Yellowstone

(Review is only for the first two seasons)

I came into this show not expecting to like it but the storyline, acting, and cinematography is superb. Basically it's Mafia Wars in Montana with intermittent giant doses of testosterone (cowboys with guns on horses while fishing)! Costner is a master actor as lead of the Duttons. The show is at its finest when it shows the chessboard moves the Duttons and their enemies engage in.

The show gets gummed early in the second season but starts rolling again midway through. Kelsey Asbille is the weakest link as Monica and plays a poor hand badly, the storyline jettisons awkwardly out and the acting just misses the mark.

I think Cole Hauser as Rip may be the strongest acting (sans Costner himself) and looked forward to all the scenes Rip was in. Thomas Rainwater is great too. The storyline hums and the scenery is beautiful.

Just as Cormac McCarthy's "All The Pretty Horses" was a little more raw and brutal than the title suggests, this show strikes in a similar vein. Highly recommend and wish I didn't wait so long to watch it.

This series has been on since 2018 but now is the first time I have watched any of it. Last night I completed the first episode of the first season, it runs right near 90 minutes. As to introduce the Dutton family we see they have powerful influence in their valley but are fending off "attacks." One from developers who want to put up condos. Another from the neighboring Native reservation looking to get some of their land back plus some livestock. To help deal with all that and the sprawling size of his ranch Dutton (played authentically by 60-something Kevin Costner) has several grown Cowboy sons and a helicopter with a dedicated pilot.

The reason I watched episode one of season one (on Peacock streaming) was to get the feel for the Dutton family because I am currently watching the ten episodes of the more recent Taylor Sheridan program "1883" which is the prequel of sorts. It was (fictionally) in 1883 that the Dutton family from Tennessee joined a larger group to wagon train from Fort Worth Texas to "somewhere in the West". They must have stopped when they reached Montana.

Again it is all fiction but if we look at the ages of the men, and the fact that Costner was born in 1955, his character would probably be the great, great grandson of the Dutton patriarch (played by Tim McGraw) in "1883". E.g. With sons born about 1875, 1900, 1925, and the 1950s.

"Yellowstone" is a really fine series, the actors are all first-rate, the cinematography and sound are excellent. It just ins't the kind of program I could get invested in and continue to watch. It is hard to find characters with redeeming qualities and I really don't long-term enjoy programs which constantly focus on arguments and fights, and often killing. Now in my 70s I prefer to spend time watching "pleasant" stories.

NB - "1883" is a really fine and interesting series, how it authentically depicts the great hardship of pulling up roots and traveling through unknown territories to try to find a new life in a new place.

Yellowstone is a solidly written drama - great characters, well-crafted - that draws it's tone from a few different modern-day masterpieces.

It has the feel and cinematography of Longmire, the plotting and grim outlook of The Sopranos, and the dramatic dynamics of shows like 'Dynasty' or any of the other network dramas similar to that.

Much respect must go to Costner and Cole Hauser - these guys bring it 100%.

I did not expect to get drawn in to this show like I did. It's well worth your time.

Yellowstone was one of the best shows on tv from when it originally came on in 2018 right up to the ending in 2024. It was the #1 show on cable for all 5 seasons it was on (really it was 6 seasons because they broke season 5 into 2 parts). It's hard to explain just how good this show really is. The acting, writing, directing, cinematography, production, etc, are all incredible. It's exactly what you expect from a Taylor Sheridan show since just about everything he does is terrific. The acting was as good as anything on tv. Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, Hassie Harrison, Kelsey Asbille, Wes Bentley and the rest of the cast all deserve recognition for the incredible job they do season after season, episode after episode. It's one of the rare shows where almost every season is just as good as the others. I can't recommend this show enough, just go watch it for yourself.

Let me say one thing: if you had come to me a decade ago and said that Kevin Costner's flagging career would be revived thanks to his role in a modern day western, I would probably have laughed and called you crazy.

Yet it happened. Costner's John Dutton will surely go down in the annals of TV history as one of the best characters ever.

Costner played Dutton perfectly: a doting father, a ruthless ranch owner and a man who is no stranger to violence. Unforgettable.

With "Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan has done something quite difficult: he made us care immensely about a bunch of characters of dubious moral standing.

For example, Kelly Reilly's Beth Dutton was, for the most part, a horrible person, yet you cared about what happened for her, cheered on her successes and commiserated her failures, even when said successes might have been on the wrong side of what's right.

That's because Reilly is a brilliant actress, and because she was given top-notch material to work with.

Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Asbille, Wes Bentley...all brilliant.

Sheridan is a genius.

What a show. We won't see it's like again, that's for sure.