Warning: this article contains spoilers for season five of Yellowstone.
After a heartbreaking episode of Yellowstone last night, fans are still drying their eyes after losing an iconic character, and fuming with anger at the continued antics of Jamie Dutton and Sarah Atwood. Needless to say, last night was an emotional ride for fans of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch as the ranch hands and cowboys had a ride of their own. Audiences aren’t the only ones talking about Jamie and Sarah’s relationship — especially regarding how chummy they acted in the most recent episode. Dawn Olivieri, who plays Jamie’s new love interest, is opening up about their relationship and what it means for the future. We’re also fawning over Kevin Costner’s Golden Globe nomination for his role as John Dutton in everyone’s favorite cowboy drama, and it’s been a long time coming. You know the drill from here: get cozy in your favorite Yellowstone hoodie because we’re riding in.
Kevin Costner earns a Golden Globe nomination for his role in Yellowstone
Nominees for the Golden Globes were announced today, and fans rejoiced that Yellowstone is finally being recognized. Having been snubbed for years, some viewers were losing faith in the idea that the awards circuit would acknowledge the greatness that is Yellowstone, but Kevin Costner’s nomination shows that they might just be paying attention now.
Costner is nominated in the category of Best Actor in a TV Drama for the role of John Dutton. John knows a thing or two about drama, as do all of the characters in the series, and they’re all putting in work to create an incredible series and breathing life into beautifully intricate storylines. Costner is an iconic actor, “one of the last true movie stars” as many call him, and a gift to the entertainment industry, so we love to see his work in Yellowstone paying off.
It’s hard to believe that this is his first nomination for his work as John Dutton, especially after watching an episode as emotionally charged as the one last night. John owned that episode, bringing us to tears before making us all giggle as he juggled an awkward situation with two of the leading ladies in his life. He carries the weight of a man with the world ready to attack him as if it were nothing more than a heavy backpack he was lugging around one afternoon.
Fans are crossing their fingers that Costner brings home the award when the Golden Globes air on Jan. 10, 2023.
Dawn Olivieri shares her feelings on Sarah Atwood and Jamie Dutton’s relationship
Yellowstone is developing new relationships in its interesting fifth season, and one of those is between Jamie Dutton and Market Equities’ Sarah Atwood. The powerhouse was meant to join the series as a distraction for Jamie, someone to bring his attention to bringing down the Dutton family, including the father he begrudgingly works for (and who he feels stole his title as Governor of Montana).
Jamie has always felt as if he existed on the outskirts of his own family, and at times it’s evident that he has. While his own doing (or undoing) often got him into these predicaments, he blamed anyone but himself. Sarah is just the type of character to build Jamie up and fill his head with a voice that agrees with him — almost aggressively — about the “mistreatment” he’s suffered at the hands of his family.
TVLine asked Olivieri if she thought her character had feelings for Jamie Dutton, other than regarding him as a tool at her disposal. Her response gives fans insight into the woman she’s bringing to the series, and her multitude of layers.
“It wouldn’t be interesting if she didn’t. One of the main things I thought about in building the character was that I wanted her to be a real woman, not this cookie-cutter villain. I wanted her to be a 40-year-old executive powerhouse that comes with her own deep bank of struggles. Any woman who’s traded a family and that sense of security for career domination is going to have some hang-ups. This episode was a great opportunity for me to weave in a little of that, because I don’t care how diabolical you are, as a female, chemically, you can’t help but bond with someone when you have sex with them. If you’re a psychopath, cool, but I don’t see Sarah that way. The complexity is what’s interesting to me. I want the viewer, and also maybe a Sarah a little bit, to be confused as to whether she’s into this guy or not and how far she’s willing to take it to get what she wants.”
Olivieri expanded by saying that you have to be vulnerable if you want to make someone fall for you, so whether or not she plans on returning Jamie’s feelings — she has to give a bit of herself away to get what she’s looking for.
“You have to be vulnerable if you want someone to fall in love with you. On some level, you have to appear that you are doing it for real. So is it a construct, or is she [falling for Jamie]? I don’t know. My instinct tells me it’s pretty early in the game to be feeling that way in a real way, but even if you put someone on in that manner, be careful playing with fire. Because if you pretend to like someone long enough, it could actually become real.”
Of course, we’re all hoping their bond will go up in flames, though she makes a good point; again, she is a character who exists in the grey area. She’s loved and lost, she’s sacrificed and been wounded, and she’s pieced herself back together with a rugged exterior. It’ll be interesting to see whether Jamie breaks some of that exterior down, or if she’s playing the long game with him.
Fans are still mourning the loss of this character
Yellowstone lost one hell of a man when Emmett Walsh took his last breaths during last night’s episode. While the cowboys and ranch hands were on their ride for the spring gathering, things were almost too good to be true. It took virtually no time to wrangle up the cattle and get them ready to be branded, and the atmosphere was picturesque. So when John and Emmett lay down after a long but fun day’s work, they shared a chat and some playful banter before Emmett dozed off. The two had been friends for many years, and the cowboy had a lot of zest for life to share with the often-pensive John Dutton.
Emmett quickly began snoring, and John laughed about a statement his father had told him many times before: that you’re not tired enough if you can’t sleep through a man snoring. He turned over to rest himself, and the sun was rising again before long.
While everyone else got ready to head back to the ranch, John tried to wake his friend, but it was clear he was gone. Dying the way a cowboy would hope to, John attempted to keep it together while he planned to get his friend back home safely, and let his wife know that he was gone before she began wondering what was happening.
The ride back down was quick for John, but he couldn’t escape the thoughts he was trying to ride away from. When he went to greet Emmett’s wife, he gave her the news and held her while she sobbed; he assured her that he died in the way he would have wanted to, looking up at the sky out in the beautiful wilderness surrounding the ranch. She seemed to agree, but it was still too early in their life for her to lose her husband.
Fans are also still heartbroken about the loss of Emmett and the iconic talents of Buck Taylor, but we were lucky to have him around for so many episodes and adventures along the way.