Kevin Costner’s John Dutton is mocked after his death

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the “Yellowstone” Season 5 Episode 11 episode, “Three Fifty-Three,” which premiered Sunday, November 24 on Paramount Network.

When it became clear that Kevin Costner would not return for the second half of Season 5 of ‘Yellowstone,’ fans wondered how series creator Taylor Sheridan would write off his character, John Dutton. The split seemed less than amicable, with Costner saying he couldn’t get on the same page with the rest of production on shooting schedules and even mentioning that there could be legal action as a result of his departure.

But it’s hard to imagine fans imagining John Dutton’s farewell going like this. Instead of a fitting farewell for the patriarch of the central family, it seems like Sheridan is trying to throw mud on the main character’s legacy, while also harassing Costner in real life.

Sheridan is the only credited writer of the season so far, and things immediately took a strange turn in the first of the new episodes. When John’s daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) sped up to the governor’s house in her Bentley and saw police cars, it was clear that the audience wouldn’t have to wait to see John die. Given his stoicism and masculinity in the series, it seemed like the answer would be something more noble, in keeping with how he lived. Instead, Montana residents are led to believe that Dutton shot himself in the head while in the bathroom.

Sure, it was staged as part of a nefarious plan by Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) as she tried to elevate John’s son Jamie (Wes Bentley) during a land dispute. But the fact remains that in the show’s universe, it is believed that the all-powerful John Dutton committed suicide inches from the toilet. Granted, the death is reopened for a murder investigation in the third new episode, but to broadcast the first message of John’s death in such a way seems calibrated to poke at Costner and his badass personality.

The actor himself even complained about it, saying in an interview on SiriusXM’s “The Michael Smerconish Program” that “I heard it was suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush out and watch it.” While he also rightly suspected it was a diversion, it’s likely that both on the show and in real life, many more people believe it was suicide rather than knowing the full story.

The move brings to mind other deaths in series where an actor left the show, angering the show’s creators. In 2006, Isaac Hayes quits ‘South Park’ after denouncing the show’s satire of religious organizations. Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker then wrote off his character Chef by having him join a pedophile cult, which seemed inspired by his involvement with Scientology, before he was mauled by animals and ended up shitting his pants. In 2015, “Two and a Half Men” dropped a piano on Charlie Sheen’s character Charlie during the series finale after Sheen, who was fired in 2011, refused to appear during the series finale. (The two have since had a rapprochement.)

Perhaps the strangest shot at John Dutton came in the second episode after death, where it was revealed that his love interest Summer (Piper Perabo) – who had been living at the Dutton Ranch since her house arrest – was not. Actually was grounded, but there were papers on the living room table saying she was free all this time! What?!

“He grounded you so you would stay with him, and you were stupid enough to do that,” Beth snaps at Summer as she grabs the paperwork. “You never bothered to talk to a lawyer, you never bothered to look at your own release document – ​​the one that said ‘released’.”

When Summer asks why John would do this, Beth paraphrases “Lonesome Dove” and says, “If a man isn’t willing to cheat for a poke, he doesn’t want one bad enough.”

So John effectively kidnapped this woman and held her against her will just so he could have a live-in sex buddy? This is nothing like the straight-laced John Dutton we’ve come to know over the past five seasons – sure, his morals are malleable at times, but his past crimes were in the service of the country, the ranch and his family.

Of course, Summer had to be written out of the show, but… couldn’t one of John’s powerful sons call and make her jump? Or another option besides that kidnapping? It seems like a strange way to tear apart John’s character.

In the most recent episode, Sheridan goes three for three in dunking John, and in turn, Costner. As Sarah and Jamie discuss the likelihood that the scars and bruises on John’s body could lead to a murder conviction, Sarah dismisses this, saying, “The scars on his body… He could have gotten those when he the ground fell. It was a 68 year old man. For all we know, he could have fallen into the tub.”

While she’s not wrong, that must be hard for Costner to hear. After all, he made a career as a sex symbol in films like ‘Bull Durham’ and ‘The Bodyguard’. And John himself is a strong, virile man who is willing to take control of any situation. Now he’s being put in the same category as the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” LifeCall commercials from the 80s.

As time marches on for everyone, this dig seems like it could be particularly upsetting to Costner — especially since it comes months after the release of the first film in his epic vanity project “Horizon,” in which Costner’s character has sex with a woman played by an actress 32 years younger than him. Considering that he co-wrote and directed the film, it’s clear that he doesn’t view his age in the same way that Sheridan does.

It will be interesting to see what swipes Sheridan makes in future episodes. Will Kayce (Luke Grimes) reveal that his father had a legendarily bad case of flatulence? Will Jamie find paperwork showing that he gambled away all the ranch’s back taxes at the casino? Will Summer call Beth from her new life to thank her for freeing her from an existence of terrible sex with John, who was terrible at doing the deed? Only time will tell.

(Pictured above: Sheridan and Costner together in happier days.)