Yellowstone official trailer
Warning - this article contains major spoilers for Yellowstone season 5, part 2.
The latest instalment of Yellowstone has left fans reeling with the way John Dutton (played by Kevin Costner) met his demise, and viewers are far from pleased.
Yellowstone's fifth season resumed with a shocking twist, disclosing that the Montana ranch owner and governor had passed away, apparently by his own hand.
Yet, John's daughter Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) smells foul play and immediately suspects her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) and his new ally Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri).
In episode 11, audiences were transported back to the fateful night, where it was disclosed that a group of hitmen orchestrated his untimely end, reports the Mirror US.
To lend credibility to the supposed suicide, a bottle of Oxycodone was strategically placed in his medicine cabinet. However, some eagle-eyed fans have pointed out that this detail doesn't add up.
"The assassins are dumb as hell..." one viewer vented on Reddit post-episode.
"You can't just plop a bottle of Oxy w John Dutton's name on it in the medicine cabinet. Controlled substances are logged.
“Anyone investigating the death, especially one where it’s engineered to look like drugs caused the suicidal ideation, would speak to the prescribing doctor. In this case there wouldn’t be one to talk to.”
The critique continued with a jab at another unforeseen turn in the episode - the daylight murder of Sarah.
"Not to mention executing Sarah right in front of at least 2 traffic cameras," the fan remarked in frustration.
Another viewer pointed out: "My favorite part of this whole situation was using Kayce's (Luke Grimes) service pistol from the livestock office... that gets logged... every time someone takes it... from a government office...that is monitored by security cameras."
And someone else couldn't hold back their sarcasm: "That was so crazy to me, let's just put a bottle with a fake prescription in the cabinet. That should fool everyone."
Further scrutiny came when a dedicated viewer admitted: "Not sure if this would be worth mentioning or not, but I've re-watched episode 11 two or three times now, and on the third rewatch I noticed the assassin was the one that cocked the gun - meaning John's fingerprints won't be on that part."
A dismayed Yellowstone enthusiast pointed out glaring issues: "I can think of like a half dozen things wrong will the hit that make no sense. Just bad writing."
Despite the criticism, audiences are still keenly following the Dutton family saga to see how they handle the repercussions of their patriarch's demise.
As the gripping series nears its final three episodes, questions linger if creator Taylor Sheridan can tie up the narrative threads and provide a fulfilling end to the modern Western epic.
Yellowstone season 5, part 2 continues Sundays on Paramount and the following Monday on Paramount+.
