Yellowstone: Is John Dutton a villain?

Kevin Costner’s John Dutton might be the main character of Yellowstone but that doesn’t mean he’s a hero. However, is he a straight-up villain? A lot of fans certainly seem to think so. 

While we wait for Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 to arrive, fans new and old are venturing back to the Dutton ranch after CBS landed a rights deal and started airing the show from the start, wrapping up Season 3 earlier this week. 

As such, Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western series continues to spark plenty of discussion, including its portrayal of morally ambiguous characters. Just this week, Yellowstoners jumped in to defend Beth (Kelly Reilly), noting her traumatic past contributes to many of her questionable actions. 

Now it’s the turn of Dutton patriarch John (Kevin Costner), who embodies the complexities of power, balancing a love for his family with a willingness to resort to morally questionable tactics to protect his legacy. 

Yellowstone: Is John Dutton a villain?

Taking to Reddit, a Yellowstone fan has shared an “unpopular opinion,” going into detail about why they think Kevin Costner’s John Dutton “is the villain, not the hero.”

“Once you look past the Costner charm, you can see that he is, in truth, a real piece of $#*t,” they wrote. “He may have random bursts of humanity (taking care of and freeing Jimmy with his blessing, helping a lady with a flat tire, informing Emmett’s wife of his death), but they hardly balance the rest of his being.”

Paramount

Splitting their reasoning up into eight bullet points, user Criticslayer33 started off by pointing out that John is “very selfish,” getting his employees to “commit questionable acts” without compensation and treating Beth’s husband Rip as “nothing more than a guard dog or attack dog.”

In their second point, they share their disdain for how he treats his children like “chess pieces,” adding: “He had one son branded for disobedience, uses his daughter’s capacity to be evil to his advantage (in his own words), and turned what was once his most loyal son into his worst enemy (and his potential downfall) with his irrational abuse and mistreatment.”

Other pain points include the fact that his “terrible decision-making repeatedly endangers his family and employees,” and his “stubbornness makes saving the ranch more difficult than they should be… Because John doesn’t want solutions. He wants assurances.”

“Another issue is the foolish promise he made to his Dad to never sell the ranch,” they continued. “Refusing a $500 million payout which would have allowed his family to be safe and happy and given him something for his land.”

In point six, the Redditor accuses John of being a “hypocrite,” highlighting how he “preaches about morality” and yet has no qualms taking people to the train station, as it’s known in the Yellowstone universe. 

“He plays favorites with his children,” they added, before going into John’s missteps after taking on the role of Governor of Montana. 

“Fired a room full of people who understand Montana WAY better than he does, pardoned Summer just so he could bang her… damaged Montana’s economy by increasing taxes to the detriment of tourists, and by shutting down the airport project, cost the state potentially billions of dollars, neutralized thousands of badly needed jobs, and exposed the state to a massive lawsuit,” they commented.

In short, John Dutton is the villain of Yellowstone – but this is not news to fans of the show. In response to the post, one wrote, “Why do you think that opinion is unpopular?” To which another replied, “Yeah, I was going to say, it’s kind of implied he’s the villain.”

“That’s not unpopular. People know John is an ass. And Beth. And Jamie. And Rip,” added a third, while a fourth said, “John Dutton is a narcissistic sociopath who raised children riddled with trauma. He is absolutely the villain. He demands 100% loyalty on pain of death or being disowned. He’s a monster who cares only about one thing – his legacy.”

“That is… not an unpopular opinion. That’s a given trope. The Duttons are antagonists, all in their own ways,” added a fifth. “There are no heroes in Yellowstone, least of all John Dutton.”