I feel silly writing a review of Yellowstone. If you haven't watched this series yet, why not? Do you not like great television? Are you turned off by TV shows that are too deep and too beautiful? I don't know what to say to convince you except that Yellowstone is among the greatest television shows ever made. Yes, I would and I do compare it to Game of Thrones, The Sopranos or Deadwood. I spent most of my long life hating Kevin Costner but, as John Dutton, the patriarch of a Montana ranching family that is holding on to what it has by its fingernails, he is excellent. Everybody wants take away what they have. There's a nearby Reservation that wants the land returned to them. Companies that want to turn the land into resorts. And none of the children are certain they want to be part of Dutton's legacy. Writer and co-creator Taylor Caldwell doesn't pull any punches. Ranchers are hard men. And Dutton is the hardest of them all. Costner, as much as I used to hate him, is a superb grizzled ranch owner. We see the hardness. We understand his will to hang on to the land even as others try to take it from him. He loves his children. He just doesn't do it very well. He's too hard and set in his ways for that. The rest of cast is superb. There's not a false step anywhere. They're all, the children, the ranch hands, and his enemies fully fledged human beings, three dimensional, well written and excellently acted. Add the the breathtaking scenery the haunting use of the very best of country music (even if you're not a country music fan, these songs will haunt you...) add just the right amount of humour and you get a series that can and should be watched more than once. It isn't good. It's great. We're at the climax of the golden age of television. And among all the great offerings out there Yellowstone will still stand out as a rare and magnificent gem. It shouldn't be reviewed. It should be applauded. And now you can also watch the superb prequel 1883. Watch them both. And then watch them again. And again. Or don't. Maybe you hate great television. If that's you, then there's more than enough reality TV or formula glibness out there for you. It may be the golden age of television. But the bottom part of the pile is still more than full of... Well, maybe, what some people like...
Review of Yellowstone
