Yellowstone fans call for season five time jump to justify Kevin Costner's absence

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Yellowstone. 

Yellowstone’s Kevin Costner is unlikely to be back for the final few episodes but fans think they know what is needed to remedy his absence.

Last year, news broke that John Dutton star Kevin Costner would be leaving the epic Paramount Network drama behind to focus on his Western film series Horizon: An American Saga.

There were reports of him and creator Taylor Sheridan butting heads creatively, as well as scheduling conflicts, although Sheridan said he still respects Costner as an actor.

The 69-year-old’s exit from Yellowstone, however, does cause problems in terms of the plot with season five part one ending with various storylines that involve John Dutton.

From Jamie Dutton (played by Wes Bentley) calling for his dad’s impeachment, to John and Beth agreeing that something needed to be done about their destructive son and brother, there's a lot to juggle in the upcoming episodes.

Read more: Yellowstone's Kelsey Asbille lands thriller role with American Horror Story star

But with Costner no longer part of the franchise, this does mean there are issues going forward with season five part two.

Some fans, however, have taken to Reddit to suggest that a time jump could actually be the way to go to resolve this casting glitch.

They also brought up the fact it would explain why Kayce Dutton’s (Luke Grimes) son Tate (Brecken Merrill) and Carter (Finn Little) would have aged.

Kickstarting the thread, a user wrote: “The last episodes were filmed in spring of 2022, and some of the cast members are bound to look fairly different, especially Tate and Carter.

“I can’t think of any scenario where an immediate continuation of the story tied with a sudden off-screen John Dutton death or disappearance would be anything less than nonsensical and take you out of the realism of the story.”

“I think jumping ahead a few years would be intriguing, and opens up some possibilities for the plot beyond a slow burn of the final showdown between Jamie and the Dutton family.

Agreeing with this idea, someone stated: “Without a time jump, it’s going to be really hard to explain Tate and Carter.”

While another commented: “A time jump makes sense, especially if KC doesn’t come back. And given the series is ending, they might need it to wrap things up.

“I’m still hoping KC will return though.”

Over the past couple of months though, Costner has said that he would be up for returning to finish off Yellowstone after all.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, he said: “I thought I was going to make seven [seasons] but right now we’re at five.

“So how it works out — I hope it does — but they’ve got a lot of different shows going on. Maybe it will.

“Maybe this will circle back to me. If it does and I feel really comfortable with [it], I’d love to do it.”

But with the scripts for part two already written, will creator Sheridan really change how the show ends so Costner can star?

Yellowstone is available to watch on Paramount Network.