This is embarrassing. Cringe, even. I can’t believe it, but Yellowstone is fully the Taylor Sheridan Show now. The writer isn’t just killing off his lead character and altering the fate of his most beloved series forever. That wasn’t enough. This week, he’s nearly the main character.
I wish I were joking. Yellowstone doesn’t just take a trip to his Bosque Ranch in Texas this episode. The penultimate episode of this—need I remind you—entire series brandishes the Bosque Ranch logo in every shot as if it were more important than the “Y” brand on the Dutton-family ranch. Yellowstone’s whole story this week revolves around Sheridan’s character in the series: Travis Wheatley, the horse trainer. Proclaiming “John Dutton is dead” to Jimmy last week and killing Kevin Costner’s character in his bathroom didn’t twist the knife into the wound enough.
We may never know for certain who really steered Yellowstone sideways after Costner and Sheridan reportedly feuded all last summer, but at least Costner keeps his jabs to satellite-radio interviews. With Sheridan, it feels like we’re watching this petty aftermath play out onscreen.
And the worst part? (Believe it or not, I haven’t even told you the worst part yet.) Beth (Kelly Reilly) begs his character for help. That’s right. She travels to Bosque Ranch herself this episode and almost strips for him during a game of poker just so that he’ll help them sell their horses. Beth also says flirty lines to him, à la: “You are such a fucking asshole, it is almost attractive.” What a disservice to her character.
I pray the Yellowstone ranch doesn’t end up in Sheridan’s hands.
Twice we watch Sheridan’s character ride horses. He parties day and night with half-naked girls—and he spends the entire episode creating a whole rockstar-cowboy mythos for himself in the Yellowstone universe. When Beth returns to the ranch and asks her husband (Cole Hauser) why he’s friends with this guy, Rip tells her a story about how Travis fought for him in a bar brawl when they were younger.
I felt the warnings this week when the Lioness season 2 finale featured extensive cameos from Sheridan as a Delta Force operator who saves the day. I pleaded for the Paramount writer not to end another one of his shows as its personal deus ex machina, but here we are again.
John Dutton is dead—most likely due to Sheridan’s pen. The character’s funeral also takes place this episode. Now Sheridan might just sit on John Dutton’s throne and proclaim himself the savior of the series. At the end of the episode, Kayce (Luke Grimes) tells Beth that they might need to give the ranch away to save it. I just pray that Kayce is planning to pass the Yellowstone Ranch to literally any character who isn’t played by Taylor Sheridan.
