Yellowstone is more than just a television show. It’s become a television juggernaut over the course of five seasons, turning creator Taylor Sheridan into TV’s Billion-Dollar Writer in the process.
But even the show’s most passionate fans will admit that there have been several subplots over the years that were introduced with a lot of drama — only to kind of fizzle out and never get resolved.
Yellowstone Season 1: What Happened to Tate’s Dinosaur Bones?
It began all the way back in Season 1, when Tate (Brecken Merrill) found some dinosaur bones on the land that developers want to exploit. That plotline seemed like it was going to lead somewhere, but then … well, it just sort of disappeared.
Tate was excited about his discovery, but not long after, Kayce (Luke Grimes) spotted a drone hovering over the site, and right after that, someone ransacked their house and stole the bones, bringing that subplot to a sudden end.
As Screen Rant reports, some fans believe that the dinosaur bones plot could still be resolved, if the bones are recovered and it turns out that their discovery makes the Dutton ranch some sort of historical landmark. But since there’s only one episode left in Season 5, it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case.
Yellowstone Season 2: Why Didn’t the Bomb on the Plane Ever Explode?
Another really glaring Yellowstone plot hole happened toward the end of Season 2, when Kayce and Dan Jenkins’ (Danny Huston) security man sneak into a hangar and plant a bomb in the Beck Brothers’ plane.
Once again, the plot was introduced in a very dramatic fashion, only to be instantly discarded and never brought up again. You have to wonder if some unlucky soul later bought that plane and blew themselves up inadvertently, but we’ll never know.
The Duttons ended up dispatching the Beck Brothers in a much more personal way, with Kayce killing Teal Beck (Terry Serpico) by shooting him while he’s sitting on the toilet, while John Dutton (Kevin Costner) kills Malcolm Beck (Neal McDonough) by shooting him — or, does he? That brings us to our next dropped plotline:
Yellowstone Season 2: Is Malcolm Beck Really Dead?
We never actually saw Malcolm Beck die on screen, which led to rampant fan speculation that he was still alive and would return to the show at some point. Neal McDonough fed into that speculation in an interview in which he hinted that his character might still return, and fan theories reached a fever pitch after the first episode in Season 4, when the Duttons came under concerted attack from unknown assailants.
Fans speculated that Malcolm Beck was behind those attacks, but that ended up being completely wrong. With just one more episode to go, it appears that we’re never really going to know if Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan intended to use the character again before changing his mind, or if it’s just a loose end that never got tied up.
Yellowstone Season 4: What Happened to the White Hat Floating Down the River?
One of the main reasons fans speculated about Malcolm Beck being alive was due to a teaser video that emerged in advance of Season 4 in 2021.
The trailer showed a quiet river, and then we heard a gunshot off camera before a white hat was seen floating down the river, followed by a trail of blood in the water.
The white hat looked like the one Malcolm Beck wore, but in an especially bizarre twist, that scene never aired on Yellowstone, even though the trailer for the season literally centered around it entirely.
We can probably thank the pandemic for that, since it interrupted all kinds of shooting schedules and made people have to reconfigure shows, but it’s a dangling plotline that seems unlikely to get resolved.
Yellowstone Season 5: The New Sheriff Just Kinda Vanished
One of the most shocking deaths in Yellowstone history happened in Season 4, when Sheriff Donnie Haskell was killed in a gunfight in a diner.
That made way for a new sheriff, and in Season 5, the show made much ado about the fact that he made an example out of Beth Dutton by putting her in jail after an epic bar fight, after warning John that he would not look the other way about the Duttons’ misdeeds the way the previous sheriff had.
However, in another unexplained move, we never really heard from the sheriff again, and the expected fireworks between him and John Dutton never materialized.
Yellowstone Season 5: What Happened to the Wolves Who Got Shot?
One of the most ominous plotlines of the first half of Yellowstone‘s Season 5 involved a pack of wolves that they Bunkhouse Boys inadvertently shot, not realizing they were tagged and protected by law until they had already killed them.
The investigation into those shootings led right to the Yellowstone, and it looked like it could threaten the ranch and the Duttons. However, when Yellowstone returned for the second half of Season 5, the wolves were never brought up again, in yet another vanished plotline.
Yellowstone Season 5: What Is Sarah Atwood’s True Identity?
One particularly interesting tidbit in the first half of Season 5 involved Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), who evidently was not who she claimed to be. At least, that’s what Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) said after researching her past to try to get some leverage on the corporate attorney.
As with the previously mentioned plotlines, that, too, seemingly vanished when Season 5 returned for its second half. The mystery of Atwood’s true identity was never cleared up, and since the character subsequently got shot to death in the middle of the street, it doesn’t look like we’re ever going to know what her true story was.
Yellowstone Season 5: Whatever Happened to Angelas Blue Thunder?
Yellowstone Season 5 is particularly long on unresolved subplots, partly due to the pandemic and the various strikes in Hollywood, and partly due to the scheduling conflicts with Kevin Costner, who ended up leaving the show.
Another one of those unresolved plots involved Broken Rock Reservation attorney Angela Blue Thunder (Q’orianka Kilcher), who challenged Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and his leadership, warning that she was going to force him out of his position as chairman. A significant part of Episode 3 was devoted to that story, but we never heard about it again, and the character of Angela Blue Thunder vanished from the show after that.
Yellowstone Season 5: What Happened to Carter’s Girlfriend?
One final unresolved plot from Season 5 involves Carter’s (Finn Little) girlfriend, Halie (Orli Gottesman). She joined the show to give the Carter character more depth and a separate storyline in the first half of the season, but since the second half of Season 5 had to be truncated in order to wrap the show within the number of episodes remaining, that storyline — and that character — simply vanished, with the only trace being a passing reference Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) made about Carter seeming unusually happy.
So, will any of these dropped plotlines get resolved in the final episode of Yellowstone Season 5? It doesn’t seem likely, but with Taylor Sheridan, you never know — we’ll all just have to watch and see what happens on Sunday night (Dec. 15).
Yellowstone airs on Sundays at 8PM ET on Paramount Network.
Yellowstone’s 10 Best Death Scenes
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
PICTURES: Get a First Look at ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5, Part 2
Yellowstone is gearing up to return for the much-anticipated second half of Season 5, and Paramount Network has shared several never-before-seen photos as a first look at the upcoming episodes.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: See Inside Kevin Costner’s Spectacular Colorado Ranch
Yellowstone star Kevin Costner lives the ranch life when he’s off the set of the hit show, too. The Oscar-winning actor owns a 160-acre ranch in Aspen, Colo., that’s a spectacular getaway, complete with a main residence, a lake house and a river house.
The luxury retreat also features a baseball field, a sledding hill, an ice rink, multiple hot tubs and views of the Continental Divide. The ranch property comfortably sleeps 27 people, and it’s currently available to rent for 36,000 a night.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: See Inside ‘Yellowstone’ Star Cole Hauser’s Spectacular California Ranch
Cole Hauser doesn’t just play a rancher on Yellowstone, he’s lived that life off-screen, too. The actor’s 5-bedroom-6-bathroom, 5,402-square-foot rural home on a very private, double-gated three-acre parcel of land includes the lavish 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom main residence, as well as a guest house and a separate studio apartment. The main house runs completely on solar power and comes with a 3-car garage, with easy transitions between indoor and outdoor living spaces, and the exterior of the property includes a pool area and a hot tub, as well as fenced-in horse corrals.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
See Inside ‘Yellowstone’ Star Ryan Bingham’s Gorgeous $2.45 Million Estate
Yellowstone star and singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham has listed his 3-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, 2,394-square-foot home in an exclusive area of Los Angeles for sale, and pictures show a beautiful, luxurious property that offers stunning mountain views.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: See Inside ‘Yellowstone’ Star Hassie Harrison’s Spectacular $2.7 Million Villa
Yellowstone star Hassie Harrison is selling her stunning villa in a private California canyon, and pictures show a rare property that’s worth every penny of her nearly $2.7 million asking price.
Harrison’s 3-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, 2,579-square-foot home was built in 1958 and has since been updated into a Mediterranean-style villa.
The property is remarkably secluded, with just one small, private road leading to the gated front of the home. It opens onto soaring canyon views at the back of the property, and almost every interior room boasts stunning views out over the canyons, while the exterior boasts outdoor living spaces, a fireplace and more.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: See Inside ‘Yellowstone’ Actor Barret Swatek’s $100 Million Malibu Estate
Yellowstone actor Barret Swatek is selling her spectacular oceanfront estate in Malibu, and pictures show a bedazzling property that’s one of the most upper-crust properties even in that illustrious zip code.
Swatek and her husband, former hedge fund manager Adam Weiss, are asking for just under $100 million for their 4-bedroom, 5.5-bathoom, 7,450-square-foot contemporary villa that sits directly beachside on the white sands of El Sol Beach, one of the most exclusive spots even according to Malibu standards.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
You Can Rent a Cabin on the Ranch From ‘Yellowstone’ – See Pictures
The stunning Montana ranch that serves as the setting for the hit TV show Yellowstone offers cabins for rent, and the price includes tours of the set and ranch. Scroll below to see photos of the extraordinary property.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
Sterling Whitaker is a Senior Writer and Senior Editor for Taste of Country. He focuses on celebrity real estate, as well as coverage of Yellowstone and related shows like 1883 and 1923. He’s interviewed cast members including Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, Sam Elliott and Harrison Ford, and Whitaker is also known for his in-depth interviews with country legends including Don Henley, Rodney Crowell, Trace Adkins, Ronnie Milsap, Ricky Skaggs and more.
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