Warning: This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of Yellowstone Season 5B.

No one is really safe at the Dutton Ranch anymore.

In the Sunday, December 1st episode YellowstoneColby (Denim Richards) was the youngest member of the Dutton family to lose his life. The tragedy happened in the simplest way and left fans in real shock.

“The thing that I find so shocking about Colby’s death is that in a season where there are all these twists and dark forces and huge narrative shifts, Colby’s death is so powerful because it is so simple,” said Christina Voros. Who directed the episode told The Hollywood Reporter.

Voros called it “harrowing” and a “freak accident” and said the death – in which Colby was trampled by a horse while helping Carter (Finn Little), an inexperienced cowboy – was representative of the “risks” in the real thing be life. about being a cowboy.

“It’s a dangerous job and something like this happens in a split second. “This death is a shock because it is so simple and so ingrained in the world that all these characters work in that it is deeply tragic,” she said.

Understandably, Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) took Colby’s death seriously, even remarking, “It’s a dangerous job and one day it’s going to kill me too.” Given Rip’s threatening comments, Voros said it was “a natural instinct to wonder , whether everything someone says could be a foreshadowing.”

“Kayce saying goodbye to Monica (Kelsey Asbille) could be foreshadowing. Beth saying goodbye to Rip could be foreshadowing. It’s just about where the brain goes when you experience a shocking sudden loss after several sudden losses, and I think that’s easy to relate to.”

Richards, who has played the ranch hand since the show’s first season, also said that the “simplicity” of his character’s death influenced how shocking it felt to audiences.

“I think this death was something that makes you realize that life is very tenuous,” said the 36-year-old actor THR. “And going forward, it brings a little bit more grounding or a foundation to what’s already going on. Sometimes the stakes on the show are so high that you no longer realize how high they are.”

In a separate interview with Weekly entertainmentRichards said he “found it out maybe a day later, before they sent me the scripts.”

“I was actually flying back from Texas and got the call that this was exactly what was going to happen. “So that must have been in May,” he explained.

“I feel like (creator) Taylor (Sheridan) is really emphasizing the realities of cowboy life this season. We have a saying that everyone will fall off a horse at some point in their life. It’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when and how bad. This is not a phenomenon,” he continued. “These things actually happen, so I think there’s that element that I think is about really wanting to emphasize that this is a reality.”

“It’s kind of poetic because Colby gets trampled by a horse in the river several times in Season 3. So perhaps it was the ancestors of these horses who came back to exact revenge. But most importantly, it was as clean as one could possibly cause a death,” he added.

Richards shared a photo of his chair from set on Instagram after Sunday’s episode aired with the caption, “Grateful🙏🏾✊🏾🙏🏾” and fans filled the comments section with love for his achievement.

Several of his co-stars also shared some love, including Jen Landon, who played Colby’s love interest Teeter for three seasons.

“You are more than loved, my dear friend and actor,” she wrote. “So many hearts are broken tonight. 💔💔💔.”

Colby’s death in episode four of season five follows two other serious deaths. The long-awaited final episodes began with the revelation that John Dutton had died, which came as a shock to fans but was also somewhat expected since Kevin Costner had confirmed his departure from the role when filming began in the spring.

His death was somewhat avenged in Episode 3 when Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) was killed after it was confirmed that she had planned John’s death – and had it staged by men to make it look like a suicide.

It wasn’t a creative decision that Costner, 69, was apparently very happy about, as he said that when he heard it was a suicide, he was in no rush to watch it on SiriusXM The Michael Smerconish Program.

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New episodes of Yellowstone Premieres Sundays at 8pm ET/PT on Paramount Network.