Yellowstone 1923

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.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Calarogus Shark Media. Welcome back to TV in the Basement,
where we dive deep into the hottest shows on television.
I'm your host, Journey Joe Mitchell, and today, folks, we're
jumping back in time to nineteen twenty three, where the
Dutton family saga continues with more star power than a
Montana night sky. First off, let me tell you something.

(00:25):
When I heard Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren were playing
Jacob and Kara Dutton, I got more excited than a
bronc at its first rodeo. And Folks, these two Hollywood
legends don't just meet expectations, they lassow them, brand them,
and make them their own. Harrison Ford as Jacob Dutton
is like watching a force of nature in a cowboy hat.
The man brings more gravity to the role than a

(00:47):
black hole in boots, and Helen Mirren her Kara Dutton
is tougher than a two dollars steak and sharper than
a rattlesnake's tooth. That irish accent of hers cuts through
the Montana air like a hot knife through butter. Now
on nine and twenty three inches hits you with more
challenges than a Dutton has enemies. We've got Prohibition, the
looming Great Depression, droughts that ud make a cactus cry,

(01:10):
and enough family drama to fill the Grand Canyon twice over.
The show tackles the aftermath of World War One, the
beginning of the American financial crisis, and the horrors of
Indian boarding schools. And that's just in the first few episodes.
Speaking of which, let's talk about that boarding school storyline.
Amina Neves as Teana Rainwater gives a performance that'll break

(01:31):
your heart into more pieces than a drop china plate.
Her scenes are tougher to watch than a bareback Bronc ride,
but they're telling a story that needs to be told.
Brandon Skleenar as Spencer Dutton. This boy's busy fighting everything
from African lions to his own war demons, and doing
it with more style than a peacock at a Prairie
chicken convention. His storyline with Alexandra Julia Schleipfer is like

(01:53):
watching Out of Africa collide with The Great Gatsby if
both those stories involved man eating cats and generational trauma.
The show looks prettier than a new saddle on Christmas Morning.
Every shot of the Yellowstone Ranch makes you want to
sell your house and buy a horse, until you remember
that in nineteen twenty three, ranching was about as easy
as teaching a rattlesnake to tap dance. The period detail

(02:15):
is finer than a thoroughbred's pedigree, from the model t
Fords to the wool suits that look itchier than poison ivy.
At a picnic, Jerome Flynn shows up as Banner Creighton,
our sheep herding villain with more spite than a wet
cat and a gunnysack. His feud with the Duttons over
grazing rights escalates faster than a prairie fire in August,
leading to one of the most shocking sequences I've seen

(02:37):
on television since well since the last time Taylor Sheridan
decided to break our hearts. And can we talk about
the scope of this show. We're bouncing from Montana to
Africa faster than a jack rabbit on a hot griddle.
One minute, we're watching Kara defend the ranch with a shotgun.
The next We're watching Spencer battle lions in the Serengetti.
It's like Out of Africa meets Yellowstone meets Downton Abbey

(03:01):
with more guns and fewer tea parties. Timothy Dalton joins
the cast as Donald Whitfield, a man with more money
than morals and the kind of smile that haud make
a snake check its conscience. His brand of villainy is
smoother than aged whisky, but twice as dangerous. When he
and Jacob Dutton face off, it's like watching two grizzlies
argue over a salmon. Something's going to get torn up.

(03:23):
The show dives deep into themes of legacy, survival, and
the cost of progress. Watching the Duttons fight against the
changing times is like watching someone try to lasso a tornado.
Impressive but probably feudal. The nineteen twenties were coming for everyone,
whether they liked it or not, and not even the
mighty Duttons could stop progress with a six shooter. Darren

(03:44):
Mann and Michelle Randolph as Jack Dutton and Elizabeth Strafford
bring youth and romance to our story, though in true
Dutton fashion, their courtship has more obstacles than a rodeo
obstacle course, their storyline reminds us that even in the
toughest times, love finds a way though in this show
it usually finds that way through a gauntlet of violence, tragedy,

(04:05):
and really uncomfortable looking period costumes. Now, some folks say
this show's got more plot than a cemetery has graves.
But here's the thing. The nineteen twenties were complicated times.
Between the aftermath of the Great War, Prohibition, the coming Depression,
and the everyday challenges of running a ranch, life was
about as simple as a Rubik's cube in a tornado.

(04:26):
The season builds to the kind of climax that'll have
you gripping your armrest tighter than a greenhorn holds his reins.
Taylor Sheridan knows how to write endings that hit harder
than a mule kick to the chest, and one nine
hundred and twenty three inches is no exception. So what's
the verdict on nine hundred and twenty three inches? Is
like watching a master class in prestige television, if that

(04:49):
master class was taught by cowboys and supervised by Dame
Helen Mirren. It's got more layers than a winter outfit
in Montana, more drama than a high school production of
Romeo and Juliet, and more star power than a planetarium
until next time. Don't lose that remote