Paramount is treating fans of its number one series, Yellowstone, to a behind-the-scenes look at how the show became one of pop culture’s most fascinating phenomenons ahead of the thrilling fifth season debut this week.
While long-time fans of the series know that the pull to Yellowstone was evident in even the heartwrenching opening scenes, it feels like a shift most definitely took place at the end of season four. Something began resonating openly with viewers who had fallen in love with the Dutton family in an unexpected way.
Taylor Sheridan believes that the unique canvas for the series is part of the magic.
“You have, with the Dutton family, a 130-year legacy in one place which makes it a fantastic canvas to really look at Americans. Coupled with icons like Kevin Costner, it shows a world that people can’t believe is actually still in America, and it is.”
The world of ranch hands, cowboys, and farming are definitely ideas that are still present in America, but you don’t see them highlighted often. Without them, however, the way of life that we’re all accustomed to would be very different. Sheridan’s stories highlight the lifestyle we don’t praise enough and all of the ways that it exists far beyond what we ever would have expected.
Kevin Costner, who breathes life into John Dutton, follows Sheridan up by saying there’s something special about the Dutton lifestyle that viewers find mesmerizing.
“The image of somebody making a living on a horse, there’s something kind of free about it. It’s enough for him, it’s always been enough for him, but the world’s more complicated.”
The world is complicated, and the complex nature of the relationships between the Dutton family and their bonds with those around them, including the Native American communities, serve to enlighten audiences as much as they’re meant to entertain. You’re getting educated when you sit down to watch Yellowstone, and that’s something fans weren’t expecting when they first tuned in.
Of course, through the series, we’ve also learned one very valuable life rule, and Wes Bentley, who plays Jamie Dutton, spells it out in the video.
“When you mess with John Dutton, you’re messing with your own life,” Bentley says, and there’s nothing more fundamentally true than that. Be it his own bloodline or sworn enemies, wronging John will not be a pleasant experience for anyone. Season five will soon put us face to face with that idea once again.
Yellowstone’s fifth season kicks off on Nov. 13, and there’s not a second of it you’ll want to miss.
