As much as Taylor Sheridan’s smash-hit Yellowstone has succeeded in leaving people totally entertained to the core, it has somehow also managed to leave some glaring plotholes behind. For instance, the very first season of this fan-favorite saga brought about something truly bizarre that was never properly explained: Dinosaur bones getting unearthed from near Kayce and Tate’s trailer.
While this part had fans truly intrigued about the storyline these fossils could lead to, what’s surprising is that it never did. This plot was just dropped and fans were left wondering about it for years. But now that the saga is nearing its end with season 5 part 2, it seems like this could be the perfect plot Sheridan could use to close off the Dutton family lore, once and for all, for the better.
This Yellowstone Plothole Has Had Fans in its Grip for Ages
Around 6 years ago, when Yellowstone originally debuted on the screens, it brought about some of the most extraordinary plotlines embedded in its storyline that left fans truly baffled. While Lee Dutton getting introduced as an important character before getting killed in the first episode of the series was one thing, dinosaur relics being found near Kayce and Tate’s trailer was another.
That being mentioned, the plot about those relics could never really progress further. As fans and regular viewers of the series must already know, after Luke Grimes‘ Kayce and Brecken Merrill’s Tate discovered those bones, some thieves entered the place and stole those relics before running off. Obviously, Kayce briefly tried to chase them, but it was to no avail.
This was because, besides this brief chase, nothing else was shown about or talked about those dinosaur bones. If anything, it felt like a plot long-forgotten by Taylor Sheridan while he was scripting up the remaining episodes of the saga. But the showrunners’ sidelining of this glaring plothole didn’t mean fans and viewers would ignore it and just let it go too.
If anything, ever since then, fans have been curious about whatever happened to that storyline, and if they didn’t wish to continue it, just why they put so much significance on it in the first place. Just like r/Sternshot44 mentioned on Reddit on the subreddit r/YellowstonePN:
Adding weight to the gravity of this situation is the comment section of this Reddit post, which is pretty much full of people trying to figure out just what it all may have been about. But while fans are still trying to figure these things out, there is also a reported explanation for this glaring plothole that just might help Sheridan close off the saga for the better at this point.
This Plothole Could Bring Back Taylor Sheridan’s Scrapped Plans for Yellowstone End
As it turns out, this dinosaur story was never really supposed to end this way. According to what Redditor u/DonDraperItsToasted mentioned in the comment section citing an anonymous source who “worked on the set of Yellowstone”:
The dinosaur plot was apparently supposed to end the series with Kayce leaving on a train back to join the SEALs for another tour until he comes across a car with the stolen dinosaur bones. He then takes the bones back to Tate and basically makes up with Monica.
Not only that, but this Redditor also mentioned that the plane plot of the storyline was “going to be a really epic climax to end the series, too,” after season 2.
However, all of these plans were reportedly foiled when the cash cow series got its third season greenlit, and Sheridan decided to save money for season 3 by scrapping this original plotline.
But that could change now that the series is about to end with the second part of its fifth season, following Kevin Costner‘s exit from the saga. This is because Sheridan could perfectly bring back this storyline that he originally scrapped and finally explain to fans what it all was supposed to mean when he originally introduced this plot into the story.
Moreover, as a fan theory on Reddit (via r/phonebook29) suggested, “The thing that will ultimately save the ranch goes all the way back to the dinosaur bones found at the beginning of the show. Not sure how this will play out but I have always thought this was a strange thing to drop on us at the beginning of S1E1. Full circle.”
All of this being said, it seems like it is time that Taylor Sheridan finally gives fans all the answers that they have been seeking for years regarding this dinosaur storyline by incorporating it into the final themes of the Dutton family’s story.