I watched the first episode of Yellowstone, the Kevin Costner series I borrowed from my library recently. It seems to be a kind of modern update of the old High Chaparral show with Kev playing a cattle and land baron. I mostly liked the episode, with some reservations. The storytelling was a little obscure at times. The opening scene where Kev’s character attends the scene of a truck crash is one example. Presumably, hopefully, the meaning of the scene will be revealed later. My main gripe with the show is it seems to glamorize Capitalism, like we need another one of those. There’s a scene were Kev debates with a rival land developer, and the developer says ‘There’s winners and losers’, and Kev replies, ‘That’s the first thing you’ve said I agree with’. Think I’ve had enough of Capitalist power struggles and shows that legitimize them. Most of the characters seem pretty unlikeable too. Maybe the youngest son of Kev’s character’s alright, he seems to have a good moral compass. And I like the actress who plays his wife. Woah, she’s hot! I could stick around for her or see if there’s any element of actual criticism or irony about the glamorized Capitalism, but I don’t think I can be bothered.
I watched the first ep of a TV series called 1883 that I borrowed from the library. It’s billed as ‘a Yellowstone origin story’, so clearly it’s part of that franchise. I had watched the first episode of the original series starring Kevin Costner, and had issues with it. I hoped this series, which is set in the titular year, long before the original series is set, might avoid some of the issues I had encountered. So far, it has. It’s a pretty absorbing migrant trail ride story with Sam Elliot’s trail-master in the lead. It’s nothing we haven’t really seen before (maybe it overdoes the beautiful orange sunset shots, which remind me of Lonesome Dove) but it’s pretty solid entertainment. I’m liking the spare, pithy dialogue, which is contrasted by Isabel May’s character Elsa’s formal memoir-like recollections told in voice over. This first episode’s done a good job of sucking me in to its gritty, if somewhat glamorized, vision of that year. Let’s see how far it can take me.
Tonight’s fourth episode, The Crossing, was extraordinary. The German immigrants have to face the hazardous crossing of a river, but first they have to leave behind most of their valuable possessions in order to make the crossing. Isabel May’s character, Elsa, comes to the conclusion about herself, ‘I’m a cowboy’, and then proceeds to kiss the young cowboy she’s been tasked to join looking after the herd. Later, they come across a piano abandoned in a field by the immigrants, and Elsa proceeds to play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on it. As the music plays, we see what transpires with the crossing of the river. Immigrants drown, Elsa’s mom almost drowns, dragged down by one of the Germans desperately grabbing at her, and a price is paid. When Elsa finishes the piece, she weeps. Her young paramour, who witnesses the performance, simply says, ‘Don’t yer know any happy ones?’
I watched one more episode after this then dipped out of the old 1883 – at least for now. Guess I just wasn’t that invested in it, despite its quality.