A writer’s strike, and the departure of the show’s lead actor casts a shadow

over the highly anticipated final season of this contemporary Western drama.

The opening scene of episode one in “Yellowstone’s” first season immediately placed

viewers in the thick of a jackpot situation. The show’s star, Kevin Costner, who plays John Dutton III, the patriarch of the family and owner of the Dutton Ranch in Montana, has to shoot a

horse after a terrible truck and trailer crash on the road. Like many tough guys do in Western lore, Dutton shrugs this incident off already making a play for the culprit of the wreck. This is, in essence, a golden memory many of us “Yellowstone” fans pine for when thinking about the much-anticipated finale, now set for streaming on November 10 on the Paramount Network.

The good news is that there will be a “Yellowstone” season 5 part 2; the bad news, is this finale will not include Costner reprising this iconic role. Adding to the tension leading up to this finale was a 148-day writer’s strike that pushed the production for the finale further back than anticipated. Also rumors of bad blood began to circulate last fall when “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan sued actor Cole Hauser, who plays Rip Wheeler on the show, over his Free Rein Coffee logo, stating it looked too much like his Bosque Ranch Coffee brand logo.

Whatever the beef, it seems the cast of “Yellowstone,” minus Costner, are already in production on the final eight episodes in Montana, according to several cast members Instagram posts, including Hauser’s. This timeline seems to track given “Landman,” another series Sheridan is co-producing, just wrapped filming in the Fort Worth area this week. Other projects Sheridan is currently hard fast work ing on is season 2 of “Lioness” starring “Guardians of the Galaxy” actress Zoe Saldana. And yes, this is also being filmed here in Fort Worth.

When we left the Dutton family in season 5 part 1, John Dutton had been appointed governor of Montana, which begs the question, how will he be written off the show? It’s apparent now that Costner was busy shooting his passion project “Horizon: An American Saga,” a two-part Western movie series that premieres this weekend, over the last year. Costner himself broke the news that he wouldn’t be joining the series via Instagram last week leaving many “Yellowstone” fans scratching their heads on how his character will be written off.

But writing Costner off of “Yellowstone” is just the beginning of what this show’s writers have to deal with. Intertwined between John Dutton III is his ongoing battle with his adopted son Jammie, played by Wes Bentley, and his daughter Beth, played by Kelly Reilly. This conflict was supposed to carry the final season, hence the buildup to this feud in previous seasons. However, now it seems us fans are really going to be surprised how this all plays out in light of Costner’s departure. Last week, Costner opened up about his reason for leaving “Yellowstone” in an interview with Deadline.

“What you read in the end was that I said, ‘Well, look, I’m doing my movie. If you want me to work a week because you want to kill me or whatever else, I can give you a week.’ I really didn’t have that week to give them, but I said, I’ll do that. And then they [spun that] into, I only wanted to work a week.”

Costner’s explanation only compiles rumors of tensions on the set between him and Sheridan. Per the Hauser coffee feud, this issue was settled out of court, which seems to have left the two on good terms again; at least enough to finish eight more episodes.

The final season of Yellowstone will premiere on November 10 on Paramount Network. It is also available to stream on Peacock.