Watching “A Knife and No Coin,” Costner’s final appearance on the series, and then hopping directly into the Season 5B premiere, “Desire Is All You Need,” the shift between John Dutton’s life and death is as stark and strange as the behind-the-scenes drama leading to it. What’s more is that Josh Lucas’ younger John also appears in Costner’s final episode, and it’s the last flashback to the ’90s era Dutton Ranch the series employs. It’s a shame, though, as the young John’s growing mentorship of a teenage Rip Wheeler (Kyle Red Silverstein) is worthy of further exploration. The way Lucas plays the character, a blend of Costner imitation and advancing cowboy, is certainly leading man material. It’s no wonder so many fans have called for a Josh Lucas-led prequel spin-off in the same vein as 1923.

Of course, there were other ways that Yellowstone could have included Josh Lucas’ John Dutton too. The super-sized finale did an impressive job of sending off John Dutton. The finale’s powerful funeral service afterward exploded into the final confrontation between Beth and Jamie. However, there is one other major way that the flagship Yellowstone Universe program could have echoed what Taylor Sheridan set up in 1883 beyond simply the passing of the land. With the way Yellowstone wrapped up, using Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) as the narrator throughout the greater Dutton story, it may have been the perfect time to bring John Dutton’s spirit back in the same way that hers returned in the 1883 finale, perhaps even as a co-narrator of the saga.