With Yellowstone quickly approaching its fiery finale this Sunday and a spate of spinoffs in the works,
fans are practically clawing for any scraps of info about what’s next for their beloved Western soap opera.
And lucky for them, insiders from the Paramount juggernaut have teased what’s in store, thanks to the
sharp mind of creator Taylor Sheridan.
As for the epic conclusion of the series—which recently bid adieu to star Kevin Costner—executive producer David Glasser says he’s ‘very happy’ with how it all shakes out.
‘I’m very happy with the way audiences have embraced the show, and with the journey that Taylor has created in the present time and in buttoning it up the way he always would,’ Glasser explained to The Los Angeles Times on Friday.
He added, ‘From day one, Taylor was very clear how the show was going to end. Like anything else, this show has been through an incredible journey.’
‘At the same time, it seems like it’s the right moment for it to evolve. This part of the story had to close, and I think the timing of it now is the right time.’
But before you start mourning the Duttons, here’s the good news: The Season 5 finale isn’t the last time we’ll see them on screen.
Series regulars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser have signed on to lead a spinoff, reprising their roles as the fiery Beth Dutton and stoic Rip Wheeler, respectively.
While there’s no word yet on when the Beth-Rip saga will premiere—or which other Yellowstone characters might make the leap—Glasser did throw fans a tantalizing bone.
‘It’s still early, [but] audiences have shown us that Beth and Rip continuing on in some fashion is a good thing,’ he teased.
And as for the penultimate episode of Season 5, which got some online flack for its heavy focus on Sheridan’s own character, horse trainer Travis Wheatley—Glasser took the opportunity to defend the move.
It didn’t take long for fans to notice that Wheatley, a bit-part character, was suddenly front-and-center.
Some speculated that this was part of a deliberate shift, with Costner’s exit leaving a bit of a hole in the cast.
‘From the social media we saw, audiences love the Wheatley character,’ Glasser said, leaning into the praise.
‘In wrapping up all the characters on the show, there needed to be a completion to that character.’
Meanwhile, Yellowstone fans banded together to fire back at Quentin Tarantino after the iconic director dismissed their favorite Western drama as little more than a ‘soap opera.’
The online drama kicked off after the Pulp Fiction creator, 61, was asked to compare movies with modern TV shows during a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
While Tarantino admitted that some recent TV series are ‘pretty good,’ he argued they are never as ‘compelling’ as feature films and used Yellowstone— which recently saw the departure of Kevin Costner —as his prime example.
‘I didn’t really get around to watching Yellowstone’the first three years or so. Then I watch the first season, and I’m like, “Wow, this is f****** great!” I’ve always been a big Kevin Costner fan, he’s f******wonderful in this,’ Tarantino recalled.
‘And I get really caught up in the show, I’m having a great time watching. And the first season, I’m kind of talking like, “Oh, this is like a big movie.”‘
He continued: ‘While I’m watching it, I’m compelled. But at the end of the day, it’s just a soap opera.’
And just to drive the point home, he added, ‘You don’t remember it five years from now,” which, naturally, set fans of the hit show on fire.
The backlash came fast and furious, with Yellowstone lovers flooding social media to defend their beloved series and call out Tarantino for his ‘dismissive’ take.
One critic clapped back, ‘Is there anything that man does like besides his own work?’ an another chimed in, ‘He also loves to hear himself talk.’
Yet another even took aim at Quentin’s own recent Oscar-winning work, posting, ‘In that case once upon a time in hollywood is a tv movie.’
Yellowstone returns with the massive finale on Sunday, December 15 at 8 PM ET on Paramount Network.
