Yellowstone

(Review is only for the first two seasons)

I came into this show not expecting to like it but the storyline, acting, and cinematography is superb. Basically it's Mafia Wars in Montana with intermittent giant doses of testosterone (cowboys with guns on horses while fishing)! Costner is a master actor as lead of the Duttons. The show is at its finest when it shows the chessboard moves the Duttons and their enemies engage in.

The show gets gummed early in the second season but starts rolling again midway through. Kelsey Asbille is the weakest link as Monica and plays a poor hand badly, the storyline jettisons awkwardly out and the acting just misses the mark.

I think Cole Hauser as Rip may be the strongest acting (sans Costner himself) and looked forward to all the scenes Rip was in. Thomas Rainwater is great too. The storyline hums and the scenery is beautiful.

Just as Cormac McCarthy's "All The Pretty Horses" was a little more raw and brutal than the title suggests, this show strikes in a similar vein. Highly recommend and wish I didn't wait so long to watch it.

Yellowstone is a solidly written drama - great characters, well-crafted - that draws it's tone from a few different modern-day masterpieces.

It has the feel and cinematography of Longmire, the plotting and grim outlook of The Sopranos, and the dramatic dynamics of shows like 'Dynasty' or any of the other network dramas similar to that.

Much respect must go to Costner and Cole Hauser - these guys bring it 100%.

I did not expect to get drawn in to this show like I did. It's well worth your time.

This is the type of show where cowboy/western life meets big city mafia life. This show is well cast, the first two episodes have been well written and leaves you wanting more after every episode. Not to mention the Montana and Utah scenery is beautiful.

The Dutton's remind me of the Ewing's from the 70's drama "Dallas". In short Yellowstone is "Dallas" meets "Sopranos".

If you are like me and watch things on Netflix, here's something I wish Netflix had told me before I started watching: it does not have the 5th season, and it is very unlikely it will acquire the rights in the future. You'll get drawn in with season 1-4, and then find yourself thinking: wait, this is it? Where's the rest?? Nothing is resolved, nothing is wrapped up.

Well, you'll have to go somewhere else for the rest. Where that is depends on where you live.

As for the series itself, there is very little to say that hasn't already been said. Yes, seasons after 1 & 2 are not as good, but it's not such big change as to lose my interest. Certainly good enough foe me to wish I could see season 5.

Let me say one thing: if you had come to me a decade ago and said that Kevin Costner's flagging career would be revived thanks to his role in a modern day western, I would probably have laughed and called you crazy.

Yet it happened. Costner's John Dutton will surely go down in the annals of TV history as one of the best characters ever.

Costner played Dutton perfectly: a doting father, a ruthless ranch owner and a man who is no stranger to violence. Unforgettable.

With "Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan has done something quite difficult: he made us care immensely about a bunch of characters of dubious moral standing.

For example, Kelly Reilly's Beth Dutton was, for the most part, a horrible person, yet you cared about what happened for her, cheered on her successes and commiserated her failures, even when said successes might have been on the wrong side of what's right.

That's because Reilly is a brilliant actress, and because she was given top-notch material to work with.

Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Asbille, Wes Bentley...all brilliant.

Sheridan is a genius.

What a show. We won't see it's like again, that's for sure.