Yellowstone pulled the trigger on another major character during last night’s (November 24) episode.
*Warning — Major spoilers for Yellowstone season five, part two ahead*
Fans of Taylor Sheridan’s Western drama were in uproar earlier this month over the way Kevin Costner’s patriarch, John Dutton, was unceremoniously dispatched following the actor’s acrimonious exit from the series.
The Paramount Plus series returned on November 10 for the second part of its final, fifth season.
In the latest episode, titled “Three Fifty-Three,” Sarah Atwood (played by Dawn Olivieri) — the fixer and girlfriend of Wes Bentley’s Jamie Dutton — was assassinated. It was previously revealed that she had been responsible for John’s killing.
After a heated argument with Jamie, Sarah gets into her car and drives away. Jamie later calls her to make up after the fight and she pulls over on the side of the road to take the call.
A couple then pulls up to ask for directions, but after learning who she is, the man in the vehicle leans over and shoots Sarah dead with Jamie still on the phone.
“I always sort of know it’s coming,” Olivieri told theHollywood Reporterin a post-mortem interview. “And to read it is like, ‘OK, here we go.’ We got what we all wanted. I think everyone is happy that the train station came.”
Sarah was public enemy number one among Yellowstone fans as the one responsible for the death of Costner’s fan-favorite character.
On Twitter/X, fans rejoiced over the character’s untimely demise.
“Glad Skanky Sarah is taking a dirt nap, but that kill belonged to Beth,” one person wrote of Yellowstone character Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), the daughter of John.
“Sarah Atwood got what she deserved,” wrote another.
“I just laughed tonight during episode 11 when the clean up crew car next to her asked her for directions. I knew it was coming. LOL and three more to the heart. How rude,” a third added.
“I was really hoping for something sinister to happen to Sarah. But I’ll take that,” a fourth person wrote.
Olivieri played Claire Dutton in the Yellowstone prequel 1883, which led to Sheridan writing her role in Yellowstone.
In the interview with THR, the actor suggested that Costner’s early exit from the series accelerated her character’s death. “I did know there was an exit strategy for [Costner], but I don’t think I was supposed to go as soon as I did,” she said.
“I think that was going to happen [with John], but because we had to wrap this all up in lightning speed, I think it had to go down the way it went. I believe I was meant to go into the next season and continue on as a character... The storyline had to go full throttle to figure out how to tie up every end and move things along.”
Costner, who led Yellowstone as the Montana landowner for four and a half seasons, announced he was departing the hit series due to scheduling issues in May last year.
Reports initially suggested that his departure was due to a falling out with Sheridan over conflicts caused by the actor’s desire to shoot his Western passion project, Horizon — An American Saga.
When asked what he thought about his character’s death after the episode aired, Costner said: “I didn’t see it. I heard it’s a suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it.
“I’m going to be perfectly honest. I didn’t know it was actually airing last night. I didn’t realize yesterday was the thing.”
Yellowstone airs weekly on Sundays on Paramount Plus at 8 p.m. ET.
