“Yellowstone” cast says ending is 'not what you think it's gonna be'

Yellowstone is headed to the train station, never to be heard from again. (Well, maybe.)

As the series prepares to launch its final episode, the question remains: After five seasons of family conflict, cowboy fun, and the occasional murder, how will this dramatic story come to an end? And after reports of a spinoff starring Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, is the story really over?

Already in the back half of season 5, John Dutton (Kevin Coster), Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), and Colby Mayfield (Denim Richards) have died. And in the fight to save the ranch, Beth (Kelly Reilly) has sold just about everything ... except for the ranch itself, which very well might be the siblings' next move. As Kayce (Luke Grimes) said at the end of the penultimate episode: "The only way to save this place, gotta give it away."

So will the ranch end up in someone else's hands? Will the body count continue to rise? What does Beth mean when she tells Jamie (Wes Bentley) that she keeps her promises? If Reilly knows anything, it's that viewers are in for a surprise.

"It's not what you think it's gonna be, that's what's so exciting about it," she says of creator Taylor Sheridan's ending. "There's a real poetry to it."

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Grimes, who previously told Entertainment Weekly that the show has a "profound, beautiful" ending, says he waited until he had the script in hand to learn what happens in the finale. "I feel like I'm part of the audience as well because I'm constantly wondering what's going to happen next," he says. "I never know until I start getting scripts right before we shoot."

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It's not lost on the cast that knowing your ending is a gift in the entertainment industry. "A lot of really great shows haven't made it to an ending," Wes Bentley says. "I've been around the business long enough to know how rare that is and how lucky we are to have had that, but it also doesn't surprise me because everyone on this show brought their A game."

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It's a sentiment that Reilly echoes, saying, "Everyone really poured in a lot of themselves, it really meant something. I think everyone wanted to end this one with nothing left in the tank. I certainly feel that way."

As for what the fans take away from the show's final hour, Reilly adds, "I hope the audience will feel that there is an ending worthy of their investment in these characters and this show. I hope it lands. You never know."

We'll find out when the Yellowstone finale airs Sunday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, on Paramount Network.

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