1883 Creator Hints Yellowstone Prequel Won't Have a Second Season After All

Ahead of this weekend's finale of Yellowstone prequel series 1883, Paramount+ announced that there would be more of the western's story and characters in the future, as more episodes were on the way. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case now that the finale has seen the light of day. The episode certainly feels like a definitive ending for the story, and creator Taylor Sheridan is referring to 1883 as a "close-ended" limited series. The story of the Duttons will now be focusing on a different time period.

WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the finale of 1883! Continue reading at your own risk...

Going into Sunday's 1883 finale, it was established that narrator and main character Elsa Dutton was going to die. Isabel May's character did die, as expected, and she was buried on the land that will go on to become Yellowstone Ranch. Sam Elliott's Shea also died in the episode, taking his own life once he made it to the Pacific Ocean (as he said he would do earlier in the series).

The finale certainly feels like the end of the series, and Taylor Sheridan is now backing up that notion by saying the series was always meant to show a glimpse into the Dutton family history. He'll focus on another window of the family's story in 1932, following another generation of Duttons in Montana.

"I created this peek through time to show you this one specific journey," Sheridan told Deadline in a recent interview. "I'm not someone who likes to tie everything up in a bow and explain how everyone lived happily after, or didn't. I'd rather you imagine it, and wonder what Thomas and Noemi made of their lives. You never get to see how James and Margaret move on. You did seem them in a flashback as having moved on, and so that's what I cared to explore. 

"On to the next peek through the window. I also wanted to create something you could watch and be completely enthralled and fulfilled, having never seen Yellowstone. Let it live on its own merits. Yes for those fans of Yellowstone, there are some real Easter eggs and understanding you can take away from that, that informs the way you watch Yellowstone. I like that model. For me, as a storyteller it feels close ended. I'm going to peek through the window of a different era and see what I see then."

It's tough to figure out exactly what to make of Paramount's announcement that more 1883 is on the way. The same announcement brought the news of 1932, so the additional episode of 1883 weren't a reference to the next limited series.

What did you think of 1883's ending? Let us know in the comments!