It looks like Yellowstone is going out in style and with a bigger episode count than previously anticipated!
For a while, we were expecting Yellowstone season 5 to consist of 14 episodes. So far, eight episodes of the fifth season have aired. The eighth episode, which is the finale of the first half of the season, aired on Jan. 1, 2023. Since then, we've been waiting on the ninth episode of the season, which will premiere sometime in November 2024, according to Paramount.
It's been assumed that there will be six episodes in the second half of the season. Yellowstone star Ian Bohen told ET recently that they would be starting production on those final six episodes in May or June. Well, now, it looks like there could be an extended episode order for Yellowstone season 5 part 2.
Yellowstone season 5 part 2 will be 10 episodes or more, according to Josh Lucas
Yellowstone star Josh Lucas, who stars as a young John Dutton, told Deadline that he spoke to Taylor Sheridan recently, who confirmed they "will be back" soon.
"I think we're going to do 10 or so more episodes to wrap up the story. "
It's hard to know who is in the loop, who isn't, if Bohen is right, or if Lucas is right. This is the first we've heard of a longer sendoff for Yellowstone. It totally makes sense that they would need more episodes to wrap up this story, especially after Kevin Costner's exit from the series. Paramount would surely accommodate Taylor Sheridan if they need more episodes to end the series.
Sheridan admitted that much to The Hollywood Reporter in a feature that was published in 2023.
"If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10. It’ll be as long as it needs to be."
Well, it looks like it might be 10 episodes (or more) to wrap up Yellowstone. Honestly, that's probably for the best. Before the start of season 5, we didn't know that the series was coming to an end with season 5. That makes it hard to just end the whole story at the end of the season. There's been a big enough break now that Sheridan, hopefully, can figure out how to wrap it all up before moving on to whatever the next iteration of this story will be.
We'll share the official word on Yellowstone's episode count for part 2 when we find out. Paramount and Sheridan will likely confirm it sometime later this year.
Stay tuned for more news about Yellowstone season 5 part 2!