By Sam Smith

Kevin Costner as John Dutton.

At exactly 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on November 13, approximately 12.1 million people sat down to watch the Season 5 premiere of the Paramount Network’s popular television drama show, Yellowstone. The last season’s premiere of the show drew only 8 million fans, showing that this season’s premiere had a 27% increase in fan viewership on opening night.

The show stars Kevin Costner as John Dutton, the owner of the six-generation family-owned Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, the largest contiguous ranch in the United States, which sits on somewhere between 775,000 to 825,000 fictional acres of land in Montana. Before Season 4, 75% of the show was filmed in Utah. However, seasons 4 and 5 were filmed almost exclusively in Big Sky country.

Whether watching the first three seasons in Utah or the last two in Montana, the first thing that jumps out about the show is the scenery. Fields of green and gold with roaming bison, elk, and cows. Mountain ranges blanketed with aspen and pine trees. Rivers, both roaring and mellow, cut through the land. Clear, baby blue skies so vast they appear to be endless. SB Neese (‘23), a fan of the show, simply states, “I love where the Yellowstone Ranch is set.”

The Yellowstone Ranch.

The visual appeal isn’t limited to just the landscape. The show captures the Western lifestyle and glorifies the ideal of the Wild West, with a 21st-century spin. Ranches that can better be described as mansions are shown as distinctly mountain-lodge style, in the most luxurious way. Dark oak wood and huge stone fireplaces make up nearly every main character’s living conditions. As for the characters themselves, businessmen in clean-pressed tailored suits mix with western belt buckle jeans and Wrangler pearl snap-back shirts. Whether a cattleman, a brick, a gus, or a pinched front, everyone has a cowboy hat.

The show’s plot primarily focuses on the Dutton family and their struggle to keep and protect their land from various business owners and developers. However, the show dramatizes politics and corruption in Montana and includes rather gory violence, as both the Duttons and their enemies participate in illegal activities to both intimidate and eliminate each other. It takes some stomach to watch some of the intense scenes, and sometimes I find myself visibly cringing or looking away as another crime is committed.

Although the show primarily focuses on this struggle for land, the show also features plenty of side plots and characters. A newly introduced Yellowstone fan, my mother Emily Smith, explained that she enjoys “the diversity of characters and stories. There’s lots of fun and interesting narratives to follow.” 

Four of the cowboys at Yellowstone.

Some of the fan-favorite storylines include the rodeoing antics of the awkward and loveable Jimmy (played by Jefferson White), the unfolding love story taking place between Rip and Beth Dutton (played by Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser), or the main or the main story of the Duttons struggle to protect and keep their land.

Neese shares that her favorite part of the show “is when Jimmy is being himself and having himself a grand ole time rodeoing.” Jimmy is one of the more important side characters of the show, a not-so-cowboy cowboy living on the ranch. Jimmy is different from the other cowboys and seems to constantly be playing catch up in terms of his knowledge and skills. Jimmy provides an innocent tone to his part of the show, in contrast to the more violent moments.

Beth Kimball, another Collegiate parent, tells me that “My favorite character is probably Rip. I like how he is no-nonsense, takes care of business, and weaves in well with all of the characters. Seems like everyone needs Rip!” Indeed, Rip is the tough guy of the ranch, and his relationship with the fiery and some might say over-the-top Beth Dutton adds to his down-to-earth character and hard-core personality. Rip works as the manager for the cowboys living on the ranch, and he is the clear rule enforcer. His most recognizable line on the show is, “If you wanna’ fight someone, you fight me. I’ll fight you all f****** day,” and he backs this statement up over and over again. Rip is undoubtedly a fan favorite.

Actor Moses Brings Plenty, who plays a Native American named Mo.

As for some of the real-world implications and messages of the show, opinions can vary from subject to subject. The show spends a large amount of time and effort showing the constant struggle for land and power, which involves land owners, corporations, legal counsels, Native American tribes, and state governments. Kimball, who notably works as a realtor here in Richmond, says, “The show actually does a great job of depicting modern land use and environmental issues. Each episode usually has some sort of educational piece which provokes some thought in the right and wrong of large commercial land deals and the impact that these projects have on the land, community, environment, state, big corporations, etc.” 

The show also tries to deal with the relationships and communities of Native Americans living on reservations within states. Upper School English teacher Vlastik Svab states that, “I appreciate that Native American storylines in the show are told with a complexity that has sometimes been lacking in Hollywood entertainment.” 

Although the show handles these concepts and ideological battles well, it does contain some faults. Firstly, to address the land dispute issues, the show tends to lean in favor of land owners. Kimball points this out, saying the show is rather “biased towards preserving the land, which I think is an intentional agenda of the show.” Svab’s criticism of the show is rather that he finds it rather unrealistic and exaggerated. “I find it melodramatic at times. And I wonder how the ranch actually would make any money if it were a real place. I also think it caters to fans who long for an idealized version of the West, and perhaps even of America, where your land and your family and your honor are worth fighting, or even killing, for.”

Despite flaws, the show is still very entertaining, even to those with skepticism. Svab still states that he “enjoy[s] the show,” and Kimball explains that “I have watched every episode of Yellowstone and look forward to watching the new ones. I actually don’t know anyone that doesn’t like the show.” The numbers back up this notion, as the show gets an 8.7/10 on IMDB and an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, and claims the title of the most-watched show in 2022 across all TV platforms.

Personally, I am working my way through season 4 and find myself engrossed in the show more often than not. I will most certainly be looking forward to the new season as it continues to come out and may even check out the pre-sequels to the show. The prequel series 1923 is about a previous generation of the Duttons, and 1883 is about the first Duttons to arrive in Montana in the 19th century. Although not a typical TV show fan, I would recommend Yellowstone to anyone and everyone who has access.

All photos courtesy @Yellowstone via Instagram.