Nov. 8, 2024

Yellowstone 1923

Show Notes
Transcript

In this episode, Joe analyzes the Dutton family during Prohibition and the Great Depression, focusing on Jacob and Cara's leadership, Spencer's African adventures, Teonna's boarding school trauma, and Banner Creighton's sheep wars. Includes discussion of Donald Whitfield's threat to the ranch's survival.

Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed! You also get 20+ other shows on the network ad-free!

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:08.359
Calarogus Shark Media. Welcome back to TV in the Basement,

2
00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:11.160
where we dive deep into the hottest shows on television.

3
00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:15.240
I'm your host, Journey Joe Mitchell, and today, folks, we're

4
00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:18.399
jumping back in time to nineteen twenty three, where the

5
00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.719
Dutton family saga continues with more star power than a

6
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.440
Montana night sky. First off, let me tell you something.

7
00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:28.519
When I heard Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren were playing

8
00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:31.399
Jacob and Kara Dutton, I got more excited than a

9
00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:35.159
bronc at its first rodeo. And Folks, these two Hollywood

10
00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:38.960
legends don't just meet expectations, they lassow them, brand them,

11
00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:42.320
and make them their own. Harrison Ford as Jacob Dutton

12
00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:44.920
is like watching a force of nature in a cowboy hat.

13
00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:47.200
The man brings more gravity to the role than a

14
00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:50.880
black hole in boots, and Helen Mirren her Kara Dutton

15
00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:53.000
is tougher than a two dollars steak and sharper than

16
00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:56.560
a rattlesnake's tooth. That irish accent of hers cuts through

17
00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.560
the Montana air like a hot knife through butter. Now

18
00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.960
on nine and twenty three inches hits you with more

19
00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:06.560
challenges than a Dutton has enemies. We've got Prohibition, the

20
00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:09.920
looming Great Depression, droughts that ud make a cactus cry,

21
00:01:10.280 --> 00:01:13.120
and enough family drama to fill the Grand Canyon twice over.

22
00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:16.519
The show tackles the aftermath of World War One, the

23
00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:19.760
beginning of the American financial crisis, and the horrors of

24
00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:23.599
Indian boarding schools. And that's just in the first few episodes.

25
00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:27.599
Speaking of which, let's talk about that boarding school storyline.

26
00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:31.239
Amina Neves as Teana Rainwater gives a performance that'll break

27
00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:33.719
your heart into more pieces than a drop china plate.

28
00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:37.079
Her scenes are tougher to watch than a bareback Bronc ride,

29
00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:39.159
but they're telling a story that needs to be told.

30
00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:43.359
Brandon Skleenar as Spencer Dutton. This boy's busy fighting everything

31
00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:46.359
from African lions to his own war demons, and doing

32
00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:48.439
it with more style than a peacock at a Prairie

33
00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:53.359
chicken convention. His storyline with Alexandra Julia Schleipfer is like

34
00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:56.760
watching Out of Africa collide with The Great Gatsby if

35
00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.159
both those stories involved man eating cats and generational trauma.

36
00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:03.439
The show looks prettier than a new saddle on Christmas Morning.

37
00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.239
Every shot of the Yellowstone Ranch makes you want to

38
00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:09.000
sell your house and buy a horse, until you remember

39
00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:12.319
that in nineteen twenty three, ranching was about as easy

40
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:15.879
as teaching a rattlesnake to tap dance. The period detail

41
00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.639
is finer than a thoroughbred's pedigree, from the model t

42
00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:21.639
Fords to the wool suits that look itchier than poison ivy.

43
00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:25.120
At a picnic, Jerome Flynn shows up as Banner Creighton,

44
00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:28.080
our sheep herding villain with more spite than a wet

45
00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.319
cat and a gunnysack. His feud with the Duttons over

46
00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:34.560
grazing rights escalates faster than a prairie fire in August,

47
00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:37.759
leading to one of the most shocking sequences I've seen

48
00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:41.919
on television since well since the last time Taylor Sheridan

49
00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:44.599
decided to break our hearts. And can we talk about

50
00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.719
the scope of this show. We're bouncing from Montana to

51
00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.560
Africa faster than a jack rabbit on a hot griddle.

52
00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:54.120
One minute, we're watching Kara defend the ranch with a shotgun.

53
00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:57.199
The next We're watching Spencer battle lions in the Serengetti.

54
00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:01.319
It's like Out of Africa meets Yellowstone meets Downton Abbey

55
00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:05.479
with more guns and fewer tea parties. Timothy Dalton joins

56
00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:08.319
the cast as Donald Whitfield, a man with more money

57
00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:10.319
than morals and the kind of smile that haud make

58
00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:13.599
a snake check its conscience. His brand of villainy is

59
00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:16.919
smoother than aged whisky, but twice as dangerous. When he

60
00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:20.120
and Jacob Dutton face off, it's like watching two grizzlies

61
00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:22.919
argue over a salmon. Something's going to get torn up.

62
00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.960
The show dives deep into themes of legacy, survival, and

63
00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:30.199
the cost of progress. Watching the Duttons fight against the

64
00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:33.319
changing times is like watching someone try to lasso a tornado.

65
00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:38.280
Impressive but probably feudal. The nineteen twenties were coming for everyone,

66
00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:40.840
whether they liked it or not, and not even the

67
00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:44.520
mighty Duttons could stop progress with a six shooter. Darren

68
00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:47.840
Mann and Michelle Randolph as Jack Dutton and Elizabeth Strafford

69
00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:50.719
bring youth and romance to our story, though in true

70
00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:54.280
Dutton fashion, their courtship has more obstacles than a rodeo

71
00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:57.759
obstacle course, their storyline reminds us that even in the

72
00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:01.439
toughest times, love finds a way though in this show

73
00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:04.960
it usually finds that way through a gauntlet of violence, tragedy,

74
00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.919
and really uncomfortable looking period costumes. Now, some folks say

75
00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:11.520
this show's got more plot than a cemetery has graves.

76
00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:15.360
But here's the thing. The nineteen twenties were complicated times.

77
00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:20.000
Between the aftermath of the Great War, Prohibition, the coming Depression,

78
00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:23.439
and the everyday challenges of running a ranch, life was

79
00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:26.040
about as simple as a Rubik's cube in a tornado.

80
00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.240
The season builds to the kind of climax that'll have

81
00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:32.519
you gripping your armrest tighter than a greenhorn holds his reins.

82
00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:35.839
Taylor Sheridan knows how to write endings that hit harder

83
00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:38.800
than a mule kick to the chest, and one nine

84
00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:41.759
hundred and twenty three inches is no exception. So what's

85
00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:45.639
the verdict on nine hundred and twenty three inches? Is

86
00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:49.120
like watching a master class in prestige television, if that

87
00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:52.240
master class was taught by cowboys and supervised by Dame

88
00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:55.600
Helen Mirren. It's got more layers than a winter outfit

89
00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:58.680
in Montana, more drama than a high school production of

90
00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:01.959
Romeo and Juliet, and more star power than a planetarium

91
00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:04.480
until next time. Don't lose that remote