‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan Teases ‘Taking Chess Pieces off Board’ in Season 5

Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan has teased that they may be “taking chess pieces off the board” in Season 5, implying that some characters may be leaving the Dutton ranch. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Sherdian explained his approach to the new episodes by saying, “If you look at everyone as a chess piece in Season 5, it is impossible to keep playing the game without taking chess pieces off the board.” He did not elaborate on whether or not means characters will be simply be exiting the show or if they’ll be killed off.

Yellowstone is a Paramount Network series that stars Kevin Costner as the Dutton family patriarch, John Dutton, whose family controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the United States. Yellowstone held its Season 4 finale back in May, and the big episode set a massive ratings record. According to Deadline, the finale nabbed 9.3 million total viewers in Live+Same Day. This is up 81% when compared to the Season 3 finale, which brought in 5.2 million viewers. The Season 4 finale also surpassed the previous Live+Same Day viewership of 8 million set by the Yellowstone Season 4 premiere.

Notably, the Yellowstone Season 4 finale is the most-watched telecast on cable since The Walking Dead Season 8 premiere on AMC in October 2017, which had 11.4 million viewers. “Yellowstone continues to shatter records with more than 11 million viewers tuning in to the season finale, proving we’ve hit a cultural nerve – from the center of the country to each of the coasts – and still have lots of room to grow on linear,” said ViacomCBS Media Networks President and CEO, Chris McCarthy. “Our strategy to franchise Yellowstone into a universe of series to fuel growth for Paramount+ is already exceeding expectations with 1883 and Mayor of Kingstown proving to be two of the top titles.” 

Yellowstone actress Kelly Reilly recently dropped some Season 5 leaks that reveal major details about the new episodes. In a photo posted to her Instagram Stories, Reilly shared a picture of the scripts for the upcoming season. Based on the photo, which was published by Taste of Country, we know the titles of a few episodes.

The Season 5 premiere is titled “One Hundred Years Is Nothing,” Episode 2 is “The Sting of Wisdom,” Episode 4 is “Horses in Heaven,” Episode 5 is “Watch ‘Em Ride Away”, and Episode 6 is “Cigarettes, Whiskey, a Meadow and You.” No script was visible for Episode 3, but it is unknown why. Reilly may have had it hidden underneath another script, they could be filming out of order and she hasn’t received it yet, or it’s possible she isn’t in the episode at all. Yellowstone Season 5 is currently set to premiere on Nov. 5 on Paramount Network.