'Yellowstone' Star Denim Richards Speaks Out after Colby's Shocking Death
The return of Yellowstone has been a wild ride. So far, we’ve seen Beth go absolutely feral over the loss of her father, Rip drop everything to be by her side, Kayce revert to his covert military ways, and Jamie continue to be the squirrely, weak man he’s proven to be all along. Core characters aside, Season 5 Episode 12 also forced a farewell that many fans weren’t prepared for.
During the episode “Counting Coup,” everyone was focused on how Beth and Kayce were going to retaliate for John’s death, so when the camera panned back to the ranch to a scene where Carter was tending to an angry horse and got backed into the corner of the stall in the process, many felt like it was filler—until, of course, Colby Mayfield entered the picture.
Let’s backtrack a smidge. Earlier in the episode, there was a scene where Colby and Teeter were on the phone, catching up while Teeter was away in Texas helping with the herd. At the end of the call, Colby let it slip out that he loved her. Teeter being Teeter made a big deal of it and teased him for it, only to then say it back. At the time, that, too, felt like a random scene—until the camera panned back to the ranch at the end of the episode.
When Colby entered the barn, he heard Carter saying that he needed help. Colby, ever the wise cowboy, knew just what to do to get Carter out of the dangerous situation. Unfortunately, though, he put himself in harm’s way while assisting, getting kicked in the chest by the horse. Anyone who knows how hard a horse can kick immediately knew Colby’s fate.
Like Teeter, Ryan, Carter, and the rest of the ranch hands, Yellowstone fans were grief-stricken by Colby’s sudden and untimely death.
“Why though, makes no sense. The story didn't need this. There's enough going on, why ruin a good thing like Teeter and Colby,” one fan commented on Instagram. “But why? Why not Jamie,” someone else pleaded. “I wasn’t ready. I so was not ready. Way too emotionally invested in this whole series. Such talented actors, all of them,” another fan exclaimed.
As sad as fans were to see Colby axed from the show, horse lovers were straight-up disappointed with Taylor Sheridan’s storyline.
"Looked after an angry horse, if her water needed topping up the hose went over the door. Why take the bucket to the hose... ridiculous,” a fan commented on Taste of Country’s recap of the episode. "Not even the kid would go deep into a stall with a horse like that. Since when did we start placing water buckets to the back of a stall,” someone else remarked.
Meanwhile, Denim Richards, the actor who played Colby, is merely grateful for his Yellowstone experience. “Very humbled by the amazing outpouring of love from all of the amazing fans of Yellowstone,” he shared on his Instagram Stories following the episode. “You all are the reason we are #1. Getting to grow with this beloved character “Colby” has been such an honor, privilege, and testament to how amazing Taylor’s writing and world-building truly is. This was a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity. So thank you to Taylor for taking a chance on a relatively unknown actor back in 2017. Because of this, my life has changed… Colby may be gone… but Denim isn’t going anywhere! Much, much love and appreciation.”
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