5 Yellowstone Characters Who Should Have Never Died
by Joe Roberts · /FilmAdd SlashFilm on Google:
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As successful as "Yellowstone" was, it sure did a great job of courting controversy. For much of its run, fans loved to hate Taylor Sheridan's hugely popular neo-Western, complaining about everything from when exactly "Yellowstone" lost its way to John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) controversial Season 5 death. In fact, the Dutton patriarch's passing was just one of many contentious deaths on a series that delighted in offing characters at the drop of a Cattleman's Crown.
In that way, the show mirrored the Dutton clan themselves, who casually condemned many a man to die at the infamous Train Station — which, by the end of the series, constituted nothing short of a mass grave. The thing is, most of the unfortunate souls taken to that lonely dumping ground and cast into the Montana wilderness deserved it. (Though in fairness, the Duttons did enough terrible things on "Yellowstone" to earn a completely justifiable one-way trip to the Train Station themselves.) Of course, in a show as reliably deadly as this, there were also plenty of characters who absolutely did not deserve to die.
Throughout "Yellowstone," Sheridan's pen knew no mercy, resulting in multiple deaths that frankly never should have happened. This was the case from the jump, with the "Yellowstone" premiere setting a deadly precedent that was upheld throughout all five seasons. Now, the show lives on via two spin-offs in "Marshals" and "Dutton Ranch." But it's never too late to look back and wonder how the "Yellowstone" universe might look today had certain characters survived. Here are five "Yellowstone" characters who should have never died.
John Dutton
Let's get this one out of the way right off the bat. It's no secret that Taylor Sheridan and Kevin Costner didn't get along towards the end of "Yellowstone," and that behind-the-scenes drama eventually developed into an on-screen debacle when Costner's John Dutton was killed off with an anti-climactic death. Did John deserve to die? Well, yes, considering all the people he'd had killed. Did he go out the right way? Almost every "Yellowstone" fan says no.
Costner's "Yellowstone" contract stipulated that John Dutton should go out "in a manner or context that reflects favorably." That seems a little much, but there's certainly a sense that this "Yellowstone" figurehead deserved a better death than he got, or deserved to stick around for a little while longer. Instead, he dies off-screen in a supposed suicide.
Sheridan supposedly had all five seasons of "Yellowstone" mapped out in his head from the very start. If John's death was part of that, then his fate was already sealed. But that doesn't require a hasty off-screen death, and it also doesn't mean we can't imagine what might have happened had John survived Season 5. What would the spin-offs had looked like with John still in the mix? Sure, "Dutton Ranch" is a great sequel series, but "Marshals" has struggled to figure out what on Earth it's actually about, and I think it's fair to say fans would rather have a little more of John than Luke Grimes' procedural.
Lee Dutton
Taylor Sheridan asserted his right to kill off whoever the heck he wanted with the very first episode of "Yellowstone." The series premiere, "Daybreak," saw Dave Annable's Lee Dutton gunned down by Broken Rock Reservation resident and Monica Long's (Kelsey Asbille) brother, Robert Long (Jeremiah Bitsui). It's a shocking moment, especially as the show appeared to be setting up a nice little dynamic between Lee, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley), and Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes). In fact, Grimes' favorite "Yellowstone" scene occurs prior to Lee's death, wherein the three Dutton brothers and Kayce's son, Tate Dutton (Brecken Merrill), sit and chat by a river. To see Lee killed so violently moments later was a shock to say the least.
Of course, Sheridan would argue that Lee's death was the catalyst for bringing Kayce back to the Dutton family. But there were surely other ways to do that. What's more, we've since seen Annable co-star in another Sheridan series, "Lioness," where he's more than proved he has the goods. It would have been interesting to see how the Dutton brothers' dynamic developed throughout the series, and considering Annable's dramatic chops, I have a feeling we missed out on what could have been some of the best and most emotionally affecting scenes in "Yellowstone."
As it stands, Lee was simply used to create a wild "Yellowstone" moment and signal to viewers that they shouldn't get too attached to anyone. It's a fair approach on Sheridan's part, but there must have been someone other than Lee that could have literally taken that bullet.
Monica Dutton
Kelsey Asbille's Monica Dutton was killed off in the worst way possible, given an off-screen death between the end of "Yellowstone" and the beginning of "Marshals." Now, Monica was not the most popular "Yellowstone" character, and in fact seemed to have enraged many fans for some inexplicable reason (something about being too sensible). But her dishonorable discharge from the "Yellowstone"-verse seemed slightly insulting at best.
As explained in "Marshals" Season 1, Monica passed away from cancer that was thought to be linked to a polluted river that runs through the land on which she, Kayce Dutton, and Tate Dutton lived. But when "Yellowstone" wrapped up, there was no mention of this development whatsoever, making Monica's death seem like a hastily-conceived way to either propel Kayce's ongoing story, or perhaps an effort on Paramount's part to avoid legal action. The same month "Marshals" premiered on CBS/Paramount+, a report emerged that claimed Monica had been written out of the show to sufficiently differentiate it from "Yellowstone." This supposedly allowed Paramount to keep the streaming rights to the spin-off rather than having to hand them over to NBCUniversal as part of a previous deal.
But that doesn't really make up for the fact that Monica was a "Yellowstone" mainstay who served an extremely important function. Specifically, she tempered many of Sheridan's more soapy inclinations. The creator is known for his unique balance of melodrama and surprising naturalism, and Monica was a crucial part of the latter. Her scenes with Kayce often felt like the most grounded of the series, and she deserved better than what felt like an undignified off-screen death.
Dirk Hurdstram
Nobody was safe on "Yellowstone," and that includes kindly old men who are just trying to live out their twilight years in peace. Dirk Hurdstram (Stanley Peternel) was the grandfather of Jimmy Hurdstram (Jefferson White, who joins "Marshals" in its second season), and the reason Jimmy ended up at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch in the first place. Dirk was worried about his grandson getting caught up with the wrong crowd and asked John Dutton to bring him in as a ranch hand to keep him out of trouble. Unfortunately, that didn't keep Dirk himself out of trouble.
In Season 2, the old man was beaten by Ray (Lane Garrison) and Blake (Ryan Dorsey), two drug dealers to whom Jimmy owed money. Though the assailants were trying to send a message to Jimmy by beating up gramps, Dirk ultimately suffered a stroke due to a blood clot and passed away. The fact he was Jimmy's only living relative made his death even more tragic.
Ultimately, the men responsible for Dirk's death got what was coming to them. But Jimmy's grandad really didn't deserve to become another "Yellowstone" casualty. All he did was try to get his grandson out of trouble, and his death has gone down as one of the saddest in the show's history — which, considering how deadly this series is, really is saying something.
Monica and Kayce's baby
You couldn't do it could you, Taylor? You couldn't leave the baby alone. Tragedy and trouble follow the Duttons wherever they go, perpetually sawing away at the Dutton family tree. Unfortunately, that curse is generational, and in Season 5, it claimed the most innocent victim possible when Monica and Kayce Dutton lost their second son. It was one of the most senseless and avoidable deaths in the entire show.
While the late Dutton son, who was rather ominously named John, wasn't technically a "character" on the show in the sense we never even got to know him at all, his passing has gone down as not only one of the saddest, but one of the most ridiculous in "Yellowstone" history. A swift glance at Reddit should give you some idea of how fans feel about this one, but in case you missed it, here's a quick recap.
In Season 5, Monica decides to drive herself to the hospital after seemingly entering labor three weeks prior to her due date. Apparently, she and Kayce had no birth plan, Tate Dutton was unable to drive, and Monica simply couldn't wait for an ambulance. Predictably, it all ends in tragedy when she swerves to avoid a buffalo and crashes into an oncoming truck. Baby John lasts about an hour after the crash and that's that.
Aside from the fact it seemed needlessly cruel to kill the baby, Monica driving herself to the hospital doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The entire thing feels like a quick way to wring some cheap melodrama out of the Season 5 premiere and not much more. On top of that, once babies start dropping, the whole "nobody is safe on 'Yellowstone'" thing becomes less exciting and more parodic.