Dawn Olivieri Addresses the Shocking Death on Yellowstone : Insights and Reactions

Another Yellowstone character has been taken to the train station — and this time fans were actually surprised to see them go.

The Sunday, November 24, episode included the shocking death of Sarah Atwood, who was in her car at a stoplight when a couple in the car next to her asked for directions. As she responded to their question, the man pulled out a gun and shot her. The assassin was seemingly hired by the hitman Sarah hired to kill John Dutton, whose death is now being investigated as a homicide following a deeper investigation by the medical examiner.

Dawn Olivieri, who played Sarah, wasn’t exactly shocked by her character’s gruesome end, but she noted that the timeline was sped up because of Kevin Costner’s departure from the series.

“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,” the actress, 43, explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Sunday. “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.”

Paramount Network confirmed last year that Yellowstone would end with season 5, the second half of which was originally set to premiere in November 2023. Season 5B finally premiered earlier this month after production delays caused in part by the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of last year.

While the season premiere initially set up John’s death as a suicide, it soon became clear that it was actually a murder orchestrated by Sarah, who hired a hitman to take him out. She claimed she did it for her boyfriend, Jamie (Wes Bentley), who had tried to get his dad impeached from the governorship, but Jamie was less than thrilled to learn that she was behind John’s death.

“I tend to play that character that you love to hate, and that character is always setting up the hero to win,” Olivieri explained on Sunday. “And, how does the hero win? It’s sort of the symbiotic relationship that goes part and parcel with the villain, or the antagonist. I always sort of know it’s coming, and to read [the death in the script] is like, ‘OK, here we go.’”

According to the actress, Sarah’s decision to hire a hitman was an expression of love for Jamie, albeit a very violent one.

“Sarah is not OK. She’s not right. So to her, power is love and the transaction is what feels like love: ‘You care about me if you win with me, or if you listen to everything I say,’” Olivieri said. “I think that was her way of love, and I think Jamie responded to that. We were able to see that he also spoke that language, and that was the connection they had. They could have been an insane powerful couple, who would have been very scary to be working up against!”

While Olivieri’s time on Yellowstone is over, she’s not finished with the Taylor Sheridan universe. She’s set to appear on season 2 of his show Lioness, which premiered last month. (Her role was previously kept a secret so as not to spoil Sarah’s death.)

Prior to joining Yellowstone, Olivieri starred on the spinoff series 1883, where she also met an untimely end. Her role on that series led Sheridan, 54, to cast her on the flagship series.

“Taylor calls me his Swiss Army knife. He’ll text me and say, ‘Yo, Swiss Army knife. I need ya.’ And I say, ‘Reporting for duty,’” Olivieri told THR of the prolific showrunner. “My last text to him was literally, ‘You tell me what and where, and I’m there.’ And that’s it, that’s my response. Another show, another day, another character.”