SPOILERS AHEAD

‘Yellowstone’ Fans Fume Over Major Character’s Shock Death

The first of the final six episodes revealed their violent demise.

Yellowstone fans reacted in real-time with shock and anger after the show’s latest episode opened to reveal one of the lead characters had died a violent death. “Not the way I expected #Yellowstone to start,” one user wrote on social media. “It hasn’t been five minutes of #Yellowstone and I AM NOT OKAY,” another said. The contemporary western drama from Paramount follows the Dutton family, which owns the largest ranch in Montana, as it clashes with developers, the national park, and the bordering Broken Rock Indiana Reservation. The first of the final six episodes aired on Sunday with family patriarch John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner, dead from an apparent suicide. As the episode continued, it became clear the suicide was actually a murder, which shouldn’t have come as any great surprise given that murders-for-hire were a running plot point in the show. Costner had also revealed in July he was leaving the show early over scheduling conflicts with his Western film series “Horizon,” but fans weren’t happy with the way he was written off, the Daily Mail reported. “Yellowstone fumbled big time. Ruined a great show. Can’t kill off John Dutton,” one wrote. “I can’t believe the way they took John Dutton out. Buckle up. It’s going to be a wild ride now,” added another. The show is in its fifth and final season, with new episodes dropping weekly. real-time