‘Yellowstone’ Fans Think Season 6 Is Coming + I Think I Know Why

Yellowstone just gave fans hope. The show was set for just two more episodes, but an interesting word choice at the end of Sunday’s (Dec. 1) episode opened the door for more.

Extra episodes? A new season?

It’s too early to tell, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any definitive answers about what the cast and crew of Yellowstone will be doing after the Dec. 15 Season 5 finale on Paramount Network.

My Dutton Rules podcast co-host Adison Haager and I talked about it during Monday’s episode — consider this your spoiler alert warning.

Related: Yellowstone Ends With a Death Nobody Saw Coming – S5, E12 Recap

I had several questions after watching Season 5, Ep. 12 of Yellowstone, titled “Counting Coup.” The first had to do with the show’s title.

What Is “Counting Coup” on Yellowstone?:

Through Kayce Dutton’s actions, we tie up some loose ends from Episode 11. First, Sarah was indeed calling Grant Horton (her hired hitman) before she died. The 713 phone number was a Houston phone number, and Kayce seems to take a flight to track him down. If you paused and squinted, you learned that like the youngest Dutton and his friend Cade, Grant was also a Navy SEAL.

In the car with Grant (his actual name, as it turns out) and his daughter, he tells him he’s going to spare his life, but not before he pistol whips him and says, “Where I come from we call that counting coup. It means I took a piece of your soul and I’m gonna keep it.”

The tradition is of Native American heritage, and those who think Mo told Kayce to do it are almost certainly right. Per the University of Nebraska’s Encyclopedia of the High Plains, counting coup is a high honor for warriors. It means to get close enough to a combatant to strike him by hand and is thought be a great sign of courage.

It also humiliates an enemy, and — in this case — lets them know you’re serious. Plains Indians did this during intertribal warfare, and while other outlets have forwarded and emphasized various elements of counting coup, the important parts are getting close to the enemy and the honor it brings a warrior.

Who Did Kayce Dutton Call?

After talking with Tate at the Dutton family cemetery, Kayce makes a phone call, and it’s not clear who answers. It took me two or three watches to figure out that it was Mo on the other line, and that they were referring to their conversation from Episode 11, about Kayce’s choice.

You may recall his vision quest from Season 4 that ends with him having to choose between the ranch and family. Events like John Dutton’s death, Jamie’s betrayal and even Colby’s death made his choice clear. Everything Kayce does from this point forward will be for his family, which very well may put him at odds with Beth Dutton.

Why Did Yellowstone Tease the “Season Finale” Instead of the “Series Finale”?

I’ll admit that I missed this until I hopped into my favorite Facebook chat groups. The trailer that ran after Episode 12 said there was just one episode remaining until the “season finale.”

That’s a very curious word choice, isn’t it?

There have been a lot of rumors about a lot of shows that have either stalled or never been true to begin with. The show about the 6666 ranch is an example. Something called 1944 is, too.

In August we saw headlines that Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser were talking about continuing Yellowstone as part of a Season 6. That felt very loose even by Yellowstone rumor standards — wouldn’t that essentially spoil the ending of Season 5? — but it made people happy.

The latest is that much of the crew who worked on Season 5 of Yellowstone are going to begin working on The Madison in 2025. That’s the sequel to Yellowstone, with Michelle Pfeiffer rumored to star. The only reason I feel confident saying this is because Yellowstone director Christina Voros said it during a Q&A with the Hollywood Reporter that ran yesterday.

We’re an excitable bunch. In fact, two weeks ago I wrote about why Yellowstone fans think John Dutton is still alive. Three days after that I talked about how Jamie might be laying a trap for Market Equities.

While I understand this latest Yellowstone conspiracy theory, I can’t endorse it. This show is ending and the cowboys are going to have to look for new jobs, on screen and off.