The very end of Yellowstone finally came to pass, and even though the franchise will continue, the main series is very much over. But, how did things wrap up? And more importantly, how do fans feel about it? TV series finales are notoriously hard to pull off, with even the most popular shows of all time generally having less-than-great final episodes. (See Game of Thrones and Seinfeld for the most egregious examples.)
But now that the Yellowstone has taken its final bow, the feelings from viewers are in, and it seems the legacy of the popular western may forever be marred by these mixed reviews. While some loyal fans are happy with the way the things turned out, some viewers takes have been brutal. Mild spoilers ahead.
One fan said the finale’s writing was “lazy,” and cited the idea of Beth getting off scot free while Jamie was turned into a scapegoat as unrealistic. Several viewers chimed in on this point saying that “Beth is a much more awful person than Jamie.”
Related: 'Yellowstone' Season 5 Won't Be the End: 2 Fan Favorite Characters Will Return for Spin-Off
Perhaps the meanest insult hurled at the Yellowstone finale was the idea that Kevin Costner’s much-derided Western epic Horizon was “quick moving” by comparison. Others felt that Taylor Sheridan’s metafictional version of himself, Travis Wheatley, was part of what “ruined” this long, drawn-out, final season. This led many to call the Yellowstone finale “worst finale in TV history.”
As of this writing the overall Rotten Tomatoes score for Yellowstone Season 5 is 79 percent, in terms of critical acclaim. But, regular folks in the audience are only rating it at 40 percent. The Yellowstone empire shows now signs of slowing down though. The Harrison Ford-led 1923 prequel show already has dropped a trailer for Season 2, and there’s a Beth and Rip spinoff waiting in the wings. If Yellowstone itself was too much a good thing, for now, it’s over. But the legacy of the show—for better or worse—will keep galloping on.
