WhyYellowstoneUnexpectedly Killed Off Colby in 'Simple' but 'Shocking' Way

Mar. 15, 2025

PARAMOUNT NETWORK

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the latest episode ofYellowstoneseason 5B.

Truly no one is safe on the Dutton ranch anymore.

“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," she said.

Cam McLeod/Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock

Richards, who has played the ranch hand since season 1 of the series, also said that how “simple” his character’s death was plays into how shocking it felt to the audience.

“I think this death was something where you realize life is very tenuous,” the 36-year-old actor toldTHR. “And going forward, it brings a little bit more of a grounding, or more of a foundation, to what’s already going on. Sometimes the show’s stakes are so high that you can get lost in how high they are.”

In a separate interview withEntertainment Weekly, Richards said he “found out I think about maybe a day before they sent me the scripts.”

“I was actually flying back from Texas and I got the call that this was what was going to be happening. So this had to have been back in May,” he explained.

“I feel like this season, [creator] Taylor [Sheridan] is really emphasizing the realities of cowboy life. We have this saying that everyone’s going to fall off a horse at some point in their life. It’s not if, it’s just when and how bad. That is not a phenomenon,” he continued. “These things do happen, so I do think that there’s that element where I think it is about really wanting to emphasize that this is a reality.”

“You are beyond loved, my dear friend and actor,” she wrote. “So many hearts broke tonight. 💔💔💔.”

Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock

His death was somewhat avenged in episode 3, as Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) was killed after it was confirmed she plotted John’s death — and had men stage it to look like a suicide.

It wasn’t a creative decision that Costner, 69, seemed very happy about, ashe said that once he heard it was a suicide, he wasn’t in a “rush to go see it” on SiriusXM’sThe Michael Smerconish Program.

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New episodes ofYellowstonepremiere Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Paramount Network.

source: people.com