Small screen, big skies
At last, audiences here can see Kevin Costner in Yellowstone, a cowboy saga of epic proportions. James Croot can’t wait to binge it.
Five years ago, Taylor Sheridan was everywhere. Having played Deputy Police Chief David Hale on the popular motorcycle gang drama Sons of Anarchy for three seasons, the talented Texan moved into screenwriting, crafting much-admired bigscreen tales Hell or High Water, Sicario and Wind River in quick succession. Then, less-thansuccessful Sicario sequel Day of the Soldado aside, he seemed to all but disappear. Only he hadn’t.
He was actually working on his magnum opus, a sprawling multi-season TV series focusing on the tension between economic transformation and tradition in America’s heartland. Over three seasons, Yellowstone has build up a loyal audience in its homeland, rising to record highs this past year. But only now are Kiwis being allowed to join in the tension, territorial battles and 10-gallon hats. All three seasons are on Neon now and SoHo will drip-feed the drama to its audiences on Wednesdays from tomorrow.
While older viewers may draw parallels to the Ewing family’s travails in Dallas, Sheridan’s chronicle of the vast Montana ranch-owning Duttons boasts far more depth, nuance and gravitas – and seems unlikely to resort to narrative trickery to get itself out of a hole.
Sheridan’s smart scripts aside, its other major ace is its cast. Aswell as Sherlock Holmes star Kelly Reilly, American Beauty’s Wes Bentley, Tigerland’s Cole Hauser and Wonder Woman’s Danny Huston, it features Kevin Costner in his first leading role in major television series.
As he’s shown from Dances With Wolves to Let Him Go, via Wyatt Earp, he ismost at home in thewide open spaces. And he’s given plenty to do in the series’ feature-length opener. When we first meet John Dutton, he’s bloodied, emerging from a collision with a truck and calmly assessing the situation, before talking to his injured steed. Tight framing keeps us close to the action, as he delivers the fatal verdict: ‘‘The best I can offer you is peace,’’ and pulls the
Only now are us Kiwis being allowed to join in the tension, territorial battles and ten-gallon hats.
trigger. It’s just the start of a very bad day for him.
As son Jamie (Bentley) battles in court to keep developers from taking their land, the new CEO of the nearby Indian reservation seizes some of the Duttons’ cattle after they wander across a boundary that appears to have been deliberately compromised. Visiting his youngest son Kayce (Luke Grimes), the widower admits he’s having a rough week, ‘‘one that only a grandson could fix’’. But the former Navy Seal, or his First Nations wife, aren’t about to let their boy ‘‘get to know’’ the Duttons’ Machiavellian patriarch.
Animated titles set out the show’s thematics of town versus country, progress versus pristine wilderness, and we quickly learn that deception, double-crossing and an overriding desire for power and money are rife.
Frequent drone shots remind us we’re in Big Sky Country, and while some of the dialogue is decidedly ripe, with Costner at his compelling best, it’s hard not to get swept up into this bingeworthy cowboy saga.
Yellowstone is on Neon now. SoHo will show episodes on Wednesdays from tomorrow.