This article contains spoilers for Yellowstone season 5, episode 11, "Three Fifty-Three"

That shocking death in John Dutton's staged suicide have a devastating impact. Sarah Atwood (Dawn Oliveri), who planned the hitjob on Dutton, is on the receiving end of one. This happens as the truth of John's murder starts to come to light, with the hired assassins looking to cover up their tracks. That includes getting rid of Sarah, the accomplice of Wes Bentley's Jamie Dutton.

However, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Oliveri explains that Sarah's death in Yellowstone season 5 wasn't always the plan. Her comments come as a response to how the story shifted following the unexpected exit of former series lead Kevin Costner, with Oliveri revealing that certain storylines had to be accelerated. In the quote below, the actor talks about how Sarah was originally meant to stick around for another season:

Taylor Sheridan had told THR that John Dutton was always going to die in the end, but that Kevin Costner’s exit from the show accelerated the plan. Did you know when you were cast that you were going to be the person to kill him?

No. That I was going to be the most hated villain in all of the world? No, (laughs) I didn’t know that. I did know there was an exit strategy for him, but I don’t think I was supposed to go as soon as I did. I think that was going to happen [with John], but because we had to wrap this all up in lightning speed, I think it had to go down the way it went. I believe I was meant to go into the next season and continue on as a character. So I think because of the situation, everything got changed around. The storyline had to go full throttle to figure out how to tie up every end and move things along. I’m grateful. It’s a pretty monumental role that I think goes down in history in a way because of what happened and how it played out.

What Sarah's Shocking Death Means For Yellowstone

The End Is In Sight

Oliveri might've ended her run with the Yellowstone cast earlier than expected, but she gets a big exit. She gets anxious about the truth of the Montana governor's murder coming to light, given her involvement. She even predicts her fate in her final scene with Jamie, bringing up the fact that several people connected to political figures routinely die under suspicious circumstances without anyone asking too many questions. In the end, Sarah ends up being one of those people.

There are a lot of questions about what's next for the Taylor Sheridan-created series, specifically whether there will be a season 6 or if the story will continue in the form of a Yellowstone sequel show. Oliveri will be missed, at least for her enjoyable villainy portrayal of Atwood, but the Western has always been more about the Duttons. Sarah might have planned the murder, but the showdown with Jamie has yet to happen. The face-off between Jamie and Beth (Kelly Reilly), which is likely to happen soon, is the main event.

Our Take On Sarah's Death

It's Foreshadowing For Jamie

Although it's not confirmed, there are plenty of signs that Jamie won't make it to whatever the next stage of Yellowstone turns out to be. He's on the phone with Sarah when she is killed. He's likely soon to realize, if he hasn't already, that his end won't be peaceful. The only question is whether this realization hardens him further or if he tries to make amends to save his own skin.

New episodes of Yellowstone season 5 part 2 air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on the Paramount Network.

Source: THR