Taylor Sheridan may be a master storyteller, but without the right elements, even the best stories can easily get lost in the chaos of outside forces. In YellowstoneIn Sheridan’s case, those forces include a growing distance between the creator and his creation, the void left by the series’ lead actor, Kevin Costner, in his role as family patriarch John Dutton, the legal battle between Sheridan and one of its main stars, Cole Hauser, and a two-year gap between the two halves of the final season.
As pointless as it may be to wallow in lost glory, YellowstoneIt is also important to note that Sheridan’s efforts to effectively conclude the season finale will determine where Yellowstone goes down in the annals of television history. Despite the downward spiral the series has been in since the end of the third season, a clever manipulation and a well-timed plot twist can’t hurt to improve the current situation.
And if all else fails, Taylor Sheridan will at least finally know what Courtney Peppernell meant when she said: “The tragedy of what might have been is almost as paralyzing as what once was but can never be again.”
Yellowstone Must redeem a character for the story
The greatest hope for possible survival Yellowstone is Wes Bentley’s Jaime Dutton: the most underrated, overlooked, and most important figure on the chessboard of the Dutton family dynamic. Having been made the scapegoat for the family’s dysfunctional interpersonal trauma and Beth’s personal punching bag, Jaime Dutton has endured enough abuse for four and a half seasons to make even the audience weary and irritated with the dynamic between Beth and Jaime.
Furthermore, the glorified main characters, Rip, Kayce, and Beth, have contributed far less to the story in terms of in-universe politics other than stirring up trouble and creating drama with a dash of self-pity and a dose of insanity. While Jaime isn’t a true Dutton, he has contributed far more to the family than the rest of the toxic crew with his unwavering loyalty and love for the ranch.
A Reddit user, LluagorED, aptly pointed out:
Beth doesn’t give a damn about the ranch, she’s only there because her father asked her to be. Kayce was happier not having to deal with the ranch and preferred not to be involved.
Jamie was the only one who truly cared about the ranch and tried to keep it alive like John wanted, but John was obsessed with the fact that he wasn’t his real son and made him his enemy..
With Yellowstone As the series hurtles toward its conclusion, it’s important for Taylor Sheridan to look at the right places and faces, correct the mistakes of the past, and pray to the powers that be to create a non-zero-sum scenario. Resolving Jaime Dutton’s character arc with a redemptive storyline is the only way the series can come to a positive conclusion, as Beth, Rip, and Kayce are well past the point of no return.
With only 8 episodes left to reach the end, it is almost impossible YellowstoneFate was anything but sealed. And yet, as the saying goes, stranger things have happened.
Yellowstone‘s epic fall from grace – such a shame!
Taylor Sheridan’s poorly executed story arc YellowstoneThe latest seasons almost reflect the demise of HBO’s game of Thrones. However, while the latter only began to fall apart in the final season and with only a few select storylines and character arcs, Sheridan, on the other hand, seems hell-bent on throwing his masterpiece off a cliff and jumping headfirst into an early grave.
A creative decline of such drastic proportions has never been seen before, considering the height of fame that Yellowstone is popular for its unique Western narrative format. The overarching storylines, the individual characters with their individual flaws and idiosyncrasies, the underlying political message and the terrifying reality of a capitalist world collide and merge to create Sheridan’s finest work yet.
And yet, you can only ride the wave for so long without contributing to the elements that made the series so great in the first place. Falling into a routine and failing to innovate, adapt and evolve beyond the scope of the first three seasons became the reason for Yellowstones epic fall from grace. Now that Taylor Sheridan is approaching the grand finale, the chances of tying together all the subsequent storylines, character arcs and redemptive actions are either futile or negligible – condemning the series to a fate worse than game of Thrones.
Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2 will premiere exclusively on Paramount+ in November 2024.
