Kayce Dutton’s Future Was Written in the Past

Kayce Dutton’s (Luke Grimes) CBS spinoff explains one of the most disliked elements of Yellowstone season 5: its divisive flashbacks to before John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) death. The final chapter of Taylor Sheridan’s original neo-Western show was riddled with controversy over John Dutton III’s death due to Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone exit. The Dances with Wolves star didn’t return to the series when the involved parties failed to reach a working agreement. The divisive Yellowstone season 5 flashbacks showed life before John’s death, confusing viewers as they witnessed Yellowstone season 5, part 2, unfold without him.

Yellowstone season 5’s flashbacks showed Kayce, Beth (Kelly Reilly), and the Dutton Ranch hands before John’s death. A common piece of feedback was that the flashbacks wasted previous time in the series’ final chapter, homing in on trivial moments when there were more serious matters at hand for the Dutton family tree. In terms of divisive Yellowstone season 5 elements, I could have done without the cameos of Taylor Sheridan, but the flashbacks didn’t bother me so much because I interpreted them as a lens into the show’s future, rather than a view into the Yellowstone season 5 characters’ past.

Yellowstone Season 5’s Divisive Flashbacks Set Up Kayce’s Spinoff

The Flashbacks In Yellowstone’s Final Installment Were Confusing

After watching Yellowstone season 5, episode 10, “The Apocalpse of Change,”I distinctly remember thinking that Taylor Sheridan had just set up continuations for both Kayce and Beth, independent of one another. In the chapter, Kayce settles into East Camp with his family, redoing the floors, cabinets, and roof of the Dutton family lodge with Tate (Brecken Merrill) and Monica (Kelsey Asbille). While I agree the flashbacks in “The Apocalypse of Change” felt trivial, I also understood showing Kayce and Beth’s lives before their father died, since season 5 would have shown how John’s kids’ lives were developing independent of him.

The flashbacks help us understand how their lives were developing outside John’s death, contextualizing Kayce and Beth’s Yellowstone continuations.

Kayce and Beths stories would continue after John Dutton’s death, so it made sense to me to have Yellowstone moments that weren’t about John. Since losing the Duttons’ patriarch was paramount to his family once it happened, I assumed flashing back was to show us simpler times. Ahead of Yellowstone season 5’s finale, Taylor Sheridan announced a Beth and Rip Yellowstone spinoff starring Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser. Then, ahead of 1923 season 2’s finale, Kayce’s Yellowstone continuation was announced. Therefore, the flashbacks help us understand how their lives were developing outside John’s death, contextualizing Kayce and Beth’s Yellowstone continuations.

Kayce Dutton’s story in Yellowstone season 5 also gives us hints about what his continuation will be about. Kayce’s Yellowstone spinoff will reportedly be a CBS procedural. Therefore, it will revolve around some aspect of investigation or law enforcement. Kayce’s spinoff could follow him as the Livestock Commissioner for Montana. Kayce solved compelling crimes while working in the position, and that could translate into a procedural. That said, Kayce threw away his Livestock Agent badge in Yellowstone season 5’s finale, saying he was free from the position that was traditionally used to protect the Dutton Ranch.

Yellowstone season 5 gave us a vital clue about what Kayce Dutton’s CBS spinoff is about, and it would be the perfect setup for Luke Grimes’ show.

I also believe that Kayce’s present timeline in Yellowstone season 5, part 1, set up his continuation. In Yellowstone season 5, episode 3, “A Tall Drink of Water,” Kayce talks to Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and Mo Brings Plenty on his porch. He tells them he wants to trade his livestock job for a policing gig for the Broken Rock Reservation, and Mo answers by saying Kayce could be appointed the investigator for the Montana Department of Justice. Yellowstone season 5 never follows up on the development, but Taylor Sheridan could be saving Kayce’s new job for his procedural.