‘Dumb’: Yellowstone’s final season ‘bloodbath’ angers fans as director addresses backlash

As fans rip the final season of Yellowstone apart on social media, the show’s director has broken his silence to address the latest shock move.

WARNING: Spoilers

One of Yellowstone’s directors has publicly addressed the wave of backlash the show’s final season has faced from fans.

As the hit ranch drama nears its end, its body count is getting high. Colby (Denim Richards) is the latest character to drop dead.

But he’s far from the first.

Ranch hand, Colby, was killed off in the latest episode in the latest in a long run of shock deaths. Picture: Stan

The show returned last month on Stan and kicked off the second half of Season five by killing off protagonist John Dutton, since Costner left the show amid rumours of behind-the-scenes strife. A hitman fatally shot John and staged it to look like a suicide. Jamie was partly responsible, as his evil girlfriend, Sarah (Dawn Olivieri), arranged it, but Jamie was not directly involved. Fans were unhappy about John’s death.

Sarah herself got taken out by another hit man not long after that. And in the most recent episode, a ranch hand, Colby (Denim Richards), also went to “the train station,” the show’s slang for killing someone off. For Colby, it wasn’t a sinister murder plot. Rather, he died in a workplace injury after getting kicked by a horse.

After Colby’s shocking death aired, fans took to social media to share their surprise and disappointment, with many blaming the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan.

“That was a VERY UNNECESSARY death!!!” one fan complained on Reddit.

“You f – king kidding me? They just kill off Colby like that?! #YellowStoneTV this sh-t is cheesy as hell now,” another irate viewer fumed on X, formerly Twitter.

“Why would they just randomly just kill off Colby from @Yellowstone? That might be the dumbest sh-t ive ever seen,” said another.

“OK #YellowstoneTV you have officially ticked me off! You killed Colby no reason! The only black guy and the nicest character. I am scared to see what is coming,” complained one.

Kevin Costner was brutally killed off in the season's opening episode. Picture: Stan

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the director of the first four episodes of the season, Christina Voros, said: “The thing that I think is such a gut-punch about Colby’s death is that in a season where there are all these twists and turns and dark forces and giant narrative swings, Colby’s death is so powerful because it’s so simple.”

She continued, “For anyone who really understands the lifestyle of cowboys and working with animals and the risks of the job — and Rip says it about himself — it’s a dangerous job, and this kind of thing happens and it happens in a split-second.”

“This death comes as a shock because it’s so simple, and it’s so grounded in the world in which all these characters work that it’s profoundly tragic.

Voros added: “And the timing of it is just gut-wrenching.”