If you're so inclined, you can read my review of each season of "Yellowstone" logged against the final episode of the season - but now that it's all over I thought I'd put something here to sum up my overall feelings.
John Dutton (Kevin Coster) is the current custodian of the Yellowstone Ranch in Montana, that has been in his family for around 150 years. Despite their disfunction, stemming from the death of matriarch Evelyn (Gretchen Mol), the Dutton family dominate the local area. His eldest son Lee (Dave Annable) is being groomed to take over the ranch, Jamie (Wes Bentley) is the family lawyer and is being prepped for politics, Beth (Kelly Reilly) is a financier and willing to do anything to protect her father. Only youngest son Kayce (Luke Grimes) has rejected the life, living with his wife nearby having returned from the Navy. John fights, with all the tools at his disposal, to keep his land as his enemies conspire against him.
What I liked was that, despite the rhetoric that the show is for a conservative audience, it's not "old time values" propaganda. Being a cowboy, frankly, looks awful. With death and injury, a near constant risk and the crushing, all-consuming boredom of it is very real. There are no real heroes and villains in the show either, Dan played by Danny Houston and Thomas Rainwater, played by Gil Birmingham, conspire against John, but their white-collar plotting doesn't match the actual murders committed by people at the Yellowstone. John in particularly attempts to motivate his children by providing or withholding affection, he conspires with, and against them and he manipulates local authorities to his benefit.
It is a melodramatic soap opera, at heart - though particularly well written by Taylor Sheridan. Each episode seems to see some member of the cast dying, or being seriously injured, or placed in mortal peril. It's "Dallas" with better production values. It's an enjoyable time though and one that looks set to continue through its multiple spin-offs.
John Dutton (Kevin Coster) is the current custodian of the Yellowstone Ranch in Montana, that has been in his family for around 150 years. Despite their disfunction, stemming from the death of matriarch Evelyn (Gretchen Mol), the Dutton family dominate the local area. His eldest son Lee (Dave Annable) is being groomed to take over the ranch, Jamie (Wes Bentley) is the family lawyer and is being prepped for politics, Beth (Kelly Reilly) is a financier and willing to do anything to protect her father. Only youngest son Kayce (Luke Grimes) has rejected the life, living with his wife nearby having returned from the Navy. John fights, with all the tools at his disposal, to keep his land as his enemies conspire against him.
What I liked was that, despite the rhetoric that the show is for a conservative audience, it's not "old time values" propaganda. Being a cowboy, frankly, looks awful. With death and injury, a near constant risk and the crushing, all-consuming boredom of it is very real. There are no real heroes and villains in the show either, Dan played by Danny Houston and Thomas Rainwater, played by Gil Birmingham, conspire against John, but their white-collar plotting doesn't match the actual murders committed by people at the Yellowstone. John in particularly attempts to motivate his children by providing or withholding affection, he conspires with, and against them and he manipulates local authorities to his benefit.
It is a melodramatic soap opera, at heart - though particularly well written by Taylor Sheridan. Each episode seems to see some member of the cast dying, or being seriously injured, or placed in mortal peril. It's "Dallas" with better production values. It's an enjoyable time though and one that looks set to continue through its multiple spin-offs.