User Reviews

Greetings from Lithuania.

5th season of "Yellowstone" started with 2 episodes which are essentially a soap opera at this point. Its a very good looking one, with superb actors and breathtaking scenery, but its a soap opera and not a modern western - the one it was in first seasons. I do enjoy it still, kinda, but don't get your hopes high - if you enjoyed previous seasons it does not mean you will enjoy this one. Bets monologue in this episode with a stranger would have put Sherlock Holmes to shame - i mean it is that over the top.

Overall, first two episodes were not bad on its own, but its not a western. Its a soap opera.

This review is for now.

This might be the first public entertainment written by a psychopath. The episode is proof positive. Dead babies. Dead wolves. Dead horse. Absolutely senseless violence from the supposedly righteous heroes. Fundamentally, every choice a major character has, is made counter-productively. Sociopathically. Except, maybe, the young son.

I am almost certain Mr Sheridan is no crazy person. So the last few seasons must be run by someone else.

Maybe, just maybe, someone made a brave choice to turn the pro into an an-tagonist. Because it certainly seems like the Duttons have submitted to the dark side. If the foster son doesn't turn everything on its head towards the end, masterminding some grand downfall of the empire, then the writing staff should submit to a thorough psych eval.

That said, still entertaining. And the first few seasons were bloody awesome without being this bloody.

All I have to say is, I'm getting really tired of Beth's sadistic and cruel "look-at-me-I'm-a-tough-b@&tch" monologues. It's like listening to the punchline of a joke we've heard thousands of times before.

Tired and predictable.

We get it - ya hate Jamie.

Yawn. Can we move on?

Same goes for much of John Dutton's posturing. These characters are not this one-dimensional....yet.

I beg the writers. Please don't let the writing become stale on this show. It's been so great so far, it would suck if this kind of dialogue seeps into the rest of the storytelling.

...additionally, are all people really that predatory? Some of the supporting characters feel like they come from some cheesy soap-opera.

Yellowstone has all the makings of an absolutely fantastic show about the amazing beauty of the West and great storylines about cowboys and dedication, hard work, strong values and their triumphs and tragedies. Unfortunately, it all is overshadowed by this increasingly (hard to believe it got worse) awful Beth character / story. It's not a character I love to hate. I just hate the character. It makes it hard to watch the show. This is a series that i could see myself watching multiple times in the future except for the Beth character absolutely making that impossible for me. I cringe at having to watch her again. But I keep watching the show because I enjoy the rest of the show enough to see what happens. Her character diminishes the John Dutton character as well. What kind of father allows that sort of behavior? But the writers keep force-feeding us this garbage.

I wish it would get back up the story of the Native American people and their relationship with Dutton. And it's ok to have conflict yet have people still respect each other in the end. The show actually gives us some of that with that relationship. That's great. More Gil Birmingham and less Beth please.

The writing for this show has been going downhill since season 2, this season hit an all new low, and we are only 2 episodes in. Plot lines are stale and predictable, characters notifications don't make any sense, certain actors are making horribly dramatic acting choices. There was potential for some interesting character arcs, but that's all out the window at the start of this season. It feels like a really bad melodramatic soap opera. This episode, S5E2 was unwatchable. I stopped watching about 1/3 of the way through and I have no interest in finishing it, it was hard enough to force myself to finish episode 1. Not finishing a show is a first for me, not I just couldn't find any redeeming value other than the scenic shots, which did seem more frequent than previous episodes.

It's painfully obvious they have not had any female writers in a long time, if every, and if they have some they certainly aren't listening to them. It's a shame to watch a show with so much potential turn into such trash. It's officially removed from my watchlist.

When Yellowstone first hit the screen Beth was a bit of a change..she was refreshing..fast forward to the fifth season and she's literally the reason that I'm giving up on this series.

We get it.. she's badass, but as with all badasses they eventually have to have a great big fall...Beth seems immune to this...ok she's had turmoil but in next to no time she's back in the saddle literally...in 'real life' Beth would have made that many enemies that rather than have a parcel bomb delivered to her they'd just have someone with a high powered rifle to ensure that the job is done properly.

Jamie has been neutered to accommodate Beth's presumed power...the writers have clearly run out of ideas for both characters..maybe a 'Game Of Thrones' style cull is required...Beth being top of my list.

This show, especially this episode really makes me think Costner loves Trump and wants to have a show epitomize him. A type of "I do whatever I want no matter the consequences, as long as he profits" attitude.

I get the allure of shows centered around evil people. But even Dexter, a serial killer, had story arches. He lost battles and had to grow and develop. And eventually be help responsible for misdeeds. But Yellowstone has none if that. Which is why it is a boring show. More a drinking game. If a Dutton acts toxic and evil, then take a shot. If they get away with it, then take a drink.

Thoughts on show that fill the rest of character requirements:

I'm not sure if I watch this because good post pandemic tv is as sparse as during the pandemic or it's some sort of guilty pleasure. Like watching a really bad show to laugh

And here is why, I think this

The show unapologetically displays the Dutton family as the Sopranos. Low moral and unethical values towards everyone but the literal few members in the family (but not all family members). Murder is easily accepted and for trivial reasons. They brand human beings in this morbid sense of ownership/solidarity for the worker bees.

I have no idea hy so many people rave about Beth. She is a repulsive human being with zero humanity. Evil comes to mind. Sociopath comes to mind. I have not want d a show to kill off a character so bad since Geoffrey in GOT, but even that show had what this one does not...it had a give and take of power and struggle between people and groups.

The script in nearly every episode is a child's game of "I win". The plots are laughable as their is zero real character development in any character on the show. No lessons. No obstacles...the give and take. It's just an entry if new character...a Dutton has a tantrum and then they win. Zero real world accountability. They use situations like other gravity ti then and characters like tissue paper. Use them and then throw them away for no purpose than Dutton win. It has been a long time since I have seen a show close to as bad as this with so many aspects. I can B rated shiws know to let the main cast struggle for good portions of a season. To show lessons learned. To grow. To change.

And the toxic cowboy up mentality fixes all. Get shot with builders several times over...then just cowboy up and you can just rip out your IV and walk out the hospital, go ride a horse and good in a few days at full health. --or destroy your spine, but cowboy up after doctor says any impact will make you a quadriplegic and then you are suddenly fine. Although ti be honest about that character...he was the ONLY one I router for...and mainly to get away from Duttons...to a ranch's be people who aren't evil.

But route for all characters that have a chance to obliterate the Dutton family. This show has made me not trust Montana as a whole...even though I'm sure most people there are just hard working people. But this show is my only reference and has made me not want to ever go there. And that makes me sad, even though I realize this is a fake depiction. But real world people have swept social media applauding this family. Especially Beth. And that is what scares me.

In contrast, the spin off 1883 was incredible. Shocking that 2 singers did 1000% better than veteran actors in Yellowstone. Supposedly there is another spin off coming. I hope and pray it's like 1883 and not Yellowstone.