đ„ TRUTH BOMB: Admit It, ‘Yellowstone’ Never Topped This Episode’s Epicness! Relive the Glory Now! đ„ #yellowstone
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Later seasons of Yellowstone are criticized by even the most loyal fans, but it managed to get everything right with its pilot episode.
Despite the overall show getting picked apart and prodded more than the Duttonsâ cattle, thereâs no denying that the Yellowstone pilot is a brilliantly crafted piece of television. True, thereâs no need for it to be feature-length, but we should consider that a treat and be on our hands and knees, thanking God â Taylor Sheridan â that he decided to do it that way because it doesnât get much better than the pilot.
Where the rest of the show dips and dives into an unnerving blend of unprecedented action and long, winding episodes filled with legal negotiations, Episode 1 is one of the most balanced and well-articulated parts of Sheridanâs Western universe.
Yellowstoneâs introduction does everything an effective first episode of a TV show needs to do. Namely, itâs got a killer opening scene. In fact, the first scene was what convinced me to entangle myself in the Duttonsâ questionable and inconsistent world in the first place. The rest is history.
Yellowstoneâs brilliant opening scene
The slow, confusing opening shot focuses on a horse trapped in an overturned trailer. As the camera pushes back, weâre met with a bloody, battered John Dutton.
Slowly, Sheridan lets us in on the scene. A car accident has occurred, leaving a driver dead, John bruised, and his horse mangled. John does the only thing he knows he can: put his horse out of its misery (the same canât be said for his often-struggling ranch.) When the police arrive, one of the officers says in disbelief: âJesus, thatâs John Dutton.â In these opening minutes, we know everything about John Dutton. Heâs important, heâs a rancher, and he does what needs to be done.
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This snippy, effective character-building continues throughout the pilot. Jamie is introduced smooth-talking his way through a court hearing, but he canât get through his first scene without mentioning his father. Heâs good at what he does but is never given the opportunity to prove that.
Beth gets the same treatment; sheâs where we see her throughout the rest of the show, talking down to some emasculated businessman and making bank. Sheâs cut-throat. Kayce has been called to wrangle a wild horse thatâs wandered onto a building site. He lives simply, away from the luxury of the Dutton Ranch. Weâre literally told, âKidâs f*ckinâ crazy.â
Taylor Sheridanâs Yellowstone playbook
By the time we get to Ripâs first scene â in which he brands Jimmy in his classically unrelenting way â Sheridan has introduced his characters, his setting, and his stakes perfectly. When the pilot comes to an end, we know exactly what Yellowstone is about. If thereâs any doubt, John says it himself: âLeverage is knowing that if someone had all the money in the world, this is what theyâd buy.â
Really, the top-notch pilot shouldnât be a surprise. Sheridan comes from a film background, first and foremost. Prior to Yellowstone, he wrote Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River, with the first two earning multiple Academy Award nominations â including one for Best Original Screenplay.
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Taylor Sheridan knows how to write a movie. The Yellowstone pilot â at one hour and 32 minutes long â is a movie. It sets out every goal it accomplishes. This same sense of rhythm and punchiness is lost as the show goes on, never quite finding the same footing as the pilot promised it would.
In a very on-brand move, Episode 1 goes against the unspoken rule of television. Usually, the pilot is a rocky landing ground (âJust get past the first few episodesâ is something weâre often told about a new undertaking).
But with Yellowstone, Sheridan throws all his cards on the table right away. Itâs just a shame that the show never quite managed to outdo itself on that front.