‘Made me mad for maybe the first time ever’: ‘Yellowstone’ fans are up in arms about another senseless death

Yellowstone has hit some rocky terrain in the latter half of season 5 with the departure of many main cast members. In a surprise for many fans, episode 12 revealed another hallmark character has bit the dust.

Ranch hand, Colby (Denim Richards) has been a familiar face in the bunkhouse since season 1, an observer of all the shenanigans that the Dutton ranch has had over the years. Sadly, he was only the most recent to go in a tragic farm accident. Colby went out like a champion in defense of Carter (Finn Little), Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip’s (Cole Hauser) adopted son, for all intents and purposes.

While trapped with a spooked horse, Colby gets the boy out, but not before getting fatally kicked in the chest. To add further salt to the wound, he had just admitted his love for fellow ranch hand, Teeter (Jennifer Landon). This moment was a bridge too far for many fans who had been following the series since the beginning. Watching the slow-burn romance between Teeter and Colby was one of the few reprieves of the darkness in the show and now viewers don’t even have that. They wasted no time taking to X to express their pain.

Yellowstone continues a season 5 trend

Colby’s death feels so brutal particularly because of how much the Duttons have lost so far. It isn’t uncommon that cowboys die by the sword, but Kevin Costner’s departure forced showrunner Taylor Sheridan to axe the character sooner than was most likely planned. Whether Colby’s death was planned before Costner left the series is unclear, but it still doesn’t lessen the pain. Colby and Teeter were the rare couple to root for. While Rip and Beth amass fan fervor, they have committed some questionable acts. Teeter and Colby was the pure relationship that fans could count on. The long road they have been on is also tarnished upon rewatch.

“We’ll work on your timing,” is a line of dialogue that will now forever haunt audiences. Teeter says this to Colby at the beginning of their relationship. She had been trying to bed him for some time and he finally kisses her after she gets injured by a horse. Colby saves her and their relationship blooms because of it. They were a source of humor and a love that was untarnished by the politics of the ranch.

Colby continues to have bad timing after his death follows his love admission. Words of comfort are no use to Teeter when she is told that the life of a cowboy is suffering. She says she wishes he had suffered longer so she could have said goodbye. With only two episodes left, there is no telling where the series will go from here, but it’s clear that suffering is something the Dutton family has in spades.

It is becoming clearer from season 5 that Yellowstone is a tragedy, and it’s unlikely anyone will get out unscathed. The only comfort is the message that Denim Richards sent to fans on social media. Posting a picture of his actor’s chair from the set of Yellowstone, Richards expressed how grateful he was to be a part of the series. While it is a cold comfort, it will simply have to be enough for fans in the final episodes of the series.