Cat Smith
I’m not an equestrian, I ride Western. So I got a kick out of Yellowstone, for all that it presented me with horse death within the first few minutes. And the family was more effed up than the Lannisters, and I find that fun too (#TeamBeth). Yeah, the writing was bad, and there was SO much gratuitous cowboy wank (especially from showrunner Taylor Sheridan—“look at me! I made myself a character to show off that I can spin around and around on a horse just to show off that I can!”—I’m not dissing, I can’t spin around on a horse like that), but as a horse person, I enjoy the cowboy wank.
I enjoyed the prequels too. The good one is 1883, IMO. With only ten episodes, it was nice and compact, and didn’t have time for padding, side plots, or time to screw itself up. Too much time to screw itself up was exactly what was wrong with 1923 (don’t get me started, we’ll be here all day—rage, rage against the dying of the Alex). I haven’t watched The Madison yet, but I’m expecting similar.
Streamlining seems to be the reason why I’m enjoying Marshals more than Dutton Ranch, when I expected it to be the other way round. I love love love me some Beth and Rip, and a whole show of them being them appealed. But only a few episodes in, there is just too much side crap and less focus on what I care about. I’m sorry, Carter, but your love life with Barrel Racer Barbie is not interesting to me (these shows seem to have a grudge against barrel racers, and as one myself, I take a bit of umbrage here, but I digress). And I’m all for Beth and Rip ranching in Texas… but like, I’m sorry your herd has hoof and mouth disease. That wasn’t what made the series proper fun. What made the series proper fun was the Game of Thrones-like family intrigue ALONG WITH the ranching drama. Find a balance, y’all. And even though these actors are doing the best they can with it, the dialogue is distractingly bad. Written with a sledgehammer. Yeesh.
Marshals, on the other hand, is proving kind of fun. Kayce was the Dutton I cared about the least in the series proper. Nothing against him, he was just That Guy… handsome and brooding. And if you’re being That Guy and you’re not a vampire with a soul on a redemption arc, well, you’re always going to come second in my heart. The dialogue is still bad. But it’s Team Cop Procedural, which I always like (with an ensemble cast, also reminiscent of Angel or Firefly), and it has the added bonus of horses, and giving indigenous people jobs. Simple premise—Kayce Dutton, newly widowed, is trying to make a go of raising his son, ranching (sort of), and outliving the ghosts of his family, when he is recruited by an old Navy buddy to join the local outfit of US Marshals. And of course, each member of the team of five (a tactical Swiss army knife, they’re referred to a lot as) has their own deal and arc, and the whole thing is keeping me way more interested than I thought it would.
Apparently Marshals is a big hit already, renewed for a second season. Good for them. We’ll see how Dutton Ranch fares. I expect the spinoffs to keep coming. Taylor Sheridan has that massive ranch to support now, after all.
