Television Anybody watching Yellowstone?

[Guest]

Started this one up about 3 weeks ago and am now in the middle of season 4 (the most recent season which just finished), and it’s quite good.

 

Taylor Sheridan is the head writer and creative force, so if you’ve enjoyed other stuff he has worked on like Hell or High Water, Wind River, or Sicario, you’ll probably like this.

 

The short version of the story is that it follows a Cowboy ranching family that is basically the Montana Mafia. So a little bit Sopranos, a little bit The Searchers. It gets a little silly at times but the highs are definitely worth the lows.

 

 

[DarkStar189]

My parents are obsessed with the show and have been bugging me to watch it for weeks now. I might get there sometime. 

[TheLeon]

I’ve been meaning to, just haven’t got around to it yet. I’ve been following it and the ever expanding Sheridan-verse from a distance, mostly via The Watch podcast. 

[Greatoneshere]

I've been interested in it, I've heard it's a bit soap opera-y and over the top, but it's Taylor Sheridan, so I'm interested. It now already has one spin off show with two more in the works though so it's a lot to commit to.

 

Though I'm not sure if Sheridan as good as he used to be. Solely writing Sicario and Hell or High Water are two stone cold classics, and solely writing and directing Wind River is also way up there. I even thought Sicario 2 was actually pretty good, and he solely wrote that.

 

But he co-wrote Without Remorse and co-wrote and directed Those Who Wish Me Dead and both of those movies were pretty mediocre. He was also responsible for Mayor of Kingstown (wrote every episode, directed two of them) and I heard that was really good though so I dunno. Like, among his works, where does Yellowstone fall?

[johnny]

i’ll keep it real with you, a lot of the people i know who watch and love this show are conservatives so i’m instantly turned off. i know that’s irrational but that’s how it is. 

[Guest]

@GreatoneshereThe show is for sure soapy at times, especially the stuff with some of the side characters and plot lines of the ranch hands. The family drama is mostly really well done, but I would guess most people will find the relationship between of the married children to be a bit much at times.

 

But the overall plot, character stuff, and performances are very good. Maybe not the near perfection (IMO) of Sicario and Hell or High-water, but really strong overall. And the best bits in Yellowstone are in his top tier, like the season 3 finale and season 4 premiere. I’m looking forward to finishing season 4 and starting on 1883.

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, johnny said:

i’ll keep it real with you, a lot of the people i know who watch and love this show are conservatives so i’m instantly turned off. i know that’s irrational but that’s how it is. 

Bruh, I for sure felt the same. All the people who were really into it were the sort of people who have terrible takes about  basically everything. I think they completely misread the Dutton family. Like, they are straight up the Mafia, but most people see them as good people doing what they have to do in the face of tyranny. 
 

These are the goobers who cheer on Arthur in Joker 😂

[Jwheel86]

Sheridan definitely has limited bandwidth because Yellowstone season 4 was terrible but 1883 was amazing. Finished it in 2 days. 

[Guest]

18 hours ago, Jwheel86 said:

Sheridan definitely has limited bandwidth because Yellowstone season 4 was terrible but 1883 was amazing. Finished it in 2 days. 

I think Sheridan is way more interested in Cowboy stuff than the audience, and that really showed with all the Jimmy at 6666 stuff in particular.

 

And, like, anything with horse dancing 😂

 

Gonna fire up 1883 tonight 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

My family loves it, which kinda makes me question it, but I did see some of it over the holidays when I visited them and it looked interesting. I added it to my watch list, though it may be a while, since I'm pretty backlogged on shows.

[Kamusha]

I literally had no idea this show existed until the other week when Sam Elliott was the guest on the WTF podcast. I feel like I'm somewhat well-versed in what's popular in culture but then I find out about a show like this which is one of the most watched shows in America and just finished with it's 4th season and makes me question just how aware I actually am. 

[Guest]

Halfway through 1883 and really enjoying it. Tim McGraw is shockingly good in this, especially given he’s often sharing scenes with Sam Elliot who was born yo play this sort of character. Isabelle May is quite good. Faith shill is solid when working with Tim, but falls a little flat for me when working with others.

 

I really do hope Sheridan can move all his real Cowboy boring stuff over to his 6666 show and let Yellowstone be more of its season 1-3 self with season 5. 1883 has plenty of scenes of cowboys working, but not the fluffy stuff.

[Jwheel86]

1923 (sequel to 1883) is absolutely fantastic. Such a cool time period to play in. 

 

 

[Guest]

I’ve mentioned before that I have quite the crush on Helen Miren, and she is phenomenal in 1923. Ford is great as well. I think both 1893 and 1923 (thus far) have been better than the last season and a half of Yellowstone.

 

I’m glad they are giving 1923 two full seasons. I would assume Spencer and Alex will arrive very late in this season, and Spencer will rain down hell on those sheep herders next season. 

[TwinIon]

The wife and I started Yellowstone and we're pretty lukewarm about it. Season 1 seems to be so hungry for over the top moments that it ends up giving pretty short shrift to much of the genuine and more interesting drama that they establish. It gets sidetracked from building up real emotion by the need to randomly kill someone, it's almost bizarre. Part way through season 2 and the only character I think I'm genuinely interested in is the meth head turned cowboy.

 

Maybe it gets better, but so far this is definitely more "Those Who Wish Me Dead" and "Without Remorse" Sheridan than it is "Sicaro" or "Hell or High Water" Sheridan.

 

Again, I'm only part way into season 2 so far, but I think there's a big part of the show that is rather sympathetic to John Dutton and his quest to keep his land a pure place for cowboys or whatever. I think the show wants you to take his side in things much more than The Sopranos or Breaking Bad actually want you to side with their protagonists. To its credit, the show doesn't really shy away from portraying the Duttons as straight up gangsters, but it also seems hesitant to label them as straight up anti-heroes.

 

I think it's partly about how it romanticizes cowboys and how it portrays their rivals as threats to that ideal. I get the impression the show is saying "yeah, they kill people on the regular, but it's all for the righteous cause of protecting this beautiful landscape from those liberal Californians and those Indians with their nasty Casinos." Maybe that's an unsympathetic read of the show and whatever nuance is present, but I think it's easy to see where the terrible takes might come from.

 

Anyways, I assume that 1893 and 1923, being prequels, don't require being caught up at all with Yellowstone? Would anyone recommend watching those first?

[Greatoneshere]

Anyone here who has seen Yellowstone/1883/1923 seen Mayor of Kingstown? I'd count Tulsa King but that's clearly much more of a Terence Winter show. Just to see where Kingstown compares.

[skillzdadirecta]

Yeah I had the same reservations as @johnny but the talent involved makes me want to check it out. I like Sheridan and Kevin Costner so I'll eventually check it out and it's spinoffs. My granpa was a huge western fan and I'm sure he would have loved it too.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, TwinIon said:

Anyways, I assume that 1893 and 1923, being prequels, don't require being caught up at all with Yellowstone? Would anyone recommend watching those first?

You can definitely watch them without Yellowstone

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I was looking for a new show to watch after finishing Vikings and I almost went with Yellowstone, but decided on Sons of Anarchy instead. So far I'm absolutely loving SOA, so I don't regret my choice, but I think Yellowstone with be up next. I might do 1893 or 1923 in the meantime.

[Jwheel86]

1883 and 1923 are vastly superior to Yellowstone. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

My mom and sister like Yellowstone and the two episodes I saw with them over Christmas were reasonably entertaining, but it's definitely not a show that I feel any compunction to start watching at all.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Jwheel86 said:

1883 and 1923 are vastly superior to Yellowstone. 

They are really a different genre of show from Yellowstone, and one that suits Sheridan’s writing style better IMO.