The final season of Yellowstone has upped the stakes significantly, with the most recent episode delving into the night of John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) death.
As viewers are well aware, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) gave the kill order at the request of her love interest, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley).
Despite Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 11, filling in many blanks about the night of John’s demise, the explosive installment concluded with Sarah’s.
The development came after Grant (Matt Gerald) saw on the news that John’s death had been ruled a homicide, so Sarah was a loose end to him as the only person who knew what really happened that night.
Sarah had many flaws, but there are still questions about whether a thirst for power drove her decisions or whether she genuinely loved Jamie.
Either way, her death scene goes down as one of Yellowstone’s most shocking because it came out of left field.
Sarah made a lot of mistakes
She knew she had to get in contact with Grant to find out how he and his fellow hitmen could change the narrative surrounding John’s death.
Sarah stormed out of Jamie’s home after they bickered about the official cause of death and the media storm that was brewing, only for her to be gunned down while attempting to help someone with directions.
The series lured viewers into a false sense of security because many thought Sarah and Beth (Kelly Reilly) would have another bust-up.
Fans were understandably stunned by Sarah’s death because she had the potential to stay until the season finale and beyond.
“Great episode.. still missing John’s presence tho…” one viewer wrote as they noted that Kayce and Beth will be heavily present in Jamie’s downfall.
“Sarah shot didn’t see that coming so soon.”
Another viewer responded that the death was a “shock.”
“I was like that was a twist,” said a third viewer.
Another viewer admitted that it was “an episode” to watch and was happy about Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) showing up at the ranch to align with Beth.
However, the fan was “a little disappointed that Sarah was killed off so soon.”
Yellowstone fans are shocked the villain is already gone
“She was a great villain, and fun to watch. I thought for sure Beth would have done the honors herself.”
Another fan said that the episode “delivered.”
“If anyone deserved it she did….keep going & make the Yellowstone tradition stay in-tact.”
The viewer wants the family to be “standing” by the end of the series and for a spinoff to materialize.
“What they did to Sara so unexpectedly was crazy work .. that was savage,” another viewer said.
“It’s just the beginning,” a fan responded.
Indeed, the first two episodes of the back half of Yellowstone Season 5 struggled to keep up the momentum, but this latest episode featured a lot of progression.
There’s no telling where the show will go next, so we will buckle up and enjoy the ride.
What are your thoughts on Sarah’s death? Do you think the character deserved that exit?
Yellowstone airs on Sundays at 8/7c on Paramount Network. You can stream Seasons 1-5A on Peacock.