“Yellowstone” follows the Dutton family, led by John Dutton, who controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States, under constant attack by those it borders – land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first National Park.
“Yellowstone” has turned into a juggernaut for the Paramount Network, becoming the most-watched scripted cable TV show and its viewership continues to grow. The season 3 finale brought in over 5.2 million total viewers, an 84% increase on season two’s finale. Kevin Costner leads the show, with an impressive cast including Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham, and an assortment of wonderful supporting actors who fill out the rest of the series.
The first two seasons told their respective stories and by the end of each season, everything was wrapped up, nice and neatly. With Season 3 however, the finale is a cliffhanger, similar to the “Who shot J.R.?” season 3 finale of the long-running hit 1970s TV show, “Dallas.” While many shows end in cliffhangers, our investment in Costner’s character and that of his family means that the anticipation until next summer, to find out who lives and who might possibly die, is going to be a long, excruciating wait but I also know the payoff, and retaliation by the Dutton family, will most certainly be worth it.
As season 3 begins, John Dutton (Costner) decides to retire as the Livestock Commissioner because of the aftermath of the shootout at the end of season 2 and names his son Jamie (Wes Bentley) as his successor. Kayce (Luke Grimes) builds a new camp, away from the comforts of home so he and the ranch hands can keep an eye on their herds of cattle and as a result, his wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and their young son Tate (Brecken Merrill) accompany him and this allows them to spend quality family time together. Beth (Kelly Reilly) discovers a new threat to her and her family in Roarke Morris (Josh Holloway), a man who represents Market Equities, a company that’s planning to build a new ski resort and airport in the valley which will encroach on the Yellowstone ranch. Because it is expected to make billions of dollars for the state of Montana, John vows to fight them but is told by his son Jamie that they will offer him $500 million for his ranch and all the land but that if he chooses to fight them, the state can invoke eminent domain and take the ranch away from him and pay him pennies on the dollar for everything he owns.
With his options quickly dissipating, John’s longtime rival and nemesis, Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), the chief of the nearby Native American reservation, approaches him with a plan to stop their new enemy from building the ski resort and airport, which would infringe on both their properties. They both agree to an armistice, at least until their new adversary is out of the picture, and Rainwater enlists the help of Angela Blue Thunder (Q’orianka Kilcher), a hard-boiled, merciless attorney who has no problem playing dirty. Along with Beth, they formulate a plan that might just stop Market Equities from achieving their long-term plan in the valley but just when everything seems to be in John’s corner, he and his family are targeted for assassination. Kayce, who has taken over Jamie’s old role as Livestock Commissioner after he was promoted to the state’s Attorney General, is attacked in his office by armed gunmen and Beth’s office receives a mysterious box that explodes after her assistant opens it. As John heads back to Yellowstone ranch, he stops to give aid to a stranded mother and her young son but a minivan appears and a masked gunman opens fire on them, killing the mother and hitting John multiple times.
Each season of “Yellowstone” is filled with tense, double-crossing, backstabbing, scandalous, rancorous drama, and that’s just within the Dutton family. As many new TV shows progress, they can sometimes fall into the obligatory “been there, done that” routine and grow old fast but thanks to creator Taylor Sheridan’s sharp and masterful writing, he keeps all of the characters and scenarios fresh and interesting. Costner excels as the head of the family, a rough and tough father who will do anything to protect his family and his ranch, especially his grandson Tate, who seems to have softened his rough exterior from when we originally met him in the first season. Up until now, we knew that Beth hated Jamie with a vengeance but we never knew why. In a flashback scene, we finally get to see where her hatred comes from and it puts everything into perspective. Josh Holloway appears as one of this season’s antagonists and chews up the scenery as a man who has no personal principles and doesn’t care who he runs over in order to make the almighty dollar. In February of this year, Paramount Network renewed “Yellowstone” for a fourth season, and with the cliffhanger ending at the end of season 3, I can see them renewing the show for many years to come.
Now available on Blu-ray™ & DVD from Paramount Home Entertainment
