Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2: Return Date, Latest Teaser, and Everything Else to Know
Paramount Network’s massive hit drama Yellowstone is coming back soon… we hope! In case you haven’t heard, there’s drama behind the scenes of the Western, with rumors that star Kevin Costner’s time on the show may not be long and that the series might not go beyond its current fifth season (though ending the flagship series could actually be the best thing for the franchise). The current fifth season is on break, but when it returns, it will become the longest season of Yellowstone yet, with 14 episodes total.
And we’ll need ’em! With just six episodes to go in Yellowstone Season 5, we have a lot of unfinished business. Civil war has broken out among the Duttons, with Jamie (Wes Bentley) and Beth (Kelly Reilly) at each other’s throats, John (Kevin Costner) at risk of being impeached, and a devastating illness spreading through Montana wildlife and endangering the Duttons’ cattle. Below, we’ll go through what we know about Season 5 Part 2, including the release date, trailer, and recaps of the first part of the season to set you up for what’s to come.
Yellowstone Stars Discuss Life With John as the Governor
Latest Yellowstone news
The “Will Costner or Won’t Costner?” drama reached another level in early April, as Kevin Costner, creator Taylor Sheridan, and most of the show’s main cast were no-shows at the Yellowstone PaleyFest panel that occurred on April 1, Variety reported. (Maybe it was just an April Fools joke?) Even though they were confirmed for the event months in advance, the show’s actors and producers stayed away, and members of the press weren’t notified of the change until minutes before the red carpet began. Paramount’s reason for their absence was “scheduling conflicts,” which is usually industry-speak to cover up other issues. Fans who had traveled to the event to see their favorite stars were disappointed, and honestly, who can blame them?
Despite the obvious cloud over the event, Paramount Network exec Keith Cox said he was “very confident” that Costner would return, according to Variety. A reporter for Variety also tweeted that production on the second part of the season hasn’t begun yet, possibly putting the previously announced summer 2023 return date in jeopardy. If you weren’t worried before, you should be now.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 release date
There’s no specific date set yet, but Paramount Network has announced that the Duttons will be back with six more Season 5 episodes in summer 2023. Yellowstone was originally a summer show, and until Season 4, seasons premiered in June. However, as of early April, Variety reported that production on Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 had not yet begun, raising questions about whether the series will meet the summer timeline.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 teaser
Paramount did release a teaser for the back half of the season, but you may notice that it contains no new footage. That’s because it hasn’t been filmed yet. Piper Perabo told TV Guide in mid-December that she had no idea what was coming after Episode 8.
ellowstone Season 5 recaps
Need to catch up on the recent episodes? Read our full recaps and cast interviews for the latest Season 5 episodes.
- Episodes 1 and 2: John Ruffles Feathers as Governor and Rip Gets Creative on the Ranch
- Episode 3: Beth Pulled a Fast One and Still Ended Up in Handcuffs
- Episode 4: Summer Higgins Returns to Stir Up Trouble
- Episode 5: A Vegan Ruins Dinner in Season 5’s Best Episode Yet
- Episode 6: Yellowstone‘s Dawn Olivieri Explains What Sarah Is Doing With Jamie
- Episode 7: Yellowstone‘s Piper Perabo Dishes on the Kiss Heard ‘Round the Fair
- Episode 8: Yellowstone Midseason Finale Sees Beth and Jamie Prepare for War
Yellowstone Season 5 review
After four seasons of manipulation, scheming, and fighting for power against the backdrop Montana’s relatively untouched beauty, new governor John Dutton is now calling the shots, with Beth (Kelly Reilly) running the show behind him. His intentions are clear in the two-part premiere of Season 5. The ranch hands have not changed their ways, despite John’s new gig, which makes for some of the best scenes in these premiere episodes. Read TV Guide’s full review of the two-part premiere here:
Yellowstone Season 5 Premiere Review: John Dutton May Be Governor, But the Ranch Remains the Same
Yellowstone Season 5 cast
There are some familiar and new faces on the ranch in Season 5. Josh Lucas returns as young John Dutton for the first time since Season 3. He’s joined by Kylie Rogers as young Beth and Kyle Red Silverstein as young Rip. Jacki Weaver also returns as the Duttons’ latest business foe, Market Equities CEO Caroline Warner, with Mo Brings Plenty and Wendy Moniz promoted to series regulars as Thomas Rainwater’s (Gil Birmingham) right-hand man Mo and governor-turned-senator Lynelle Perry, respectively.
There are four new characters coming to Yellowstone as well. Kai Caster plays a young cowboy named Rowdy. Lainey Wilson is playing a musician named Abby. Lilli Kai plays Clara Brewer, Gov. Dutton’s new assistant. And 1883‘s Dawn Olivieri joins the cast as Sarah Atwood, a Montana newcomer and “corporate shark” who has attached herself to Jamie.
The whole bunkhouse is also back, including Forrie J. Smith, Denim Richards, Ian Bohen, Ryan Bingham, and Jen Landon as Teeter, who has been promoted to series regular.
Before the season premiered, it was announced that Kathryn Kelly, who plays Jimmy’s fiancée, Emily, has also been promoted to series regular and returns with Jefferson White as Jimmy. So far, they’ve only appeared in the midseason finale and are happily living and working at the Four Sixes Ranch in Texas.
The back half of the season is also likely to feature more Orli Gottesman as Halie, a young, confident girl drawn to Carter. So far, we’ve only seen her at the county fair and briefly in the midseason finale. “In Season 5, Halie becomes that person who gives Carter the chance to come out of his shell and to teach him not only about himself, but he finds himself always wanting Halie to be around,” reads her character description. “Halie comes along and now there is someone who can fit that mold and be there for him.”
The Yellowstone Universe Explained: Every Show, How to Watch, Dutton Family Tree, and More
Main cast members
- Kevin Costner as John Dutton
- Kelly Reilly as Beth
- Luke Grimes as Kayce
- Wes Bentley as Jamie
- Cole Hauser as Rip
- Kelsey Asbille as Monica
- Brecken Merrill as Tate
- Finn Little as Carter
- Gil Birmingham as Thomas Rainwater
Yellowstone Season 4 recap
Yellowstone Season 5 picked up after the bloody events of the Season 4 finale; Beth (Kelly Reilly), who we all know is the real brains behind every operation on the Yellowstone-Dutton Ranch, manipulated her adopted brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) into killing his biological father, Garrett (Will Patton). After it was revealed that Garrett was the one who ordered the attempted hits on John, Beth, and Kayce (Luke Grimes) back in Season 3, Beth figured he had it coming. She also made sure to hang onto the evidence, so now she’s got Jamie under her thumb and out of the governor’s race, clearing the way for their father to be the only Dutton running for office. She also just got hitched to Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and watched her father’s new, confusing vegan special friend (Piper Perabo) head off to jail, so basically, it’s Beth’s world and everyone else is just living in it.
Complicating Beth’s quest for world/Montana domination is the fact that Kayce has been on a heck of a spiritual journey that showed him a vision of two paths. At least one of those paths, as he told Monica (Kelsey Asbille), would result in “the end of us.” Whatever that means, it can’t be good.
Yellowstone prequels and spin-offs
Yellowstone is no longer alone in the world of Taylor Sheridan shows about ranchers. One prequel miniseries, 1883, aired on Paramount+ late in 2021, and revealed the origin story of the Dutton family arriving in Montana. The series starred Isabel May as the brave and adventurous teenager Elsa, elder sister to John Dutton’s great-grandfather, John Sr., and Tim McGraw as her father, James. An 1883 spin-off called 1883: The Bass Reeves Story will star David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves, the legendary first Black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi. He was a former enslaved person who arrested over 3,000 criminals.
A second Yellowstone prequel, titled 1923, premiered in December 2022. It picks up 40 years after 1883 with the next generation of Duttons tending to their ranch during the aftermath of World War I and the start of Prohibition. It stars Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as Jacob and Cara Dutton, the brother and sister-in-law to Tim McGraw’s James Dutton from 1883. The premiere of 1923 also revealed some hidden secrets about the Dutton family tree.
Sheridan is also writing a Yellowstone spin-off called 6666, which takes place at the real historic Four Sixes ranch in Texas (which Sheridan owns) and tells the story of how the ranch has continued to operate in the same way today as it did over a century ago. That spin-off will air on Paramount Network, along with the original show.
A-lister Matthew McConaughey has been tapped to star in a Yellowstone spin-off as well. Though initially a rumor, the news was confirmed by Paramount Media Networks CEO Chris McCarthy in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. However, we still don’t know if the show in question is 6666 or an entirely new series.
At the 2022 Oscars Red Carpet, Yellowstone star Kevin Costner said he has “no doubt there’ll be more spin-offs.” “I didn’t even know about the spin-offs that were coming,” he added. “I just kind of do my thing, hit my marks, and go, ‘Wow, this thing is really going well.'” Going well indeed.
30 fun facts about Yellowstone
If you think you’re a fan of Yellowstone but want to become a super fan, then check out TV Guide’s compilation of 30 (and counting) fun facts and behind-the-scenes secrets about the show, including how you can visit the real Dutton ranch and what it takes to be a cowboy on a Taylor Sheridan show.