Skip to main content

Yellowstone (television series)

Yellowstone Season 2 Kevin Costner

Photo By: Emerson Miller / Paramount Network

A few posts back I recommended a mini-series on HBO called Chernobyl and how I was drawn to it because of my desire to go shoot photos there.  It is unrealistic and I know I will never go there.  However, there is another show I want to discuss, with a setting that leads me to a desire to go shoot there.  I know this location is not so lofty and much more attainable.

Yellowstone is a show that premiered in June of 2018 and follows the fictional character named John Dutton (Kevin Costner) as he tries to keep control of his huge ranch (250,000 acres) sandwiched between Yellowstone Park and a Native American preserve.   For those of you who are around my age, you may remember the show Dallas.  This has a feel of Dallas and a more recent show Longmire (don’t let anyone convince you Longmire is boring).  It takes 3-4 episodes before it gets good.

So why do I like the show?  First, it filmed in both Darby, Montana and Park City, Utah.  I have never been to these locations but in pictures and this show, it is the most gorgeous place I have never been.  The second appeal for me is the life and story of a true cowboy.  The show is full of famous actors, but there is at least one actor, who also is a real-life cowboy on the show.  More on that in a bit.

To me, cowboys are someone of a mythical hero.  They work the land, and somewhat out of step with the pace of the modern fast-paced world.  In most cases, rush hour traffic, social media, and fancy restaurants have no place for a cowboy.  Cowboys make their path.  They cut their paths on their ranch, but with a healthy respect for his land, knowing he is not in control of it.  That respect runs deep within him and he honors the land by owning, working, and living off his land.  Even more, he works seven days a week from sunrise to sunset with his accomplishments show by the scars on his hands, soreness in his back and sweat stains on his hat.  They only hope to break even.

If you clicked on the music link above you will be listening to a song by Ryan Bingham.  Ryan plays ‘Walker’ on the show and his real-life story eerily parallels the show.  Ryan was a bull rider, rancher, oil worker, ditch digger and lived in New Mexico, and Texas.  He knows how to ride and rope, similar to his character. Ryan finally found his calling as a singer.  He slightly falls into the rock genre, country, and with a voice similar to John Mellencamp.  I don’t like what they classify as ‘country’ these days, but Ryan’s music is different.   On a recent snippet of the full interview with him by Sam Jones, Ryan speaks of his troubled childhood, which seems to follow ‘Walker’ to Yellowstone.  Check it out here.  It’s worth 3:25 of your time.

Season two of Yellowstone began recently on the Paramount channel and seems to get better by each episode.  The cast, writing, and location all add to its allure to me.  It is rare to have a show that can last long past the pretty actors.  Like people, if there is no substance, it fades away quickly.  Deadwood (I will talk about in another post), Justified, and Longmire all are well written, and worth the investment of watching them.

Yellowstone has riddled cowboys portrayed by Cole Hauser as Rip, Luke Grimes as Kayce, Kevin Costner as John, Kelly Reilly as Beth (judge me if you want, but she is not attractive at all) but plays the part perfectly, Jefferson White as Jimmy, Kelsey Chow as Monica, Ryan Bingham as Walker (previously mentioned), Forrie J Smith as Lloyd, Fredric Lehne as Carl and many others.  They are all a family, some by blood, others by the bond of the ranch, others by love of John Dutton.  They fight (often), but all take care of their own.

I hope you take some time to watch this show as well as others mentioned in this post, my wife chooses not to.  You and I may not have the same taste but these are shows that mean many things to me.  I share them with respect and understanding that you too respect my suggestions.

I will leave you with a great quote from the show between two characters.

“Carl: I hope I never meet the first man who thought it was a good idea to ride a bull.

John: I don’t know, Carl. The first man might be worth meeting. It’s the second man I wonder about.”

Until next time,

Tim

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mentor

  When my photography journey rekindled back in 2015 with a trip to Maine, I never knew how far I would come and how important pushing a button on a camera would be. I have come a long way, but still have so much more to learn. A mentor is described as an experienced and trusted adviser (noun) . Also, as someone who will advise or train (someone, especially a younger  colleague ) (verb). Wikipedia also states mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person.  Since I have gotten more serious about my photography, I have been looking for a mentor that fits these categories listed above. Seeking guidance, I reached out to a handful of “professional” photographers to inquire about mentorship. I received no response from one person, another person casually mentioned that they rarely mentor, and a third person kindly explained that they ...

Nobody's Listening

  I recently had conversations with two people I know that had experienced a sudden rash of acute anxiety. One was medication related, the other was situational. Both stated that they now had a better understanding of what I have been dealing with. With the recent changes to my medication, Although I still feel anxiety, it no longer takes control of my emotions like it did in the past. However, I know acutely that it still lurks on the fringes, patiently awaiting its chance to pounce on me. During my recent visit to Dr. Erin, she assigned me an exercise where I had to jot down three things each day that I felt I excelled at. This is proving to be difficult for me. The parameters are straightforward and easy to understand. “Anything I do well that day,” she said. As I continued with this exercise, I began thinking of a song by Linkin Par called Nobody’s Listening. I got a heart full of pain, head full of stress Handful of anger held in my chest And everything left’s a wast...

Tested

  Life is a series of tests, pushing us to our limits and forcing us to grow. All blessings originate from a God, yet they manifest through different circumstances, encounters, and individuals. Throughout the past six weeks, I have encountered a myriad of these tests. This is part of the reason I have not written in a while - the constant distractions that have consumed my time and focus. Balancing my mental state and warding off anxiety has consumed my attention, leaving no room to articulate my thoughts through writing. My journey began recently when, with the advice of a medical professional, I began taking Trintellix at its lowest dose of 5mg per day. Gradually I increased to 10mg a day and now am at 20mg a day. During this time, my anxiety has lessened quite a bit, but recent events have put this medication to the test. Our initial challenge was to carefully research vans, searching for ones that would be ideal for safely transporting our furry companions. The cramped spac...