Image via Paramount Network
Published Feb 13, 2026, 5:30 AM EST
Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features and reviews, and has interviewed the cast and crew of Dark Winds. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His first work of self-published fiction – The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain – became a #1 Best Seller in "Religious Fiction Short Stories" on Amazon in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.
Now that Yellowstone has officially ridden off into the sunset, it’s hard not to look back at the series and notice where it occasionally tripped over its own long-running continuity. Taylor Sheridan, for all his great work as a screenwriter, could use someone to help keep him in check whenever it comes to new episodes of the show. While some things are easily forgivable, there's one glaring error in the show's Season 5 premiere, "Desire Is All You Need." Does it have to do with John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) death? Nope. The fact that Jamie (Wes Bentley) didn't actually want his father killed, but rather his sister? Nope. It has to do with Forrie J. Smith's lovable cowboy Lloyd.
Did 'Yellowstone' Retcon Lloyd's Last Name?
Image via Paramount NetworkBefore Season 5 Part 2, Yellowstone had always referred to Lloyd as "Lloyd Pierce." That's the name of the character that Smith is credited for playing on IMDb, and it's the name most fans have come to know the old cowboy as over the years. But "Desire Is All You Need" changes all that. When Rip (Cole Hauser) is asked by Lloyd to pick up a bit for him down in Pampa, Texas, the longtime ranch foreman meets with legendary loriner Billy Klapper, asking for an order from a "Lloyd Bridger." Wait, what? You read that right. As far as we can tell, unless Lloyd was using an alias, Yellowstone has officially renamed Lloyd Pierce as Lloyd Bridger, which is a bold move to make so close to the neo-Western's apparent end.
Why this change? It's hard to say. Sheridan may be trying to tie Lloyd's roots to the founding of Montana. After all, back during the time of the mountain men in the mid-1800s, men like Jim Bridger explored the Rocky Mountains and paved their way through places like Montana. In fact, Bridger (who folks may recognize as being a character from the 2014 film The Revenant, which is based on historical events) blazed the Bridger Trail that went from Wyoming to Montana, thus avoiding the Bozeman Trail, which had been paved previously by John Bozeman. Yes, Bozeman is the namesake of the same Bozeman featured in Yellowstone, a city bordered on the northeast by the Bridger Mountains named after Bridger.
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We don't know for sure if this is what Sheridan was thinking when he swapped Lloyd's surname from his traditional Pierce to the more recognizable Bridger, but given the success of 1883 and 1923 (which will hopefully be coming back soon), tying the character further into the Last Best Place's roots feels on-brand for the franchise. Lloyd actor Forrie J. Smith himself is from Helena, Montana, and his connection to the land may be something Sheridan hoped to elaborate on with this change. That, or it could just be another of the show's long list of continuity errors.
'Yellowstone' Sometimes Plays Fast and Loose With Its Continuity
Unfortunately, Yellowstone has a history of continuity errors and plot inconsistencies that have long frustrated fans of the show. Sure, we keep coming back for the characters, but some falsehoods are too blatant to ignore. For starters, the show's early years showed an always sunny Montana, and while the sun does often shine year-round, the ground is more often covered in snow than not. This is an error many fans pointed out during the death of Evelyn Dutton (Gretchen Mol) back in the first season. But that's far from all. Missing gunshot wounds ("No Good Horses"), 2020s beer bottles in the 1990s ("Tall Drink of Water"), Kelly Reilly's Beth surviving a bomb explosion after being only a few feet from the blast ("The World is Purple").
Of course, that's far from everything. Characters like Lee Dutton (Dave Annable) or Robert Long (Jeremiah Bitsui) are largely forgotten about for far too long after they were killed in the show's very first episode, including by their own families. Flashbacks and photographs that they should appear in actively omit them (especially Lee), as if they never existed. In fact, Robert is still never mentioned on the show, though Lee finally returned in a vision in Season 4. Maybe we shouldn't be thinking too hard about Yellowstone, but rather enjoy the ride we got across its five seasons.
Yellowstone is now available to watch on Peacock.
Release Date 2018 - 2024
Network Paramount Network
Writers John Coveny, Ian McCulloch
English (US) ·