Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1468810
THE POST CREW TELLS THE STORY BEHIND 'YELLOWSTONE,' THE HIT WESTERN SERIES F E A T U R E 43 S P R I N G Q 2 I S S U E By Peter Tonguette "Yellowstone" is a show about land: who it once belonged to, who it belongs to now, who it might one day belong to. Set in contemporary Montana, the pop- ular Paramount Network series has at its center the Dutton family—patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner), his son Kayce (Luke Grimes), his daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly), and his adopted son Jamie (Wes Bentley)— who, as the proprietors of a family ranch, contend with forces both external — such as commercial developers and a Native Amer- ican reservation — and within, expressed in a rich brew of family dramas. The Duttons' ranch is physically vast, and the series itself has a similarly ambi- tious scope. Created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, "Yellowstone," which debuted in 2018 and recently wrapped up its fourth season, features sweeping photography reminiscent of a feature film to soak in the landscape, and it boasts a complex web of supporting characters. (The series has also landed in the middle of America's culture wars, with TV host Meghan McCain chalk- ing up the show's success to its avoidance of "woke" tropes popular among liberals.) To corral a family saga of this size and ambition — not to mention a set of prequels, starting with "1883," which debuted in Kevin Costner, right, and Brecken Merrill in "Yellowstone." P H OT O : PA R A M O U N T Opposite: Chad Galster, left, Kyle Clausen, and Jason King.