Yellowstone has captured the attention of millions of viewers across its five seasons. The show follows the Dutton family as they strive to protect their Montana ranch from external threats. Taylor Sheridan created this show, and it quickly became a massive hit that revolutionized the way people watch television. However, fans have begun to notice something unusual over the years.
The show introduces huge narratives with lots of drama, then abruptly drops them completely. These abandoned plots leave people confused and wanting more answers.
Many viewers thought the final episodes would neatly wrap everything up. That didn't happen, though, and several interesting stories just faded away, as if they never existed. This became increasingly apparent as time passed, leaving fans frustrated since they had spent hours carefully following these plots.
Tate's dinosaur discovery vanished after season one
In season 1, young Tate Dutton discovered dinosaur bones while exploring the ranch. Developers wanted that land, so this seemed like it would matter later. Things got more interesting when Kayce saw a drone flying over the spot where Tate made his discovery. After that, someone broke into their house and took all the bones.
Most people watching figured this would come back around eventually. Some fans thought maybe the bones would turn the ranch into a special protected area that nobody could touch. However, Yellowstone simply forgot about it, and we never heard about those bones again or what happened to them.
The unexploded bomb from season two
During season 2, there was this intense moment where Kayce and someone else put a bomb inside the Beck Brothers' airplane. It looked like something huge was about to go down. Except that nothing happened at all, and nobody ever mentioned it afterward. Instead, the Duttons dealt with the Beck Brothers in totally different ways.
This left people wondering what became of that bomb sitting on the plane. Maybe someone found it before anything bad happened? Or did some random person buy that plane later without knowing about it? We will probably never know since the show moved on without looking back.
Malcolm Beck's ambiguous fate created confusion in Yellowstone
Here's something that really got people talking. Yellowstone never actually showed Malcolm Beck dying on screen, which made everyone think he might still be alive somewhere. The actor who portrayed him, Neal McDonough, made it worse by dropping hints in interviews that maybe his character wasn't done yet.
So when season 4 started with those brutal attacks on the Dutton family, lots of viewers immediately thought Beck was behind everything. Turns out they were completely wrong about that. Even now, nobody knows for sure if Beck is dead or alive since the show refuses to give a straight answer about it.
The mysterious white hat that never appeared in Yellowstone
Right before the release of season 4, the marketing team released a trailer that showcased something particular. A white hat was floating down a river, and there was blood in the water behind it. This seemed important since the hat looked precisely like the one Malcolm Beck always wore.
Everyone expected to see this scene during the season. Strangely enough, that moment never showed up in any episode at all. The pandemic probably messed up filming schedules and forced them to change things around. Still, it is pretty weird to make a whole trailer about something that doesn't actually happen in the show.
Season five's sheriff disappeared after making threats
Yellowstone brought in a new sheriff during season 5 after the old one was killed in a shootout. This new guy arrested Beth Dutton and told John he wasn't going to look the other way like the previous sheriff did. That made it seem like there would be significant problems between them in the future.
However, the sheriff then stopped appearing entirely. Whatever big showdown was supposed to happen between him and the Duttons never came, leaving one more storyline hanging in the air.
Other abandoned plots from the final season
The last season of Yellowstone had even more stories that went nowhere fast. Some ranch hands accidentally shot wolves that had been fitted with tracking tags, and an investigation ensued. That whole thing disappeared when the show came back.
Then there was Sarah Atwood, whose real identity Beth was trying to uncover. She died before we learned anything about her past. Angela Blue Thunder showed up to challenge Thomas Rainwater's position, but we only saw her once. Carter's girlfriend Halie was around for a few episodes, then she vanished, too.
Yellowstone leaves questions unanswered
Yellowstone made great television, but dropped too many stories, leaving fans frustrated instead of satisfied.