Warning! SPOILERS For Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 14, “Life Is A Promise"Rip’s (Cole Hauser) final scene with John Dutton III was the perfect sendoff to Kevin Costner and hisYellowstonecharacter despite the controversy over the actor and character’s exit. John was last seen alive inYellowstoneseason 5, episode 8, “A Knife and No Coin,”the season finale of part 1. The finalYellowstoneseason was split into two parts, adding to the conflict over season 5 and the time it took to complete the show’s fifth and potentially final outing. Costner’s absence as the central Dutton clan member was at the heart of the controversy, significantly affecting part 2.
John Dutton was missing from season 5, part 2, after Costner andYellowstonecreator Taylor Sheridan failed to reach a working agreement. Therefore, John Dutton III dies inYellowstoneseason 5, part 2’s premiere, to make everything click in the show’s final season. While some found the character’s exit a heinous act against both John Dutton and Costner, part 2 also features a lovely tribute to Dutton in theYellowstoneseries finale. The moment somewhat redeemed some of the shortcomings of Costner’s original sendoff in the show, as difficult as that was.
Rip’s Final Scene With Kevin Costner’s John Dutton III Explained
Rip Buries John Dutton In Yellowstone Season 5’s Finale
The last time that Costner and Hauser were on-screen together as John and Rip is technically in “A Knife and No Coin,” when the ranch foreman prepares to journey south to Texas with the herd and half the Yellowstone Ranch cowboys. John and Rip square up a few details. Then, Dutton apologizes to his foreman for the inconvenience, which causes Rip to go away from Beth (Kelly Reilly).Rip says,“Sir, it is what it is.”Then, John bids farewell, reminding the foreman of what’s commonly said about being a cowboy, remarking,“If it was easy, everyone would do it.”
While Costner and Hauser’s final scene is a proper cowboy farewell, it isn’t Rip’s last exchange with John Dutton. In the finale,Rip’s final scene with John Dutton is when he buries the rancher after his funeral. Rip digs the hole for John’s grave before the ritual, rounding up a few cowboys to help him complete the job. Wheeler also sticks around after John’s ceremony to put dirt over the casket, staying behind after everyone has left to send John off properly. Rip is the last to send John off in the finale, which is fitting.
Why Rip Buried John Dutton In The Yellowstone Season 5 Finale
Rip’s Final Scene Has Multiple Interpretations
First and foremost, Rip buries John Dutton inYellowstoneseason 5, episode 14, because he is the ranch’s foreman. Rip has handled or delegated the bulk of the ranch’s manual labor for decades, so digging holes on the property is a job that already fits Rip’s job description. Rip delegates the task partly to the other cowboys, who help him make funeral preparations. However, there are more profound reasons why Rip assigns himself the task of finishing the job.Rip burying John honors their connectionand ties into the1883spinoff.
Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 14 Review: Taylor Sheridan’s Predictable Finale Is A Devastating Emotional Letdown
The Yellowstone season 5 finale is evidently supposed to serve as a series finale, but the show’s last episode, “Life Is a Promise,” falls flat.
1883is theYellowstoneprequel that follows the earliest members of theDutton family treeas they travel the Oregon Trail from Texas to Montana. In1883,the characters face a harrowing journey that causes deaths in nearly every episode, with members of their wagon train dying of disturbances or disease. Being pioneers on a wagon train with no infrastructure, when someone dies in the prequel, their loved ones have to dig the hole and lower them into the ground personally.Rip’s gesture honors the first Dutton familymembers. However, the gesture also cements John and Rip’s father-and-son connection.
How Rip Burying John Continues A Yellowstone Trend
Rip’s Concern With His Family’s Final Arrangements Extends To John Dutton
Rip burying John is the perfect touch and arguably the best sendoff to the leader because John saw his ranch foreman as a son and eventually treated him like one. Rip putting the final dirt on John’s coffin honors the connection between the cowboys. Moreover,Rip’sYellowstoneseason 5 finale gesture continues a trendrevealed in one of the early seasons. Rip plays a significant role in the final arrangements of his family, and what he says to Beth in a different scene adds even more significance to this gesture.
InYellowstoneseason 2, episode 7, “Resurrection Day,” Beth has Rip meet her on the roof of the family’s lodge, where she drinks whiskey and stares at the stars. When Rip comes out on the roof, the future couple squares up their thoughts on god and life, with John’s daughter conjuring one ofBeth’s best quotes fromYellowstone.When Beth asks Rip to take her on a date, she tells him“Lord knows”he can afford it because he’s“been wearing the same three pairs of jeans and jacket”for a decade, butRip’s money went to burial arrangements.
Rip’s comments show that he feels a strong sense of responsibility for his family’s final resting places, which extends to John, whom he views as a father.
When she presses the foreman on what he spent all his money on, Rip tells Beth that he spent $20,000 on his mom’s headstone and 30 on his brother’s. Additionally,Rip tells Beth that he spent $5,000 on a gravedigger in Forsyth, Montana, to exhume his father’s bones, which he threw out the window on the way home, dishonoring the physical remains of the man who murdered his family. Rip’s comments show that he feels a strong sense of responsibility for his family’s final resting places, which extends to John, whom he views as a father.
Yellowstoneseason 5, part 2, will be available to stream on Peacock on July 17, 2025.
John Dutton didn’t need Rip’s financial assistance for his tombstone, and Rip’s treatment of the rancher was far from the desecration of his father’s physical remnants. Still, it shows how important it is for Rip to be involved in the arrangements. He would probably personally bury Beth, too, if anything happened to his wife, although hopefully, we don’t see that in theBeth & RipYellowstonespinoff. Rip’s interaction with the preacher is humorous. Yet, his insistence on lowering John into the ground shows Rip’s sincerity, as does his use of the“symbolic”shovel to lay all the earth on John’s grave.
Was Rip’s Moment Better Than John Dutton’s Yellowstone Funeral?
Many People Needed To Bid John Farewell
In some ways, John’s funeral is a big setup for Beth’s final revenge on Jamie, established when she whispers into John Dutton’s coffin that she plans to avenge his death. Still, it includes parting words from Kayce (Luke Grimes), Lynelle (Wendy Moniz), and Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), with all theDutton Ranch cowboyslaying down a flower. Therefore, John’s funeral was the most necessary element of Kevin Costner’sYellowstoneseason 5 sendoff. Still, Rip’s treatment added the perfect touch, with the foreman’s silence as he diligently began to work, saying all that needed to be said.
Yellowstone
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Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, led by patriarch John Dutton, as they defend their expansive ranch against external threats from land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first national park. Released on June 16, 2025, this series examines the complex dynamics and violent conflicts surrounding the largest contiguous ranch in the United States.
