As ‘Yellowstone’ ends, TV’s franchise keeps growing

The cast and crew of “Yellowstone” were jubilant when they reunited to complete the final episodes of what has become TV’s hottest scripted series. In a behind-the-scenes preview titled “Inside the Epic Return,” several cast members embraced as they resumed work after being off the air for nearly two years. “On one hand, it was a big family reunion coming back. On the other hand, it was a new set of challenges,” Christina Alexandra Voros, the cinematographer and primary director of the Western-flavored drama, recalled recently to The Times, noting that it was a top priority to maintain secrecy about the series’ storylines leading up to the finale. Unspoken in the four-minute segment, however, was the biggest challenge facing “Yellowstone”: continuing the show without Kevin Costner, its main attraction and central character, who departed after the first part of the final season after reported logistical and creative disagreements with the show’s co-creator, Taylor Sheridan.

The fate of John Dutton, the wealthy, gravel-voiced rancher played by Costner, remained a mystery until the Nov. 10 season premiere, which drew 21 million viewers across Paramount networks, the largest audience in the show’s history. Subsequent episodes have witnessed the Dutton family grappling with the patriarch’s absence while fighting desperately to save their massive Montana ranch from financial ruin.

Fans are now bracing for Sunday’s grand finale, which is likely to feature the last round of the blood feud between Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley). It’s the culmination of a yearslong journey from scrappy cable drama — one passed on by a number of potential homes before landing at Paramount — into the flagship of a sprawling multiplatform franchise with sizable red-state appeal. Since premiering in 2018, “Yellowstone,” anchored by Costner’s weather-beaten grit and fueled by complex family dynamics, the setting’s majestic beauty and plenty of sex and violence, has defied the structural headwinds facing cable television. It has already birthed two hit spinoffs, “1883” and “1923,” the latter starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren and set to return for a second season next year. There’s also upcoming series “The Madison” featuring Michelle Pfeiffer, a fleet of other Sheridan-branded projects and now a “Yellowstone” sequel centered on Beth and her husband, boss ranch hand Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser).

And though Sheridan may be the impresario, trusted allies like Voros, showrunner and executive producer David Glasser and Paramount executive Chris McCarthy have also played key roles in the franchise’s expansion, despite challenges both internal and external. “This moment is bittersweet,” said Glasser, who credits McCarthy’s vision, and investment in Sheridan, with transforming a modest hit into a fictional universe at nine shows and counting. “From day one, Taylor was very clear how the show was going to end. Like anything else, this show has been through an incredible journey. It has had so many unbelievable storylines. We have been through some of the craziest things, from strikes to COVID to everything you can imagine to make this show live through it.”

“It’s hard to crystallize seven years of an experience with the same group of artists into a couple of words,” Voros said. “We’ve experienced a whole generation of life together. It’s a perfume of memories looking back for all of us who made it.”

Added Glasser, “At the same time, it seems like it’s the right moment for it to evolve. This part of the story had to close, and I think the timing of it now is the right time.”

With outsized success has come outsized scrutiny, however, and the second half of the final season, while retaining the ratings dominance of the premiere, has attracted criticism from some fans and reviewers dismayed by recent developments.

Perhaps the most controversial event was the killing off of John Dutton in a murder staged by assassins as a suicide. Though curiosity about Costner’s fate created a “Who Shot J.R.?” moment for the series, many fans were upset that Dutton was dispatched in such a brutal manner, which eliminated any lingering hope that Costner might possibly return. (Costner’s name remains in the opening credits.)

Glasser recalled a phone call he and Sheridan had with Costner in which the actor said he was not coming back to the show.

Tribune News Service