Ranking Every Season of Yellowstone: A Complete Overview

“Yellowstone” captivated audiences enough to secure five seasons on the Paramount Network, though the seasons varied in quality. Across a decade of episodes, the Dutton family navigates their tumultuous lives filled with laughter, betrayal, and power struggles. Naturally, some episodes shine while others falter; it’s an inevitable part of the process.

When a series loses its lead star, challenges are inevitable. This is especially true for John Dutton, portrayed by Kevin Costner, who faces turmoil when he sets his sights on becoming California’s governor. As life unfolds with births, deaths, new characters, and familiar ones, the ongoing saga delivers moments of chaos and brutality that add depth to the story.

However, there’s much more to explore before we reach the final chapters. Every season of “Yellowstone” offers unique tales worth examining through both viewer ratings and critical evaluations. By blending audience feedback and expert review, alongside personal insights, we’ve ranked all five seasons of the series.

It’s a rare feat for a series to thrive after losing a pivotal character, yet “Yellowstone” maintained solid viewership during its concluding season, even after Costner’s unexpected departure. Despite this, the show’s legacy has slightly tarnished over time. It holds a 41% rating on the Popcornmeter and a more favorable 7.7 on IMDb. Fans often point to the pivotal change in Season 5—Costner’s John Dutton meeting his end—as a major downturn.

This critical plot twist happens mid-season, driven by off-screen tensions between Costner and series creator Taylor Sheridan. John’s assassination in his mansion’s bathroom adds drama, setting Beth (played by Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) on a path to uncover the truth. Their quest leads them to suspect their own brother, Jamie (Wes Bentley), igniting a series of calamities. While the show aims for an emotionally charged finale, the season struggles to escape being ranked at the bottom.

While the show sits at a “fresh” critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, plenty of them didn’t like how Season 5 presented itself. “Yellowstone is a show for people who imagine themselves to be John Dutton: embattled, operating with black-and-white certainty, fighting against a world that demands compromise,” remarked Slate’s Rebecca Onion. Nick Schager from The Daily Beast agrees, “Increasingly, its opposition to forward movement isn’t just a cultural and political stance, but a narrative one as well.”

The first outing for the Dutton clan doesn’t even come close to the very best it has to offer. That said, it does give us a season-long establishing shot of the American West in crisis, introduces the Duttons and their conflicts, and shows some of what makes them tick.

The series pilot opens with a car crash that sets both the feeling and pace of the series, as John Dutton mercy kills an injured horse. The first episode of “Yellowstone” is laden with moments you might not have noticed your first time watching it, but it’s a perfect primer that explains who these characters are, what they’ll be getting up to for the next few seasons, and what their destinies will be.

At an 8.1 on IMDb and a shockingly low 58% on the Tomatometer, the show did not have a promising start. But the Popcornmeter sports an 82%, hinting at just how high things would climb in the coming years. “Few characters here are particularly likable or compelling,” said Eric Deggans of NPR. “Yellowstone gets bogged down in minutia and politics, and generally winds up being about as exciting as watching a zoning-commission meeting,” snarked Brian Lowry of CNN.

Though it was still chugging along well during Season 4, this is roughly where the adventures of John and company lose their luster. The worst part of this batch of episodes? John’s preachy relationship with environmentalist Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo), who ends up doing community service on Dutton Ranch to pay off her John-related debt to society. The pair fall into an awkward love affair while John preaches at Summer about how terrible her veganism is and of the importance of ranching life. Yet it does also show off John’s softer side.

This strident plotline set aside, there’s plenty to enjoy about Season 4. It contains the aftermath of the family’s last attempt at cohesion in the wake of a coordinated attack on the Duttons and their holdings, Kayce and his wife Monica’s (Kelsey Asbille) continued travails, and interesting conflicts in the bunkhouse. Critics and fans both agree that it’s great, giving it a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences chiming in at a 81% on the Popcornmeter. On IMDb, it has an 8.1 overall total score.

Critics had nothing but raves for the season. “For me, the show feels like ‘Dallas’ if it had been produced for HBO,” Matt Roush of TV Insider remarked. “It’s the oldest story told about the American West, but creator Taylor Sheridan capably reimagines the enemy for late-stage capitalism: land developers, private equity, eminent domain,” added Amanda Whiting of IndieWire.

Season 2 of “Yellowstone” plunges the whole Dutton clan into a fight with the Beck brothers, resulting in kidnappings, threats of violence and two very extrajudicial deaths, which leads to one of Kayce’s most heartbreaking moments in the whole series. Elsewhere, Jamie gives life in the bunkhouse a try.

Critically — in spite of some strongly-worded misgivings from some of those pros — It sits at an 8.4 on IMDb, and both the Tomatometer and the Popcornmeter has it at 89%. That makes it the second-highest-rated season of the show in the opinion of both institutions.

“It’s as grand as Montana’s wide and open plains, and as entertaining as any good old campfire tale,” declared Alci Rengifo of Entertainment Voice. Agreed Tim Appelo of AARP Movies for Grownups, “Kevin Costner, 64, rides high in the triumphant new season of the most unexpected smash hit of 2018.” High praise from the biggest arbiters of Dad TV. But one year of the show outranks Season 2 and takes the crown as the very best spate of episodes “Yellowstone” ever put out.

And here we have it. It’s the top of “Yellowstone” mountain, the most fascinating crevice in the alleged “train station”: the best season of the drama overall. The third season of “Yellowstone” ended with one of the show’s best cliffhangers, a who-will-survive shootout that puts John and his children in major danger. That alone elevates it above the rest of the pack, but it didn’t help push Season 4 into second place material, despite this finale’s deftness.

Elsewhere in this spate of episodes, audience members learn why Beth hates Jamie so much, Market Equities starts making its move on Yellowstone land, and John’s machinations finally result in all of the Duttons facing their doom.

Fans and critics alike absolutely loved this season. It sits at 100% on the Tomatometer and 87% on the Popcornmeter. On IMDb, it holds an 8.3. Though only seven critics have weighed in for Season 3, they all mainly left raves, even if the season did have a few flaws. “It’s been a quiet season and, honestly, that’s the way I like it: ‘Yellowstone’ is best when it bathes in a mood, and the mood of this season is of a rattlesnake quietly slithering through the desert,” said Dustin Rowles of Pajiba. It all really is “Yellowstone” at its peak, and that earns it the top slot on this list.