What Kevin Costner doesn’t know about his Yellowstone character

In spite of Costner’s frustrations with likely not knowing exactly why his Yellowstone character hates his son, Jaime (Wes Bentley), what really happened between him and his wife, or how John’s story ultimately ends, ambiguity is hardly new concept in TV. In contrast to movies, which tend to tell self-contained, detail-oriented stories, the open-ended, intersecting nature of small-screen narratives encourages a certain amount of ambiguity, as even small details can have a dramatic impact on multiple story arcs. Of course, that means it’s always possible a show’s writing team may not have cracked key character details, themselves, yet.  

In the case of Yellowstone, it likely a combination of both, as the show’s writers clearly have a firm handle on John Dutton’s back story, even as certain gaps in that story have yet to be filled. It’s also clear they may not yet know how, or even where, John’s story ends. Despite how much details like this will affect his portrayal of John Dutton moving forward, Costner obviously doesn’t have any of them, either. Regarding his approach to the Yellowstone ambiguity, Costner claims his main goal is ensure the show stays true to John Dutton no matter how his story unfolds.

“You can inform the storytellers, the creators, that, ‘Look, we’ve just done that, and now we have to make sure we deal with it honestly. If [John] keeps making these same mistakes, people will lose faith in who [he is], even as a character. The show has to watch out for that. If you just keep repeating yourself, then it’s like a friend you want to like, but you don’t respect them. If you start doing things different than that, then [the viewers] don’t believe you.”

The one thing we can confirm amid all the melodrama, uncertainty, and narrative noodling, is that Yellowstone really does remain authentic. Like Kevin Costner, we cannot wait to see where John Dutton’s story goes next. 

Written by: Looper