Hated Yellowstone Season 2? You're Not Alone: Costner Hated It Too
Taylor Sheridan talks about why the Yellowstone star was unhappy with his writing.
As the most-watched show on television last year, Yellowstone proved to be a hit for Paramount. Many viewers love the neo-Western about the troubled Dutton family and their attempts to save their ranch. But even after five seasons, some just can't buy the story and the portrayal of the main characters.
'I don't know what the hell Taylor Sheridan is thinking with the story arc,' a disheartened viewer wrote on Reddit. 'If Costner's character is supposed to be some romantic throwback western figure, it was a big miss when he had his hands kill two men in cold blood because it was convenient. [...] The characters' motivations make little sense, they're inconsistent, and it's shot as if they're the good guys when clearly they are not.'
If you agree with this assessment and can't bring yourself to sympathise with the Duttons, you're not alone. In fact, even Yellowstone's lead star Kevin Costner, who plays family patriarch, John Dutton, agrees with those who criticise the show. Sheridan, who recently spilled the beans on his reported conflict with Costner in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, recalled how the actor opposed the direction Sheridan was taking his character in, in the second season.
'There was a time in season two when he was very upset and said the character wasn't going in the direction he wanted. I said, "Kevin, you do remember that I told you this is essentially The Godfather on the largest ranch in Montana? Are you that surprised that the Godfather is killing people?"' the showrunner said.
Judging by that recollection, Costner, like some viewers, didn't like how grim things got in Season 2, especially towards the end, when the feud between the Duttons and the Becks started spiralling out of control.
'What he's clung to is [Dutton's] commitments to his family and way of life. Dutton's big failing is not evolving with the times — not finding different revenue streams [for the ranch],' Sheridan said, 'Kevin felt season two was deviating from that, and I don't know that he was wrong.'
Though Sheridan denies that there was anything more going on behind the camera than this disagreement between him and Costner, it seems that the writing for the show stopped satisfying the star early on. And since The Duttons only got darker as the series progressed, it is understandable why Costner eventually decided to leave.
Source: Reddit, The Hollywood Reporter.