Sumith Prasad
In the fourth season of Paramount Network’s Western series ‘Yellowstone,’ John Dutton decides to run for the Governor’s office of the State of Montana. Although Jamie Dutton initially considers contesting against his adoptive father, his life takes a wild turn when Bethany “Beth” Dutton forces him to kill his biological father Garrett Randall. The fifth season begins with John assuming the Governor’s office after the election. Lynelle Perry becomes a senator and Monica Long Dutton is very near to her due date. Intrigued by these developments, we have set out to find the time that passed between the fourth season finale and the fifth season premiere. Well, let us share our findings! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Dutton Family’s Time Warp
Since the fifth season begins with John Dutton assuming the Governor’s office, it is clear that a significant period has passed after the fourth season finale. However, the show doesn’t explicitly mention how much time has passed between the events of the two episodes. Still, there are enough clues to come up with a close guess. The fourth season of the show ends a few days after Monica reveals to her husband Kayce Dutton that she is pregnant. When the fifth season starts, Monica is just three weeks away from her due date. Thus, around eight months have likely passed between the fourth and fifth seasons of the show.
As far as the narrative of the show is concerned, the possible eighth months play an integral role in the fifth season. The foundation of the fifth season’s narrative is John using his authority as the Governor of Montana against Market Equities to protect his Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. The time jump helps the show to skip through John’s election campaign and the governor’s election itself. Since John contests against an outsider, he assures victory, which makes the election storyline less intense for the show to invest its time in.
Using the time jump, co-creator Taylor Sheridan succeeds in beginning the new season with enough tension to captivate the viewers as John gains the authority to fight against anyone who wants to conquer his ranch. The time jump is also a pivotal part of Monica’s storyline since it enabled Sheridan to commence the character’s fifth-season arc with the loss of her second son rather than investing screentime for the progression of her pregnancy. In the upcoming episodes of the season, we may see Monica battling the traumas of the accident and her son’s death and the impact of the same on her relationship with Kayce.
Along with narrative reasons, external developments might have paved the way for the possible eight-month time jump between the fourth and fifth seasons. By the time the filming of the fifth season had started in 2022, multiple cast members had grown up with a considerable change in their physical appearance. Notably, Finn Little, who portrays Carter, had become thin and tall during the two years between the filming of the fourth and fifth seasons. In the show, John even gets startled to see Carter all grown up after a long while since he may have been away for his election engagements.
Although Brecken Merrill, who plays Tate, hasn’t transformed as much as Finn, a change is visible in him as well. Thus, the time jump can be seen as essential to accommodate the physical transformations of Finn and Merrill, which affects their characters’ appearances as well.
Read More: Will Jamie Return to Yellowstone Ranch in Season 5? Theories
