willwatch

The two adult children of the main character are so bland, boring and whiny they absolutely pulled me out of the show. Every scene they're in. Every time.

I don't understand why the author of the book and the showrunner, for the miniseries , chose to give these atrociously dull characters so much screen time. The compelling story belongs entirely to the narrator, Eleanor, who has led an incredible life full of hardship and joy across several countries.

The whole concept of the audio tapes willed to Eleanor's children is a wonky framing device to...contemporize the story? Or to give the story cross-generational appeal to boost book sales or bring in more viewers?

I fast forwaded through as many scenes with the siblings as I could, then just gave up. Here's what I gleaned from as much as I saw: Those kids did NOT deserve that amazing mother.

Why, oh why, do the professional critics keep calling this series a "thriller"? It's a (labored and predictable) family drama. And I'm getting notes of pretentiousness throughout.

There's also much talk within the show about oenology. I'm well into the second episode and haven't learned anything about any wines so far.

It's gorgeous to look at and the acting is fine. Almost two hours, though, and there is nothing surprising, new or compelling that's happened. The daughter had a falling out with her father; the mother doesn't want the daughter wasting her time in her father's business...very basic, quite bland and completely forgettable.

Nothing worth imbibing here. This wine is corked.

So having heard and read so much good buzz around this show, I probably went in with too-high expectations. Even so, the first three episodes were a huge disappointment.

I was told "Yellowstone' was something like a Western-ish version of "Succession." Sure, there's a powerful head of the family, and interesting siblings to follow.

Problem was the tone and storylines are so incredibly low-key, I just never felt the high-stakes drama like "Succession." For me, (I'm an Old, so pardon the vintage reference) the show hit a lot like watered-down "Dallas."

I hate agreeing with mainstream publication reviews. But one nailed it. They compared watching "Yellowstone" to sitting in on a land zoning commission hearing.