episodes, said The Hollywood Reporter in a Nov. 5 interview that the producers did not have full access to the scripts.

“Most of the cast only understood the scenes they were in,” he said. “So a lot of the cast, even some of our seven-year veterans, will learn what will happen when the show premieres.”

Voros stated that the only people who know what will happen for the rest of the season, besides Sheridan, are: “Our department heads. Director Michael Friedman. The Dutton cast is in the secret club.”

“But for the most part, people knew the scenes they were in. So if they were in scenes where something was happening that needed to be protected, they knew it. But if they weren’t, about half the cast doesn’t know what’s going to happen this season, outside of their own work,” he explained.

The script included redacted sections, code names, and even alternate scenes to keep the actual ending completely secret.

In a follow-up interview published on November 10, Voros said The Hollywood Reporter that John’s death was only described in code.

“We don’t talk about it as a death. Every time there is a death or some type of event, we call it ‘arrival,’” he said. “And we gave a pseudonym to the character of John. We called him ‘Crosby’. We called the opening scene, “Beth Finds Out Crosby Has Arrived.” It was on the call sheets and the team was saying, ‘Who’s Crosby? And where does it come from?

Sheridan also made it pretty clear that he wouldn’t take Costner’s feelings into consideration by writing him off the show, but he also wouldn’t be deliberately harsh on Costner’s character just because of his off-screen tensions.

“I don’t do ‘fucking car accidents,’” Sheridan said. The Hollywood Reporter in June 2023, referencing a phrase coined after Grey’s Anatomy Creator Shonda Rhimes killed off Patrick Dempsey’s character amid behind-the-scenes tensions. Sheridan sons of anarchy The character was also dramatically written with a car accident.

“Whether (Dutton’s) fate inflates (Costner’s) ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t take into account with respect to the narrative.”

That said, in that same interview, Sheridan said he was still in talks to have Costner film some final scenes, though we’re guessing they never came to fruition.

“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had a passion project that he wanted to direct,” Sheridan said. “He and the network were arguing about when he could finish with yellow stone. I told him, ‘We can certainly work on a schedule toward (your preferred departure date),’ which we did.”

“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t changed,” Sheridan added. “His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful… and I’ve never had a problem with Kevin that he and I couldn’t resolve over the phone. But once lawyers get involved, people can’t talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and trying to shift blame based on how the press or public seems to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know if anyone deserves it. His film seems to be a big priority for him and he wants to change focus. I hope (the film) is worth it and that it is good.”

Costner formally announced his departure from the show in June of this year after many reports of tense negotiations with Sheridan and Paramount over his future on the show. The conflict reportedly began a year earlier due to scheduling conflicts with Costner’s western drama. Horizon.

Before you go, click to view Kevin Costner’s best movies.