Luke Grimes understands the backlash surrounding Yellowstone. The actor – who reprises his role as Kayce Dutton in season five, part two – was quizzed about Kevin Costner's controversial exit.
Upon the show's return on November 10, fans quickly learned that his character, John Dutton, had been killed off in an apparent suicide, which was later revealed as a paid-for assassination. With viewers mourning the patriarch's demise on social media, Yellowstone has since faced backlash over the storyline, but for Luke, 40, it "had to happen."
Speaking with Good Morning America, the star explained: "It's supposed to be shocking, and it's supposed to kind of sweep the rug out from under you, the way that this show always has. There's always something happening that you don't see coming, and that's sort of the beauty of it.
"I know there's some fans that are upset," he continued, but I think this sort of had to happen to open the story up. "It's like, can it survive without him, without the immovable force, you know? And it really does. It blows the story wide open."
As fans well know, the writers' decision to kill John Dutton, was prompted by Kevin Costner's departure from the show. In May, the A-lister took to Instagram, confirming that he was unable to appear in series 5B due to a scheduling conflict with his ongoing film saga, Horizon.
Kevin himself has responded to his character's demise, although he hasn't watched it. Appearing on The Michael Smerconish Program this month, he said: "I'm going to be perfectly honest. I didn't know it was actually airing last night.
"That's a swear to god moment. I've been seeing ads with my face all over the place and I'm thinking, 'Gee, I'm not in that one.' But I didn't realize yesterday was the thing."
"I heard it's a suicide," he continued, "so that doesn't make me want to rush to go see it. They're pretty smart people. Maybe it's a red herring. Who knows? They're very good. And they'll figure that out."
With John's death hovering over the Dutton family, it's already driving the series. In Sunday's episode, Beth – who's convinced that Jamie had something to do with it – is on a warpath, and confronts her brother. Sure, Jamie didn't directly order the hit, but his girlfriend Sarah did, and he's all too happy to hold the keys to the kingdom.
In a tense moment, Beth slapped Jamie and vowed to be the last person he'd see in his final moments, before calling Kayce. After calling an old military buddy to get the scoop on groups capable of carrying out John's assassination, Kayce officially launched his investigation, leaving fans hopeful that Jamie's whole world would come crumbling down.