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'Yellowstone' fans reveal how Kevin Costner was constantly improving Taylor Sheridan's 'stupid' writing

"Kevin Costner is an Oscar winning director. Ignoring him and not valuing him was insane," a fan wrote.

'Yellowstone' season finale premiered with mixed-bag reactions from fans and critics alike. Kevin Costner's abrupt departure from the series impacted not only the viewership but also the plotline of the show. Viewers believe the 'slouchy' writing by show creator Taylor Sheridan cost the neo-classical series television downfall towards the end. In a Reddit thread fans remarked that Costner enhanced Sheridan's stupid writing. "The absolute nosedive in the quality of writing and characterization in the last episodes, and Luke Grimes' admission that filming without Kevin made everything easier confirms for all time that he was heroically fighting to make the show not suck," a fan criticized. 

"Kevin Costner is an Oscar-winning director. Ignoring him and not valuing him was insane," an online user chimed. "Agree. The quality of the writing seemed to start dropping after the commencement of season 4, but the dive it took between season 5A and season 5B was horrendous. And that happens to be where they lost Costner," another fan noted. "Luke Grimes may have a point about there being less conflict on set without Kevin Costner," a netizen reasoned referring to Grimes's comment about filming the 'easiest season' without Costner.

Fans took to X also to express their concern, "I really liked Yellowstone before Taylor Sheridan became a complete egomaniac, and the writing went to total shit. I keep seeing ads for it coming back, but I don't care. If Kevin Costner (the main character) isn't coming back to finish the last season, why should fans?" an X user slammed. "Taylor Sheridan is writing douche-some scripts. Resurrect Kevin Costner," a critic voiced. 

"Wish Taylor Sheridan would stick to writing not acting. Sad enough to kill off our beloved Colby, the pissing contest with drama king Kevin Costner couldn't be worked out but still love the show and cast and am curious about it saying season and not the series finale," a fan agreed. Meanwhile, Sheridan wants praise and credit for himself, “My stories have a very simple plot that is driven by the characters as opposed to characters driven by a plot — the antithesis of the way television is normally modeled,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter in a 2023 exclusive. 

The maverick writer further explained that he wasn't comfortable working with a team of writers because they would never understand his vision, “But when you hire a room that may not be motivated by those same qualities — and a writer always wants to take ownership of something they’re writing — and I give this directive and they’re not feeling it, then they’re going to come up with their own qualities. So for me, writers rooms, they haven’t worked.” Sheridan stubbornly acknowledged that, despite the large production costs, he never made any compromises with the script. 

“You write a thing and it costs what it costs. I will not change a script to meet a budget," he said. The 'Landman' creator stated that he was done compromising within the industry and preferred to work with people who would let him create unique stories for the audience. "I decided that I am going to tell my stories my way, period. But I won’t compromise. There is no compromising,” he concluded.