“It was always going to be five seasons in [Taylor’s] head,” Kelly Reilly says.

Taylor Sheridan has always known how Yellowstone would end. The “when” might’ve gotten a little confusing over the years, but the story of

the Dutton family and the lengths they’d go to in order to protect their legacy — and possibly more importantly, their land — always had a

conclusion.

“Day one, episode one, Taylor said, ‘I know exactly how this ends,’” executive producer David Glasser recalls.

It’s something the Yellowstone creator didn’t hide from his cast, either. “He told me the ending of the show when we were filming season 1,” Kelly Reilly, who’s spent five seasons playing the formidable Beth Dutton, says.

The series, which follows the members of the Dutton family — Patriarch John (Kevin Costner), family-lawyer-turned-enemy Jamie (Wes Bentley), businesswoman/bulldog Beth, and independently minded cowboy Kayce (Luke Grimes) — and those that work on their beloved ranch, set a standard for drama in its first episode, which saw the death of eldest sibling Lee Dutton (Dave Annable). From that moment, it was clear that the battle for land (and a certain lifestyle) was a matter of life and death in Montana. And the Duttons would do anything to win that battle.

Yellowstone premiered in June of 2018 on the little-known Paramount Network, but eventually— thanks to word of mouth and episodes hitting both CBS and Peacock — would find its audience … and then some. “At its core it’s about family and it’s about what would you do to protect your family,” Glasser says. “It’s such a simple concept and Taylor has brilliantly built a universe around it.”

According to Neilson, season 5A was the most-watched scripted series on television, averaging 11.6 million viewers each week. In other words, as the drama heads into the back-half of the season, the show is about as popular as land seems to be in the Dutton’s world: Everybody wants it.

And it’s been a minute since they’ve gotten it. The first half of season 5 finished airing on Jan. 1 of 2023, with additional episodes expected to air that summer. But by February, it was reported that star Kevin Costner wanted to reduce his shooting time on the show and that discussions had begun about a potential sequel series maybe starring Matthew McConaughey. As rumors swirled, Yellowstone did not make it back into production before the 2023 SAG and WGA strikes, which lasted into the fall. By November, Paramount announced the series would return a year later, in November of 2024 (and would then launch a present-day spinoff titled 2024).

Six months later, in May of 2024, production finally began on what was revealed to be the final season, with no word of Costner’s involvement. It would later come out that Costner would not, in fact, return to his role. The star claimed he had wanted to film the second half of season 5, but said that “they didn’t have the scripts.” Got all that? Oh, and 2024 is still a present-day spinoff, but is now titled The Madison, which stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Patrick J. Adams, and Matthew Fox. Long story short, Yellowstone fans have had to wait a while — and the same can be said of the cast.

“We have such a huge following of fans who really are very emotionally connected to the show,” Reilly says. “Some of them are mad as hell that we’ve taken so long, but we’re like, ‘It’s not our fault! We wanted to go to work!’” Luke Grimes adds, “I’ve been itching to get back to the show and I’m so glad it finally worked out and we got to finish strong.”

Now, we’re less than two months away from the final six episodes of the Western saga, which will start airing on Nov. 10. And according to Reilly, things really did work out for the best. “It was always going to be five seasons in [Taylor’s] head, but because the show became so successful, the network and everyone wanted more,” Reilly says. “So, in a way, fate took it and we ended this part of Yellowstone in a way that he always envisioned it to end.”

But what does that ending look like? Fans will recall that the first half of season 5 ended with the cowboys — led by no-nonsense Rip (Cole Hauser) — preparing to head down to Texas.

“We film most of the show in Montana, but there’s a part of the show that’s set in Texas,” Reilly says. And let’s just say that newlyweds Beth and Rip aren’t super excited about the time apart. Or at least Beth isn’t. “We start the show where Rip’s gone to Texas and Beth is miserable without him,” Reilly continues. “Within 24 hours, she’s like, ‘When are you coming back?’ She doesn’t have much patience or understanding that he has to go and do cowboying so she might take a trip down to Texas to see him.”

And yet something tells us Beth also has plenty to deal with in Montana, where she has declared war against her brother Jamie. And in this family, that means a fight to the death. “Jamie’s the most raw he’s ever been and the most vulnerable,” star Wes Bentley says, adding, “He’s the angriest he’s ever been.”

It remains to be seen if that anger will be a match for Beth’s. (It’s a high bar.) Reilly recalls the moment in season 1 when John told his daughter that he needed her to fight, and when she asked “Who?” he simply replied: “Everyone.” She’s taken that to heart ever since. “She’s his most loyal soldier,” Reilly says of Beth. “It is unwavering, her devotion to protecting this place, even if it’s a place that has caused her so much sadness in her life. She’s always foreseen Jamie as the biggest threat to its survival and I think there is a fulfilling of a prophecy happening here. She ended the last episode saying we’re at war. She keeps her promise.”

And although John won’t be part of the final episodes given Costner’s absence, Reilly assures fans, “It changes nothing as far as Beth’s desire to protect her family’s lineage. In fact it becomes more urgent.” (As for what happens to John, well, that secret might as well be buried at the Train Station. In true Dutton fashion, everyone’s lips are sealed.)

With Beth and Jamie at each other’s throats, what will that mean for Kayce, the one sibling left out of this death battle? “You do get to see a lot more interaction between Kayce and Beth,” Grimes teases of the final episodes. “That was really fun because Kelly and I had talked over the years about how we wish we’d had more stuff together because we’re never really in the same room, if you think about it. It was great working with Kelly and being around Beth’s energy a little bit.”

We’d speculate on what that could mean, but when it comes to the final season’s twists and turns, every cast member seems to echo Glasser’s sentiment: “If you think you know what’s going to happen, Taylor will always give you a surprise that you didn’t see coming.”

One of those surprises? Filming has already wrapped on the series. For the cast, there will be no more family arguments, no more stunning Montana sunsets, no more crazy nights playing poker in the bunkhouse. “There’s definitely a sort of summer camp blues feeling,” Grimes says. “All my friends are going away, but I’ve made friends for life on this job. I’m glad we got to finish strong.”

Bentley adds, “It’s one of the biggest things I’ve ever been a part of, and it’s a character that’s a double-edged sword. It’s both very satisfying to play a character who’s given so much emotional work to do, but it also takes its toll. I’m excited to let him go, but I’m also sad to let him go.”

For Reilly, the pre-season break was a blessing. “With the strikes and with changes with certain things, everything got delayed longer than anybody wanted. In a weird way, having a little break meant that you’re coming back to something that you’re not taking for granted, and the scripts were so good. So good. We got to finish something rather than draw something out or prolong it.”

Grimes waited until the last possible moment to find out how it would end. “I read the last episode the day before we started filming,” he says. “I couldn’t be happier. I think it’s a perfect ending for the show for every character. It’s just a testament to what a good writer Taylor is, and it’s a very, very profound, beautiful ending. I can’t wait to sit down and watch it one day.”

Yellowstone returns on Sunday, Nov. 10 on Paramount Network.