‘Yellowstone,’ Utah-style
Meanwhile, throughout the Mountain West, real-life Dutton ranches are being gobbled up by the mile. … Some of these new arrivals are bringing with them Democratic-leaning politics, which I welcome. Other Utahns clearly do not.
I’m a fifth-generation Utahn who started shooting a .22 just after kindergarten, growing up in a home with many hunting rifles — for pheasants, deer, elk, and the occasional unlucky jackrabbit. Guns have long been part of my life, even as I strongly advocate serious gun safety legislation. Guns & Ammo magazine ranked Utah as the fourth-best state for gun owners; Utah tied for first place “on points.” Massachusetts ranked 47 th.
My gun-toting family has also been defined by calluses and sweat, day jobs rooted in Union Pacific Railroad work and alfalfa farming. Across earlier decades throughout the Mountain West, change came slowly, just like the news once did with papers landing on front porches.
Fast-growing Utah today is different. Booming Salt Lake City, the state capital, where I live, is near a high-tech hub called “Silicon Slopes.” We have easy access to Olympic-quality ski resorts but also apartment rents in high-rises that are triple traditional monthly home mortgage payments. COVID-19 refugees from big cities have stuck around our mountains and red rock deserts for the stunning recreation and refuge they provide.
Who can blame them? Well, some Utahns do.
It is in this context — this tension — that Paramount Network’s top-rated television series, “Yellowstone,” has found millions of fans. Last November, almost 16 million viewers watched the latest season’s premiere.
The central premise of “Yellowstone” is one family’s battle to hold onto Montana’s largest private ranch against nefarious out-of-state corporate interests. They fight all who stand in their way. Kevin Costner stars as John Dutton III, who is obsessed with his vast land holdings, driving the loyalty of all of his children save one, an adoptee and scheming Montana politician who seeks murderous revenge after being shunted aside.
Well-cast principal characters anchor “Yellowstone”: Costner’s of course — the Dutton family’s patriarch, but also his cigarette-smoking, liquor-drinking daughter, Beth, who drives a Bentley, as well as an Afghanistan War veteran son, Kayce. Top ranch hand, Rip, is a good man who does bad things, delivering extrajudicial judgments at the edge of a cliff.
This violence-prone Montana world is controversial, especially perhaps among more progressive-minded people. “Yellowstone,” after all, flaunts a kind of anti-political correctness and exalts a return to old West-style righteous vigilantism that favors gunfire and an occasional hanging. This can be tough viewing but is an honest message.
Two scenes from “Yellowstone” stand out in this regard. The first is when Kayce’s young son is kidnapped by white supremacist gang members. The traumatized kid, who has had his head forcibly shaved, is rescued but only after those who masterminded the kidnapping are killed. There are no 911 calls or follow-on courtroom deliberations. Justice is delivered as quickly as it is deadly.
The other example is when Beth takes her “adopted” son into a Western wear store to buy proper jeans and boots. Testing her, he picks a touristy version of a Western shirt. She orders him to take it off, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck. Another nosy shopper — clearly a universal “Karen” — declares Beth to be a bad parent, recording the exchange on her iPhone. Beth being Beth grabs the phone and smashes it under her feet, declaring, “That is destruction of personal property. Assault is next. You ready to see that?” The Karen’s response: “I don’t want any trouble.” Beth’s rejoinder is as memorable as it is good script writing: “Lady, you crave trouble. You just don’t want resistance.”
Across large chunks of America, it is all cheers when we experience the latest update to Don’t mess with Beth.
The show also has something for progressives. One of the most compelling characters is the leader of the local indigenous tribe, who, while willing to ally with John Dutton at times, is also hell-bent on reclaiming the Yellowstone Ranch for his nation. One of his tribal members is married to a Dutton and she is not shy about using her own landed pedigree to call out how the West was really won: by occupation and forced relocation.
Meanwhile, throughout the Mountain West, real-life Dutton ranches are being gobbled up by the mile. Communities are losing priced-out teachers, mechanics, sheriff ’s deputies, and nurses to millionaire move-ins and telecommuting Zoomers.
Some of these new arrivals are bringing with them Democratic-leaning politics, which I welcome. Other Utahns clearly do not. Utah’s Republican Governor Spencer Cox, himself an owner of rural farm acreage, recently disinvited Golden State transplants in particular.
“Stay in California” he said, noting Utah’s housing and water crises.
The show’s stark and often dark take on the American West is a much-needed mirror, a cracked one at that, for our divided and violent country. How oldtimers and newcomers alike bridge differences — in wealth, in politics, in outlooks — will determine our shared success in the most existential battles we face in Utah and beyond, such as massive forest fires and megadrought.
This remains an important story out west worth telling.