The Yellowstone Cemetery is filling up.

It seems that all good things must come to an end in the popular TV series, which aims to punish any of its characters who encounter even the slightest bit of luck in the harsh and turbulent Montana landscape.

Episode 12 of the show’s fifth and supposedly final season saw the death of a fan-favorite character, the latest in the series of events this season.

After part two of season five began with the death of the show’s patriarch, John Dutton (Kevin Costner), the body count has continued to rise.

Below are spoilers for the 12th episode of “Yellowstone” season 5.

“Yellowstone” centers on the Dutton family, a dynasty of ranchers who own the largest cattle ranch in Montana, including patriarch John (Costner), who was also governor, and his adult children Kayce (Luke Grimes), Jamie (Wes Bentley). ). , Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Beth’s husband Rip (Cole Hauser).

After a nearly two-year absence, the series returned on November 10 and began the second half of season five with a bang by killing off John, a move made necessary after Costner left the show, reportedly due to behind-the-scenes drama .

A hitman shot John and made it look like a suicide. Jamie wasn’t directly involved, but he did bear some responsibility since his girlfriend, the villainous Sarah (Dawn Olivieri), orchestrated the murder.

After Sarah’s death at the very end of Episode 11, Episode 12 begins sweetly with a moment between cowboy Colby (Denim Richards) and ranch hand Teeter (Jennifer Landon), who is in Texas along with other “Yellowstone” cowboys who brought this with them Cows have been moved south to graze after fears grew that the animals could be exposed to brucellosis, a deadly disease that can also be transmitted to humans.

Colby is still back in Yellowstone and during a phone call with Teeter, he accidentally tells her that he loves her, which she teases him about before ending the conversation by saying, “I love you too” (thank God, she didn’t say “thank you”). You”).

In the bunkhouse, Carter (Finn Little) – the orphan who Beth and Rip took in as their surrogate son in Season 4 – and Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) discuss what they will do if the Yellowstone Ranch goes under.

Rip doesn’t give much reassurance when he comes in and demands that Lloyd and Ethan (Ethan Lee) sell some of the herd and horses. Lloyd tells Rip that he has a horse that they can’t sell because “he’s a big man-eater” and says that some horses just have to be put down. Rip promises Lloyd that he will take care of it.

When Lloyd asks Rip if they’ve gone out of business, Rip says he’s “trying to save the business.”

“Uncle Sam wants his pound of flesh. And we don’t want to give it to him on land,” he explains.

Back in Texas, the news of John’s death is only now reaching us. Travis (series creator Taylor Sheridan) receives a call from Rip, who tells him the fateful news. Rip doesn’t have the heart to tell Jimmy (Jefferson White), the once troubled young man turned ranch hand who John saved by giving him a second chance.

So the responsibility falls on Travis, who tells Jimmy and gives him a week off to grieve. A penniless Jimmy says he’s only going to take the weekend off because John doesn’t want the young cowboy to miss work because of him.

Meanwhile, Jamie is questioned about Sarah’s death by Detective Dillard (Rory Cochrane), who, at Kayce’s urging, also investigates John’s death.

Jamie tells Dillard that he and Sarah did not do business together and that their relationship was purely personal. After confirming that Sarah is staying with him, the police ask if they can collect her belongings – which sends Jamie into a panic. Jamie refuses to hand anything over and yells at Dillard, who now sees the Attorney General as a suspect and promises to return with an arrest warrant.

Once Dillard leaves, Jamie goes through Sarah’s things and destroys incriminating documents.

Dillard leaves Jaimes and calls Kayce to tell him what just happened to his brother and tells him that Sarah’s death was not a carjacking. The police officer begins to suspect that there is a connection between John and Sarah’s deaths.

After speaking with Dillard, Kayce calls his former NAVY SEAL buddy Cade McPherson (Jake McLaughlin) and puts a plan into action to go after the hitman who killed his father.

Then it’s on to sweet young Carter, who has to take care of the barn alone while the cowboys do their cowboy things. While carrying out his duties, Carter encounters the wild horse that Lloyd warned Rip about.

When Carter notices that the horse has knocked over his bucket of water, he decides to violate the order not to enter the horse’s stable alone and refill the bucket. He tells the animal that it can’t just stand there and let it die of thirst.

While he manages to retrieve the bucket, the Bronc attacks him as he returns it. Carter is stuck in the stable, with no one around, and appears to be dead – until Colby fortunately returns to the barn and stands up for the teenager, instructing him to crawl out as soon as he rushes in to push the horse back. But the plan goes awry when the horse attacks Colby even harder than Carter and kicks him repeatedly.

Carter manages to escape. But when he sees Colby being attacked, he runs, grabs a shotgun and shoots the horse. However, he is too late. Rip hears the gun go off and returns to the barn, where he finds Colby and the horse dead next to a shaken and sobbing Carter.

Despite being destroyed, Rip immediately calls to tell Teeter that Colby is dead. She decides to travel back to Yellowstone.

On the drive, his ranch mate Walker (Ryan Bingham) tells Teeter that Rip told him that Colby died quickly and that he didn’t suffer.

“He’s a cowboy. Suffering is the job,” replies a tearful Teeter. “I just wish he had had to suffer a little longer so I could say goodbye.”

Knowing that Carter will blame himself, Beth goes to comfort the boy. She finds him still in the barn, a bloody and tear-soaked mess. She assures him that Colby’s death is not his fault and says she is glad Colby saved his life. To stop Carter from blaming himself, Beth tells him that he can either honor Colby’s sacrifice or waste it – “and that will be your fault.”

At the lodge, Rip blames himself for not getting rid of the horse sooner. Beth helps him cope by lighting a fire and giving him a glass of whiskey, which he angrily throws into the flames.

While that would all be enough to end an episode, “Yellowstone” doesn’t back down as Kayce tracks down the hitman who killed his father at the assassin’s daughter’s soccer game.

After lurking in the shadows, Kayce sits in the back seat of the hitman’s car while father and daughter exit the car. Kayce points a gun at the little girl and tells her father’s murderer to move on.

Kayce threatens to kill the hitman’s daughter and says he should kill him, but instead Kayce explains that he is trading his family for the hitman’s. If the hitman leaves town and therefore poses no further threat to the Duttons, he will not harm his family.

He then gets out of the car before jumping into a black SUV, where we find Mo (Moses J. Brings Plenty) asking Kayce how it went before asking him if “coup counts” – a term of Native Americans, which means persuading an enemy to concede defeat without having to kill the enemy.

“I counted the coup,” Kayce replies.

“Then he understands,” says Mo.

“Yellowstone” airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on Paramount Network.