Luke Grimes on Where ‘Yellowstone’ Is Headed: “I Was a Mess When I Read the Last Episode”

[This story contains major spoilers from the Yellowstone season 5B premiere.]

After that shocking, long-awaited and highly anticipated return of Yellowstone, what happens now?

(Spoiler alert…) More specifically, what happens to the family at the center of Taylor Sheridan‘s hit Paramount Network saga now that patriarch John Dutton (played by former star Kevin Costner) is dead?

Will Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) avenge what she believes was the murder of her father by killing her brother Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) — or rather, how will she kill the brother she loathes? Her husband Rip (Cole Hauser), who has now returned to the ranch, will be by her side. But will her other brother Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) join them in what can only be a brutal path to avenge John and save the Dutton family ranch? And how formidable of an opponent is Jamie’s girlfriend Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), who was revealed to be the one who placed the hit on John?

The remaining five episodes in the six-episode season 5B that began rolling out on Sunday night will presumably answer all of these questions. Because the event of John’s death, Grimes tells The Hollywood Reporter, “is the beginning of the end. It launches the season forward with rocket fuel, is what it does.”

Following the premiere episode — titled “Desire Is All You Need,” written by Sheridan and directed by Christina Voros, the latter who unpacked the episode and revealed the code words used for the Dutton death scene in a post-premiere interview with THR — Paramount Network released a minute-long teaser trailer at what the rest of the season has in store. As Beth brings on allies in Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and sets her sights on Jamie and Sarah, Kayce gets clarity. “I know what to do,” he says, in a clip where he throws his brother Jamie on top of his office desk. “You should be scared. I know everything.”

Before the premiere, THR spoke with Grimes and onscreen wife Kelsey Asbille, who plays Monica Dutton, about if the explosive premiere events could rock their own foundation, the choices Kayce will be presented with this season without his father (Costner) around, and how Grimes reacted to the season 5B ending — which may or may not be the end of Yellowstone.

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Season 5A left off with your Kayce and Monica Dutton being presented with this choice from John Dutton (Kevin Costner) to come back into the family fold and live on the ranch. How are they feeling about their relationship with the family when season 5B begins?

LUKE GRIMES We kind of pick up right where we left off. The last conversation they had, Monica was asking about the [house] in the east camp [of the Yellowstone ranch] and [when the show returns] you find them there, checking this place out. They’re asking, could this be our home? [Kelsey and I] were talking about it how it was so fun to film those scenes [also with son Tate, played by Brecken Merrill], because finally there’s some levity. There’s some joy. You find them in a good spot. And then of course, that doesn’t last very long.

Their own family and marriage has been through so much over the seasons. As all of this external Dutton family drama crescendos in these episodes, would you say that Kayce and Monica are anchors for one another, or will there still be hurdles ahead in their marriage?

KELSEY ASBILLE Oh, [there are] definitely [hurdles]. That’s I guess part of marriage, the hurdles. That’s just life! But I think they’ve always been endgame for each other. It’s what they’ve been working so hard towards, building this family and making a home with their son and looking forward. So I hope they get that peace in the end.

I spoke with your director Christina Voros who described Kayce as a soldier this season. Luke, what is he fighting for?

GRIMES Family always, right? But, which one? That’s always the thing. That’s Kayce’s whole dilemma. Is it this family [with Monica], or is it this family [with Beth]? This season, he really has to make a choice and he’s got to figure out a way to do what’s right. He’s always going to choose this family [with Monica] first, but he’s got to use his head this season a little bit to figure out what’s right for everyone. How do I make the biggest difference? And it’s really cool to see Kayce that way, because he’s been so indecisive and he’s never really known what the right thing is to do. So, to see him take charge a little bit and to have a direction in his life is really nice.

ASBILLE Yes. 100 percent [about which family to fight for]. Monica trusts Kayce so completely in that way, and I think she has always tried to find the best path forward and agonizes for him that it has to be one way or another.

How would you say the absence of the patriarch, John Dutton (Costner), pushes the story forward this season? [Editor’s note: Costner abruptly exited the show between season 5A and season 5B.]

GRIMES It launches it forward with rocket fuel, is what it does. It’s an event that starts… it’s the beginning of the end.

John’s hold on daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) and son Jamie (Wes Bentley) is so apparent, but Kayce has made this life for himself outside of the family. How does Kayce emerge without his father around, does it hit him in surprising ways?

GRIMES Obviously, they’ve been at odds a little bit. His father has always wanted him to do something that he didn’t want to do, which doesn’t work well with a guy like Kayce. He’ll do his best to make you happy, but Kayce is a free spirit and he’s gonna do what he’s gonna do. And because the patriarch figure isn’t there, he has to step up and claim his own destiny.

You all have spoken about how you’ve become like a real family making this show. What was the experience like on set without Kevin Costner?

ASBILLE He’s such an important part of the show and created such an iconic character, so in that way, I think it was really special in the time that we did have with him. And then moving forward, his absence was always a part of the story. And like Luke said, it really pushes us forward, and wraps up a lot of the questions we’ve been asking since season one.

Christina told me about the security that was in place to keep spoilers from leaking and that only a small group knows how everything plays out. She did say that you core Duttons are in the know. When you read it — no spoilers, but — how did it make you feel, the way these episodes end?

ASBILLE I read it all in one go. I was up until three in the morning reading it. It’s such a page turner. Taylor [Sheridan] had kind of given me an idea of how the series would end, and I think it lives up to it, my goodness. With all the secrecy, I think we should shout out Christina, because she was our glue. She really held everything together — she’s the reason why it’s even out right now!

GRIMES I was kind of a mess when I read the very last episode. I saved the last one [of season 5B] for as long as I could, until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Since the very beginning, Taylor told me he didn’t want me to know how it ended until we got here, because he said that it would maybe make me play things a little differently [quoting Sheridan]: “Probably best that you don’t know; I know how it ends.” So it felt like I waited so long already that I didn’t want to read it and I wanted to hold off.

But I remember the night before we started shooting episode one [the first day of season 5B production], I couldn’t lock in. It had been two years and I was like, “Where’s Kayce at? How do I do this?” I couldn’t figure out how to get back into it, and so I read the last episode. And it did what I thought it would do. I was pulled immediately back into the story. It was also so beautiful, so profound. It was so perfect, I thought. I think it ends really perfectly and I can’t imagine it now ending any other way.

There are reports that there could be a sixth season, and either way, there’s a whole Yellowstone-verse that you guys could perhaps pop into. Is that something that interests you? The way that this season ends, would you like to explore more with Kayce and Monica?

GRIMES We keep saying that if Taylor calls and it’s something he wants to do and it’s something he wants to write, we would absolutely say yes.

ASBILLE We’re in.

GRIMES Because I just feel like if anyone else tried to tell this story or speak for these characters, it just would be the wrong voice. So if it’s Taylor at the helm? Then absolutely. And, no disrespect to the other great writers out there, it’s just that this is his thing.

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Yellowstone releases new episodes in its six-episode season 5B on Sundays at 8 p.m. on Paramount Network, followed by a linear premiere on CBS at 10 p.m. Head here for how to stream Yellowstone, and read THR‘s post-premiere interview with director Christina Voros.