Yellowstone
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Say this for Taylor Sheridan: At the very least, he knows how a Western shouldlook.
As with last weeks series premiere, this weeks Kill the Messenger practicallylurchesfrom scene to scene.
And thats a shame too, because the fundamentals of this episode are strong.
Much of this week involves John Dutton calling in favors to stop this inquiry from becoming a problem.
The ways John wields power is fascinating.
Brute force fixes what remains of the problem.
Last week we met Rip Wheeler (played by Cole Hauser), the Duttons thuggish fixer.
Kayce, of course, knows better … because he knows what hes already done.
The explosion and its curiously healing aftermath come abruptly, with minimal setup.
But its still a waste to kill off such a memorable character the first time he appears.
Theres just not much of an easy, organic flow to Kill the Messenger.
Its an anthology of moments, sloppily threaded.
That said, quite a lot of those moments are striking.
Sheridans preoccupation with the damaged souls of dusty dudes might very well get tiresome down the road.
But two episodes intoYellowstone, thats whats primarily giving this particular prestige drama its personality.
Its not unusual for a series like this to dwell on maleness as a central theme.
(If anything, thats been the norm for the past 20 years.)
But theres some appealing funkiness to the way that Sheridan does it.
John Linsons credited as working with Sheridan on the story for the first two episodes.
Until then, keep looking for her here among the afterthoughts.
