On top of the on-screen drama in the Yellowstone universe, the show’s final season has been fraught with contract disputes with its star Kevin Costner, and his eventual departure from the final episodes of the show.

Now, as the long-awaited second half of Yellowstone‘s fifth and final season comes to a close, actor Luke Grimes says Costner’s exit resolved some of the behind-the-scenes friction on set.

“To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone,” Grimes admits in a new interview with Esquire.

“Obviously, [the conflict] didn’t make it super fun to be around,” he added. “Not pointing any fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we’ve filmed.”

Read More: Kevin Costner is Not Thrilled About What Happened to John Dutton on Yellowstone

• Costner’s standoff with Yellowstone producers made headlines over much of 2023.
• Puck News originally broke the news that Costner was in a contract dispute with the show over the schedule for filming the second half of Season 5.
• Ultimately, his departure led to Paramount deciding to end the show early, scrapping a planned sixth season.

The show’s finale is set to air on Sunday night (Dec. 15), though rumors of more Yellowstone to come in the future have been swirling.

Last week, Deadline reported a new spinoff in the works, with sources telling the publication that Cole Hauser (Rip Wheeler) and Kelly Reilly (Beth Dutton) have both signed on to a new series that continues the story of their characters. Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan is once again expected to lead the creative team for the as-yet-unnamed new show.

Read More: Sources Say Yellowstone‘s Season 5 Won’t Be the End of the Dutton Saga

Costner’s character, John Dutton, was killed off during Season 5. Costner has said he wasn’t thrilled about how Dutton met his end, especially since the show presented his death as a suicide — or potentially a planned hit made to look like one. Costner said that’s not a believable end for Dutton, who he thinks isn’t “a suicide kind of guy.”

But speaking to Esquire, Grimes says that Dutton’s death on the show, and Costner’s exit, was inevitable. “Hopefully everyone can see that it was time,” he notes.