In an exclusive featurette clip that appears on the Blu-ray and DVD release of “Yellowstone” season five, part one, Grimes spoke about Kayce Dutton’s stunted growth on the show so far, and why he believes that audiences can expect something different when the show returns from its midseason break.
The interview was conducted before it was announced that season five would be the show’s last.
“The arc for Kayce is that he sort of hasn’t evolved as much as you wanted him to,” Grimes,said.
“It’s always: ‘What do I chose and where do I go and where do I stand and where does my loyalty lie?’ He doesn’t know if it’s the Dutton legacy or if it’s his own personal family.”
Grimes — who has been a part of the Paramount Network drama since it debuted in 2018 — added that Kayce is “trying to do all things at once, which doesn’t seem to work out.”
As audiences know, Kayce is the last surviving legitimate son of Montana cattle rancher John Dutton (Kevin Costner). Ever since the death of his older brother Lee (Dave Annable) in the show’s pilot episode, Kayce has been the frontrunner to inherit the sprawling ranch from his father.
In the show’s midseason finale, Kayce was given a taste of what is potentially to come when his father asked him to take over the day-to-day running of Yellowstone while he focuses on his role as Montana governor and his second-in-command, Rip (Cole Hauser), deals with some business down in Texas.
“I think this a huge moment for Kayce,” Grimes said while discussing where things left off for his character. “It’s his legacy, and I’m honestly really excited about this chapter for Kayce and Monica, because I think we’re going to see a whole different side to them.”
“Obviously it’s going to put him in a position where he has to take on a lot more than he probably has been comfortable with,” he continued, adding, “with what John’s got to go do, it’s time for Kayce to step up.”
Grimes said he thinks “people are going to be really excited” to see Kayce, his wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille), and their son, Tate (Brecken Merrill) take on their new roles as the stewards of the ranch.
“I think with Monica being willing to do this one more time, to go back to the ranch and try it again, it shows a new side of her,” he said. “You’ve wanted them to do that and obviously its been very hard for them.”
While it was previously announced that the latter half of season five would debut in November, that’s looking increasingly unlikely, given that scripts for the final episodes have not yet been written, let alone shot and edited.
In June, co-creator and showrunner Taylor Sheridan told the Hollywood Reporter that he had stopped writing “Yellowstone” in solidarity with the ongoing writers’ strike.The strike is also delaying production on the second season of the prequel series, “1923,” and has put a pin in the development of the upcoming “Yellowstone” spinoff starring Matthew McConaughey.