Is Yellowstone Worth the Hype?

The show Yellowstone first premiered on June 20th, 2018, on Paramount Network. According to Variety.com the director Taylor Sheridan “ Struck TV gold by reinventing the Western.” Sheridan was known for his role in “Sons of Anarchy”, the hit television show from FX. Yellowstone starts off with a bang when the lead Kevin Costner as John Dutton gets into an accident that was fatal for the horses in his trailer. There was no context before this scene. This was confusing but ultimately set the tone for how intense the show turned out to be. 

The show follows a family with the last name of Dutton, who own a ranch property on the outskirts of Yellowstone National park as well as alongside Indian Reservation land in Montana. Throughout the show the main character, and father of the Dutton children, John Dutton has feuds with various rich people trying to urbanize the beautiful, untouched Montana land. The Dutton family faces many challenges including losing family members in a gunfight all while trying to keep the ranch a thriving business. The cattle business is not all that it cracks up to be and is not always fulfilling but John Dutton keeps the ranch to one day leave to his children. 

The Yellowstone Ranch is the largest ranch in Montana. Keeping a ranch running smoothly is not an easy task, but the members of the Yellowstone ranch have it even harder with people constantly sabotaging their land or cattle.  John Dutton and his enemies are known to play dirty and to show no mercy to their prey. 

The show itself is intense and unpredictable. As soon as you think you have something figured out it goes in a completely different direction. If you are looking for a show packed with action and betrayal this is the show for you. The show is not the classic fight between cowboys and indians but more so a fight between cowboys and everyone. Dan Buffa from KSDK News says “It has everything you want in a drama series. Good acting, steady pace, competent action, just enough romance, and an edge.” The reviews from other sources vary. Some believe the show is too political. A quote from Brian Lowry of CNN states “Yellowstone gets bogged down in minutia and politics, and generally winds up being about as exciting as watching a zoning-commission meeting.”