The Yellowstone Season 5 trailer opening with the powerful sequence of John Dutton swearing in as Governor was dropped last September 29, and it was a massive hit. According to Paramount, the trailer shattered streaming records with 14.4 million views and 1.7 million engagements in just 24 hours. It also took over social media, trending on TikTok and Facebook. Not only that, but it was also over 3 times bigger than last season’s, proving its undeniable unstoppable popularity.
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And as we gear up for the series’ special two-hour premiere this November 13, 8 p.m. ET on Paramount network, let’s briefly unpack the whole 1 minute 38 seconds long trailer.
“Power has a price.”
The full-length trailer revealed a lot of major hints, but here are three things that will set the sublime play of power and drama this season:
The Dutton Dynasty: “What are the Duttons willing to pay?”
The showrunners didn’t waste any time dragging out the gubernatorial race and opened with John Dutton (Kevin Costner) being sworn in as the new Governor of Montana. In one of the most captivating shots in the trailer, John is seen walking down the hallway with two women by his side: his daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) to his left and former governor-slash-lover Lynelle Perry (Wendy Moniz) to his right. But the new era of the Duttons won’t be as easygoing, and as the trailer showed, there was already a whole sequence of chaos.
John Dutton’s adoptive son Jamie (Wes Bentley) is back serving as his political advisor though they only seem to have a strictly transactional relationship (after John swept the rug right out from under him). He welcomes his new assistant, Clara Brewer (Lilli Kay), fires his entire staff, and appoints Beth as his new chief-of-staff. The family pitbull is up to play the dirty game, and we can expect her to be even more ruthless and more powerful this season.
And a bigger political war ensues that will surely shake up Montana as John Dutton manipulates his newfound authority to serve his own agenda.
Enemy Spotted: “Ruin them, starting with her.”
When John Dutton gets to the part of enemies, the camera pans to three characters: Jamie, his ally-of-convenience, Broken Rock Tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), and CEO of Market Equities Caroline Warner (Jacki Weaver)
But out of the three, the focus was on Warner. She is far more riled up, determined to dismantle the Dutton Dynasty. And she’s got her own pitbull now. Newcomer Dawn Olivieri will play her corporate ringer Sarah Atwood (who also appeared as the same character in the series’ prequel ‘1883’), who she has sent to ruin the Duttons, starting with Beth. As you may recall last season, Beth was fired from Warner’s company after misusing company resources for her own personal vendettas. And she swore revenge on her.
It seems like Beth has found her equal. And the Duttons are out to face forces that will truly test their bond and loyalty.
Drama Montage: “I’m doing this for my father.”
Of course, Yellowstone is not complete without the family politics and drama and John using his own children. There weren’t many exchanges in the latter half of the trailer, but the actions already spoke out loud.
There was Beth brawling in a bar room, Teeter (Jen Landon) punching Ryan (Ian Bohen), Monica (Kelsey Asbille) breaking down in the kitchen, Kacey (Luke Grimes) decking someone in the jaw claiming doing the deed for his father, Kacey and an unidentified partner (theorized to be Colby played by Denim Richards) behind sniper scopes, Kacey and Monica’s relationship going on an even more rocky road, and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) disposing garbage bags into the river and even an incinerator.
While everything remains to be a mystery, one thing is for sure. The Yellowstone team is undertaking a large scale operation to protect and defend themselves against anyone who dares to stand in their way.
Bonus Clip
Less than two weeks before the premiere, Paramount released a 30-second footage that gave context between Jamie and Beth’s rather agreeing looks in the trailer. And nope, it’s not because the two are on good terms. It’s because Beth has evidence against Jamie, essentially removing any chance of his redemption. And as Beth said in her ominous message for her brother, “You’re in my prison now.”
Kevin Costner even got the fans more excited with his comment on the video saying, “You can always count on Beth.”
Season 5 will be 14 episodes long to be split into two installments with an undefined length of mid-season hiatus. It’s the biggest season so far, and from what we’ve watched, it’s probably going to be the most turbulent and explosive one as well.
Catch up on Seasons 1-4 on Peacock and watch the Yellowstone Season 5 trailer in the video below.
