Yellowstone lost its charm with a chaotic finale, and not even Kevin Costner can save it from fan backlash.

Yellowstone used to be the king of TV’s Wild West, and now, it’s just a dusty tumbleweed refusing to roll off-screen. What started as a gritty neo-Western juggernaut with Kevin Costner growling patriarchal wisdom turned into a long, drawn-out ranch soap opera that forgot when to quit.

With Season 5 split in two like an overcooked steak and stretched thinner than Beth Dutton’s patience, Taylor Sheridan seems determined to milk every drop of cowboy drama. But here’s the kicker, John Dutton’s dead, the ranch is spiraling, and the narrative? Flatter than a prairie.

While Sheridan says there’s more story to tell, fans are side-eyeing the screen like, “Really, bro?” Sorry, Yellowstone, even your best horse can’t outrun stale storytelling. And Kevin Costner? He may have left, but he’s still riding off with the last laugh.

Yellowstone fans criticise Taylor Sheridan’s show

Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly in Yellowstone (Credits- Paramount)

What happens when a cowboy saga rides too long into the sunset? You get Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2, a stretched-out, strangely poker-obsessed epilogue that left fans saying, “This ain’t it, Sheridan.” The once-proud tale of grit, land, and legacy returned after a two-year hiatus, with John Dutton six feet under and no clear sense of direction above ground.

And instead of giving the Duttons a send-off befitting their ranch-sized egos, Taylor Sheridan doubled down on chaos, filler, and bizarre detours. Strip poker with half-naked cowgirls? A rogue horse death? Sure, why not.

Fans didn’t just notice; they called the show out hard. Online forums, Reddit threads, and Twitter (sorry, X) lit up with criticism, calling the show “a stereotype on steroids,” and whatnot.

And honestly, they weren’t wrong. The series spent most of its final hours wandering in circles, with Beth and Jamie locked in a death match that felt more WWE than Western epic. Kayce fed his badge to a wolf (or a hallucination?), Rip cleaned up a body like it was Tuesday, and the big “ranch-saving plan” arrived so last-minute, even the cows didn’t believe it.

Sheridan tried to inject closure into the chaos, then there’s Lainey Wilson singing a tune while Dutton property gets stripped for parts, but the emotional math didn’t add up. John Dutton, who spent his life fighting progress, dies only to have his land handed over in a move he’d never have approved. Fans saw through it, and they weren’t buying the feel-good facade. Even Sheridan once opened up about the negative reviews of the show, telling The Hollywood Reporter,

It has no plot, really. […] Don’t take my land, I want your land. In that, I have a lot of opportunities to poke fun, but also kind of point out different points of views, and kind of really study a way of life and a world. There’s a lot of defiance in the way I do it.

Beth might say “we won,” but fans were left wondering what exactly they were supposed to be cheering for. A show that once explored complex themes of power and preservation ended with rushed resolutions and copy-paste character endings.

If anything, Yellowstone outlived its own legacy, and viewers weren’t shy about saying it. Sheridan may have written the last word, but Kevin Costner’s ghost (and IMDb profile) is still towering over it all like the real sheriff of this story.

What did Kevin Costner say about Yellowstone ending?

Kevin Costner in Yellowstone (Credits- Paramount)

Kevin Costner finally tipped his cowboy hat to the Yellowstone finale, and let’s just say, he did it with a smirk and a side of sass. The John Dutton actor, who rode off into the horizon mid-finale thanks to scheduling clashes (and, let’s be real, a dash of creative tension), didn’t mince words when asked how the Dutton saga should’ve wrapped up.

Chatting with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on ET while promoting their History Channel docuseries The West, Costner acknowledged that Yellowstone had a solid grip on the rugged spirit of ranch life. He said,

It’s modern-day ranching. Yellowstone was able to capture that really so beautifully. I mean, it’s a bit of a soap opera. I mean, we all should be in prison.

Yes, you read that right. The man who played Montana’s most brooding land baron basically called out the entire Dutton family for their felony-packed lifestyle, and he’s not wrong. Land wars, train station murders, political manipulation, bear spray brawls, at this point, it’s less Western drama and more Ozark: Cattle Edition.

Costner’s cheeky truth bomb echoes what many fans have said for years: the Duttons were glorified outlaws in cowboy boots. And while the finale tried to slap a redemption ribbon on their dusty chaos, Costner’s comments suggest he’s not exactly buying the “happily ever after on the ranch” spin.