'Yellowstone': Did John and Beth Die or Will They Appear in Season 4?

Yellowstone has never been shy of killing off its characters, but before its season finale, it never tried to get rid of two leads at once. That changed with "The World is Purple," which left John Dutton (played by Kevin Costner) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) with potentially fatal injuries. Though Yellowstone Season 4 has been confirmed and has begun filming, there is a big question mark over whether John and Beth will reappear or whether the upcoming set of episodes will be about the range dealing with their grief over the decimation of the family.

Did John Dutton die in Yellowstone?

Of the two, John seems the most likely to survive into Yellowstone Season 4. For one, Kevin Costner is by far the most famous actor on the Paramount show and remains an executive producer on the series.

Also, the Yellowstone season finale went out of its way to show us that John had survived, suggesting he will be back and out for revenge in Season 4. In the last episode, it was shown that a kill shot had been blocked by John's hated mobile phone, which had kept him alive.

Then again, he is not out of the woods just yet. That phone may have saved him for now, but it also means he has no way of contacting anyone and is in the middle of nowhere with at least two gunshot wounds.

Though it is unlikely that the show has killed off its major star, his injuries could have a major impact on Season 4. After all, a weakened John is going to give his enemies more confidence to try and take him down...and as the season finale shows, he has plenty of enemies, one of which has already tried to kill him once.

Does Beth Dutton die in Yellowstone?

What is more likely is that the Paramount show has killed off Beth, who would join Lee Dutton (Dave Annable) in the family's ever-expanding graveyard.

In many ways, the bomb that was sent to her caused much more damage than the bullets that hit John. The series showed us that the force of the explosion was even enough to affect the cars outside, so the force with which it hit Beth should be enough to kill her.

This would make dramatic sense too. After all, the show might get away with one fake-out in the finale, but both characters surviving might push things a little far.

A recent Instagram post from Reilly might hint that she is done with the show. Earlier in August, she wrote: "Thank you all who watched season 3. Hope you all enjoy tonight's finale .. what a wild ride it's been." This could cryptically suggest that, for her, the ride is over.

There are some clues, however, that Beth might have been able to survive. Rip actor's recent interview comments to Esquire that "I think it could go in the way of us [Rip and Beth] being together might suggest he thinks the character will be back, for example."

Other Yellowstone viewers have noted that she was about a dozen feet away from the bomb, and that she would be far from the first TV character to survive a bomb that in real life would kill them with nary a scratch.

Viewers will have to wait, however, until Yellowstone returns in 2021 to find outside whether John and Beth Dutton will be able to survive.