I started watching Yellowstone finally: a few early impressions

It was only a few weeks ago that I finally discovered Yellowstone. I think mostly this is down to the fact that it just was never on any streaming services and thus not available here in England. It was only when I browsed through the Internet in search for new television shows to watch that I kept seeing its name pop up with significant praise. I had many more films and shows to get through at the time, and also slightly lost some of my motivation to watch things in general, which meant that Yellowstone sat casually in the back of my mind just waiting to finally be explored.

Well, over the last few days, I have finally been watching the occasional episode of Yellowstone. I ensured I did not look up anything regarding the show and its narrative to avoid spoiling anything. While I do not usually care much for spoilers, I wanted to go in with no expectations or real understanding of what the story would be about. And, even a few episodes in already, I still do not have much of an understanding of where it will go -- I actually really, really enjoy this. It feels fresh multiple episodes in, and the characters have been given plenty of screen time to display general aspects of their development and personalities, but without overreaching.

It appears that the crime and drama genres are ones that often reflect on the idea of corruption and criminal underworlds within rather expected locations. Often enough, we see these genres take place in urban environments. Cities riddled with criminals and corrupt politicians. It seems unique that Yellowstone instead takes the idea of untouched nature and promotes it as something worth protecting against the corrupt and darkened, money-grabbing politicians that have a thirst for oil. The fact that our main characters are simply ranchers with their own land that are desperate to protect it and maintain its tradition makes them much easier to understand and empathise with.

This is particularly interesting given the ways in which the show has, currently, established its characters and general cast. There is an even level of corruption across the board, but in a way that makes the playing field fair against the suited individuals only interested in land for corporate reasons. Though, while the show still introduces most of its main cast, I am quite unsure as to where things can go in the show as I traverse through the seasons.

Despite that concern regarding its narrative and potential to get quite stale or run out of ideas quite quickly, the show is produced in a very impressive way. The cinematography and directing thus far has been quite stunning. The way it displays the natural locations under autumn as the golden light as the sun goes down covers the fields and trees, the many leaves falling and covering the ground. To the way it displays the more concrete environments, and artificially lit bars and places of fortune. Of course this would mean nothing without good performances on screen.

This has been another surprise: I have never seen the vast majority of Yellowstone's cast anywhere else before. They are all fresh (aside from Kevin Costner of which I have seen on screen many times before elsewhere) which helps connect with their characters a lot more. I have said in the past that I often dislike when films or television shows use very famous actors and actresses since it is harder to see their characters as authentic. Instead you see a familiar face and know them from elsewhere. That immersion is thus weakened. Fortunately, Kevin Costner's role in the show has been somewhat limited so far, which has allowed these unknown faces (to me at least) carry much of the show. That is not to say his performance has not been good, but that he is used only when necessary to the episode's narrative.

I truthfully have no idea where the show is going to go from here on. I am five episodes in and really enjoying everything it has to offer so far, and I suspect that the tensions between the corporat entities and the ranchers will increase as desperation kicks in and personalities clash alongside the corrupt and the good. I think the way it displays the daily lives of these ranchers and their commitment to each other has been done well to display a sense of community that aims to fight for something they believe in.

I do not think I have seen a show quite like Yellowstone in a while, though. It certainly feels fresh and has the budget to maintain my interest. I have grown tired of the many other crime and drama shows which take place in cities or are merely about drug syndicates. Instead a conflict between the interests of those wanting oil and those in nature seems like something that hasn't been done in a while. I think of Fargo and how that show gained my interest from the start, but slowly lost me as the seasons went on. They had the locations and time periods, but just not the unique narratives that really made each season stand alone from the prior.

I hope it can maintain this current level of quality as it progresses, since it definitely has my attention.