Though not technically a movie, we shall take a deep dive into Yellowstone on Paramount streaming. As a cranky conservative, these days I loathe the idea of paying cash money to any of the major media companies. Whether it’s the flat-out conservative-hating HBO or NBC’s Peacock or CBS with their packed-to-the-gills-with-woke-bs Paramount’s Picard, I feel every dollar spent on them is a dollar for the rope they’d like to hang me with.
That said, many of my friends were raving about Paramount’s Yellowstone–a Kevin Costner Dances with Wolves meets Succession epic series.
As is typical for non-network series, Yellowstone has the latitude for colorful language, boobies and, most importantly, creativity.
So in order to be considered for MAMR (Middle Age Movie Reviews), I have to be able to watch it 1) from home 2) in my old man chair 3) free or for one of the two services we pay for, Amazon Prime or Netflix. We broke the rule for Yellowstone because we had to purchase the first season through Amazon for a righteous $12.95. But it has been worth it.
Yellowstone starts out as an updated version of Dallas. A wealthy family NOT from New York City engages in prime-time soap opera antics. There is sex, power, scandal and endless maneuvering in a rural setting. But that’s where it ends. In the new millennia, we must have more depth. And boy, does it deliver.
The always excellent Kevin Costner is the patriarch of the Dutton family, John. Think Larry Hagman’s J. R. He is a true Montana hardscrabble cowboy. He has deep connections to the land and speaking of, owns the largest amount of it in Montana. His ranch is highly coveted property. The expanding borders of Billings is infringing on one side and an ambitious Native American is seeking to dominate on the other. This sets the stage for the engaging struggles of an empire in decline fighting to maintain its once absolute control.
Now bear in mind, I’m only three episodes in. So some of you who are already on season four know things I don’t. So I write from the view of a new fan.
Maybe all modern soaps have the same general setup: a powerful father and his dysfunctional family. This is no different in that regard. Daddy screwed everybody up. With his exacting standards that no kid could live up to, he creates a family of damaged goods who are constantly seeking his approval. His often nekkid alcoholic daughter, Beth, and his wimpy lawyer son, Jamie, do his bidding willingly while his rebel son, Kayce, lives on the Reservation with his wife and son, having an uneasy relationship with dad.
Speaking of the Reservation, the ridiculously good looking Gil Birmingham plays Thomas Rainwater, the Yale educated, radical Native American leader of the Broken Rock Indian Reservation. Rainwater is (one of) John Dutton’s arch rivals whose goal is to reclaim all of the land the Dutton’s own for the tribe.
Just three episodes in and we see how quickly Yellowstone diverges from Dallas and even Succession. We catch glimpses of how dark and, frankly, evil the Dutton family seems to be. The family has what amounts to its own hit man in the character of Rip and a team of ne’er-do-wells who are literally cattle-branded with the family symbol.
From here on, I hope the series can thread the needle between credible and outrageous. Already, there’s two spinoffs coming: 1883 a prequel and 6666 about a related ranch in Texas.
I think if they introduce aliens that might be too far but until then, I’m hooked.
