Every Yellowstone Season Ranked, From Worst to Best

“Yellowstone” became a major hit for Paramount Network, running for five seasons and turning the Dutton family saga into one of TV’s most talked-about dramas. But not every season lands with the same force. With roughly 10 episodes a year devoted to the Duttons scheming, feuding, killing and battling for control of their ranch and legacy, some chapters inevitably rise above the rest.

Any series faces a serious challenge when it loses its leading man, and “Yellowstone” was no exception. Trouble closes in on John Dutton (Kevin Costner) after he enters politics and becomes governor of Montana. Around him, the show continues to churn through births, deaths, fresh arrivals and familiar faces, with family loyalty often giving way to betrayal. At its best, those violent and emotionally charged turns are what make the drama so compelling.

Before getting to the finish line, though, “Yellowstone” delivers plenty of story across its five-season run. Taking into account audience reaction, critical response and the overall strength of each installment, here is a ranking of all five seasons of “Yellowstone.”

Few shows bounce back easily after losing a central character, yet “Yellowstone” still drew solid ratings as its final season unfolded following Kevin Costner’s departure from the series. Over time, however, the season’s reputation has settled into more mixed territory. Its Popcornmeter score sits at 41%, while IMDb users rate it slightly higher with an average of 7.7. For many viewers, the biggest sticking point is clear: the death of Costner’s John Dutton.

John’s death arrives midway through the season after off-screen tensions between Costner and series creator Taylor Sheridan, and the show gives the patriarch a bleak sendoff by having him shot in the bathroom of the governor’s mansion. Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) quickly suspect something is wrong and begin digging into what happened, a search that ultimately points them toward their adoptive brother, Jamie (Wes Bentley). Chaos follows, and while the finale delivers emotional closure and a measure of justice, it is not enough to keep Season 5 from ranking last.

Although the season holds a “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, several reviewers took issue with its approach. Slate’s Rebecca Onion argued that the series appeals to viewers who see themselves in John Dutton: besieged, uncompromising and locked in a battle against a changing world. Nick Schager of The Daily Beast offered a similar critique, suggesting the show’s resistance to progress had become not only a political and cultural position, but a storytelling problem as well.

The debut season of “Yellowstone” is not the strongest the series has to offer, but it does lay essential groundwork. It introduces the Dutton family, the sprawling Montana ranch they are desperate to protect and the web of enemies, allies and personal wounds that will drive the drama forward.

The pilot wastes no time establishing the show’s grim tone, opening with a car crash and John Dutton putting an injured horse out of its misery. The first episode is packed with details that may be easy to miss on an initial viewing, but it functions as an effective introduction to the characters, their conflicts and the brutal choices that will shape their futures.

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.