Sunday night’s episode of “Yellowstone” filled fans with distress and confusion — and not just because they were subjected to multiple scenes featuring creator Taylor Sheridan shirtless. At the end, a teaser for the upcoming Dec. 15 episode referred to it as the “season finale,” when by all accounts it could be the end of the series.

In May 2023, Paramount Network announced that “‘Yellowstone’ is officially coming to an end, with the final episodes of the megahit Paramount Network series’ fifth season.” Additionally, a sequel series was teased. Yet in August 2024, a sixth season of “Yellowstone” was reported on, with the plan that stars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser would be the leads — but nothing has been greenlit to this day.

Paramount Network hasn’t explained what’s next, but the show’s trajectory has been uncertain since the finale of the first half of Season 5 in 2023. During that time, star Kevin Conster’s status went from reduced availability to totally off the show. As a result, the second half of Season 5, which premiered in November, has focused on the aftermath of his character John Dutton’s death and the financial fate of the sprawling Yellowstone ranch.

The “Yellowstone” subreddit, which includes more than 700,000 fans, has several recent threads showing confusion about whether the next episode is the season or series finale, including “SEASON Finale? Not SERIES Finale?“, “Season or Series Finale?” and “Season 6?“

Insiders at the show are tight-lipped about the future of “Yellowstone,” but maintain that it is basically Sheridan’s decision. “If Taylor wants to do more, there will be more,” one agency source told Variety.

The series’ publicity team did not respond to Variety‘s request for comment, deepening the mystery — which might not even be revealed on this Sunday’s episode, unless there has been significant movement behind the scenes.