New Yellowstone Report Could Be Terrible News for Its Most Divisive Character

A new report about the future of the Yellowstone franchise and its cast conspicuously fails to mention one divisive character being part of it.

The news of continued turmoil behind the scenes of Yellowstone continues to make headlines – but that off-screen turmoil may also reveal something drastic about one of the most divisive characters in the show. 

News broke yesterday that there's trouble with the Yellowstone sequel/spinoff series that's in the works at Paramount. The spinoff was reportedly in danger of losing Yellowstone stars Kelly Reilly (Beth Dutton), Luke Grimes (Kayce Dutton), and Cole Hauser (Rip Wheeler) over pay disputes; not mentioned in the report was actor Wes Bentley, who plays James Michael "Jamie" Dutton. 

(MAJOR YELLOWSTONE SPOILERS FOR SEASONS 1-5.1 FOLLOW!) 

Yellowstone Season 5 Part 1 left things in a place where Jamie's future could take a very divergent path from his siblings. The gloves started to come off between the Dutton Family; Beth took her shot at blackmailing Jamie with the murder of his biological father – only to miss. Jamie got politically outmaneuvered by Beth and John (Kevin Costner) when it came to having Yellowstone protected as a national park and made the drastic move of calling for John's impeachment from office.

With both sides circling the big stakes of Yellowstone's future, we last saw Beth and John contemplating whether Jamie has to be killed – with John being the more conflicted one, having finally acknowledged his affection for his adopted son. However, Jamie is just as conniving and is planning to use his lover Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) as a way of possibly getting hitmen to take out his family. 

What Will Happen to Jamie During Yellowstone's Ending? 

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(Photo: Paramount)

As stated, the behind-the-scenes turmoil with Yellowstone may end up blowing a lot of surprises to come with the final installment of the show. Kevin Costner dropped out of Yellowstone, causing creator Taylor Sheridan to write the finale around his absence – and even though Costner is now requesting to be brought back, it's uncertain that will happen. Fans have been speculating ever since whether that implies Jamie will at least be responsible for killing John – or if some other twist of fate (see: Succession) doesn't shuffle the playfield entirely with John's sudden absence. If Jamie does something nefarious to John, it's not hard to imagine Beth and Co. ultimately getting revenge on him; then again, the final "victory" over Jamie could be a political one, that sees him banished from the Dutton legacy in Yellowstone – and whatever comes next. Jamie finding himself alone with no family or place would be almost as devastating. 

Whatever the case, it seems more and more likely that Jamie's arc in Yellowstone will likely end with this main series, in some form or fashion. 

Yellowstone is now doing a series replay on CBS. You can also stream the series.