Additionally, Yellowstone has been slowly and steadily losing quality. Character development was faulty for several seasons, and self-indulgent scenes became increasingly prominent. The series is still a worthwhile watch for fans of the Western genre, but there is no doubt the show could have closed on much better terms.
10. The Final Season of Yellowstone Is Full of Confusing and Unnecessary Flashbacks
Yellowstone Ended with 5 Seasons
Additionally, it seems like these flashbacks don’t move the plot forward. They explain a bit about John’s death and how it happened. However, people didn’t need a step-by-step explanation, including a scene of Sarah Atwood hiring the murderer, and much less the moment of John’s actual murder without Kevin Costner on the scene. Other scenes, such as Beth and Rip’s, are even more unnecessary. These are characters people already know, love, and understand, so these fillers didn’t add much to a show running out of time and trying to salvage the storyline.
9. A Lot of the Final Yellowstone Episodes Felt Like Fillers
The Last Season of Yellowstone Was Divided into Two Parts, with 8 and 6 Episodes
However, the final season of Yellowstone abuses flashbacks, self-indulgent scenes, and fan service. Many moments, such as Colby’s death, continue to illustrate the dangers of cowboy life without really adding necessary information to the plot. For example, how come a governor can be killed in his sleep without causing social chaos? This and many other questions are ignored as the show continues to showcase the cowboy lifestyle as if a catastrophic and political event didn’t happen.
8. Too Many Cowboy Corny Scenes Plague the Last Season of Yellowstone
The Last Episode Aired on December 15, 2024
It makes sense that a Western would delight viewers with some moments of bucolic life and feature real-life cowboys. The problem is that Yellowstone is a TV show, not a cowboy lifestyle documentary. While the fandom appreciates Taylor Sheridan’s attention to detail, the setting is, after all, just the background for a particular story that explores themes and motifs.
7. Beth and Kayce’s Visions Are Ridiculous
Only Beth and Kayce Survive Out of John’s Children
The problem is that the show had never introduced any supernatural or spiritual element. John Dutton had been about to die a couple of times, but Beth and Kayce didn’t feel it or forebode it in any way. The fact that Beth, and especially Kayce, who wasn’t close to John, suddenly developed such a bond with their father made the series seem like a soap opera, exploiting the drama and creating emotional porn.
6. No One Liked Travis’ Character
Taylor Sheridan Played Travis Wheatley
Travis is a cocky yet talented rider that comes at the right time to save the day. He helps Yellowstone Ranch sell its horses at great prices, making them look good. Travis has no relationship with any characters, although he’s supposedly a good friend to Rip. Still, the story follows him looking great, selling horses, and even making a fool out of Beth. Still, the show gave him a lot of spotlight in the last season, and since the character isn’t a part of the story, he doesn’t grow as a character, nor add anything to the show’s themes.
All the Yellowstone Characters Act Erratically in the End
Yellowstone introduced a fascinating group of characters at the beginning of the show, but the storylines faltered as the series progressed and eventually crashed and burned in the series finale. The all-powerful, fearless Beth ends the story doing her father’s bidding and buying another ranch for yet another man, the academic and social justice activist that was Monica decides to have a rancher’s life, and Jamie amounts to a low-ranking villain with no depth and is pretty easy to defeat.
4. The Ending Was Clearly Rushed
Yellowstone Was Wrapped Up in Only 6 Episodes
3. The Last Season Is a Walking Advertisement for Yellowstone Spin-Offs
The Franchise Continues with Spin-Offs Like 1883, 1923, 1944, and The Madison
Instead of respecting the storyline of Yellowstone, creators evidently set up the show’s last season to continue the franchise through spin-offs. The final season includes an excessive number of scenes at the Four Sixes Ranch (6666), a real-life Texan ranch partly owned by Taylor Sheridan. The Four Sixes Ranch will be the setting for one of the many Yellowstone spin-offs, but it did not need to be such a big part of the last season of Yellowstone.
2. Kevin Costner’s Absence Truly Hurt the Show
Kevin Costner Left Yellowstone to Focus on His Film Horizon: An American Saga
Yellowstone could have survived Kevin Costner’s absence with good writing, but it would always hurt the show. As the main character in the series, Costner’s presence was vital. Even if Sheridan always planned to kill off the character, the audience deserved to see him die on the screen.
1. The Ending of Yellowstone Is a Big Deus Ex Machina
5 Seasons of Unresolvable Problems Are Fixed in a Couple of Episodes
The main issue with the final season of Yellowstone is that the ending is genuinely unsatisfying, and there’s no way of fixing it. Beth easily kills Jamie at his own house, even though she has taken a significant risk. It’s hard to believe Jamie wouldn’t hire security, especially since Beth had threatened him several times, and his girlfriend was already dead. He did not even look for a gun to kill the woman quickly.