6 Brutal Truths I Learned After Rewatching ‘Yellowstone’

Rewatching shows can give us more insights into the characters, themes, and the overall quality, but sometimes we can’t help but feel like watching something again will feel harsh and unpleasant. Without saying Yellowstone definitely does, it’s best to say that this stylish neo-Western has several layers that need to be peeled back so we can understand its core. Those layers could feel different once we know where the story’s headed.

Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, who live and work on the titular ranch in Montana. It’s a vast piece of land, and the Duttons must survive on it in order to keep it. Yellowstone has a vivid setting, some unforgettable characters, and high-stakes drama, and they’re all reasons why the show was so popular during its original run. However, certain dramatic and moral ambiguities and less captivating storylines—like those below—can, when recognized repeatedly, feel like the harsh realities of rewatching Yellowstone.

6. The Sheer Repetitiveness of Conflict

Upon Rewatching, Much of the Surprise Is Gone

Of course, this stands for every show, but every first watch is exciting. When you don’t know where the story’s going, but all you see are constant threats to the Duttons and their ranch, plenty of family fights and battles against land developers, politicians, and other ranchers, you start to feel like you’re watching some sort of ranching Godfather. The show’s biggest surprise factor and appeal was the underlying question of who will betray the family, who will not survive the next power play, and whether the Dutton empire will endure.

Upon rewatching, it’s really easy to notice these things and realize just how often the same basic conflicts cycle through. The “someone wants the land” plot repeats in various forms season after season, while the Jamie vs. family dynamic becomes toxic and contrived. Some people even have the uncanny ability to spot sequences and situations early on in the show that make it clear that a dramatic “rug pull,” so to say, is being planned. This was exciting at first, but a rewatch might reward viewers better if they observed the behavior of each character from the start, when they have some (or no) idea what might happen to them. Also, maybe we can predict the moment Kevin Costner decided to back out.

5. The Melodrama Becomes More Apparent

And Intense Family Conflict Feels More Exhausting

Yellowstone is pretty much a soap opera at times, since it leans heavily into melodrama with dramatic and sudden confrontations, announcements, and betrayals. These dramatic drivers are exciting at first, as you’re unraveling the family dynamic and history one episode at a time; knowing each part makes it all less earned and often forced, considering the over-the-top nature of some plots and character decisions. The melodramatic parts that hurt the most are the dynamics between the Duttons themselves, since the crux of the show is their internal and external warfare over land, business, and personal grievances. Of course, some of the most controversial moments are unforgivable, but they’re driven by some pretty insane character decisions.

Because the family conflict often verges on melodrama, the initial watch carries tensions that propel us through each episode. Later, it becomes easier to recognize the shock value in the repeated clashes and emotional explosions, starting to feel draining at some point. The one thing that is interesting, despite being exhausting, is how often characters fall into cyclical behaviors. It is a negative thing, but it’s also a major sign of someone’s traits and characteristics. For example, John (Costner) needs to keep the ranch at all costs; Beth (Kelly Reilly) lashes out in rage and anger in almost every episode; Jamie (Wes Bentley) is constantly between Dutton loyalty and betrayal; Kayce (Luke Grimes) wants out and then comes back in, etc. This shows us that the characters don’t really learn anything from their situations and just continue mindlessly deepening the conflict and anger they have, making the melodrama suddenly feel all the more boring.

4. Character Inconsistencies and Stagnation

Their Growth (or Lack Thereof) Stands Out

As mentioned, the characters don’t really learn anything throughout the show, and then John is dead, Jamie’s dead, a bunch of random people are dead, Kayce is still unsure if he wants to be on the ranch, and Beth never really wanted any of it, but she’s still so. Very. Angry. Initially, it was interesting to see the dominant side of John Dutton, which often portrayed him as the real villain of the show; it was kind of intriguing to see why Beth hates Jamie so much and why Jamie feels indebted and fearful towards his family. However, despite these personalities helping define the show’s appeal—everyone has secrets, regrets, and loyalties—a rewatch might make you notice that some characters end up in a pattern that goes nowhere by the end of the show. They rage and reconcile without obvious progress.

Yes, the traits of each character are part of who they are and why each of them is liked or disliked, but at some point, we all wish for some more significant shifts in their behaviors and personalities, or at least some reflection on the consequences of their actions. With the full scope of a character’s journey in mind, their motivations and actions start to feel inconsistent or frustratingly stagnant when we sit down for a rewatch. I understand they probably don’t progress or learn anything because they are the Duttons, their father’s children, but there are always glimpses of breaking the cycle, then they’re gone. It can begin to feel like we’re watching a show about a bunch of unremorseful narcissists who enjoy killing anyone who steps on their ranch.

3. The Constant and Often Gratuitous Violence

Morally Gray Actions Become More Stark

One major part of why Yellowstone is so exciting is the action. The show doesn’t shy away from brutal gunfights and fistfights, beatings and intense demonstrations of power. The first viewing of the action feels exciting because the tension and momentum help overshadow the levels of brutality, meaning the goal justifies the means in Yellowstone a lot more than expected. One super exciting sequence is Kayce saving his kidnapped son, Tate, but the context of that is—a white supremacist group kidnapped his half-Native American son to exact revenge on John for not selling his land. Giving a child permanent trauma and PTSD is insane, but Kayce delivers a brutal revenge that feels proportional to the crime. This happens very often; sometimes the violence is justified, and you feel it deeply, while at other times, the overall brutality feels extreme, no matter who pulls the first move.

The show also clearly makes the Dutton family the protagonists, but we’re all aware even by the end of season one that they often use methods that cross the line between self-preservation and outright ruthlessness. An example of that is when the family discovered an area near the state’s border that doesn’t belong to any state and no laws apply to it; that’s why they turned it into a mass graveyard for all their adversaries, including Jamie, in the final episode of the show. So, yes, at first, the shootouts and beatdowns contribute to the intensity and danger, but the more we watch these people use morally gray actions in the name of survival, the sheer volume of violence becomes tiring and less thrilling. The cycle of revenge and retaliation becomes very apparent, and the audiences don’t buy it anymore.

2. Pacing Issues Become Glaring

And So Do Plot Holes and Dropped Storylines

Many shows with more than a couple of seasons suffer from inconsistent pacing, which is okay if it’s done stylishly or with some flair. Yellowstone does it like that, though when watching for the first time, it doesn’t really matter too much if some episodes or even entire arcs move very slowly. When you know everything that happens in the show, though, the filler moments become slow-paced and boring, noticing that the more exciting parts or storylines tend to get rushed and become very abrupt. There’s nothing wrong with focusing on character interactions or ranch life, because Yellowstone should be about modern cowboys, but when those parts are created only as a side note or a filler, they just feel redundant. It’s a shame that the ranching life was put a bit to the side for the sake of thrills and politics, though it wouldn’t be much of a show without them.

Pacing issues become even more glaring when we realize filler moments could be replaced with storylines that felt unfinished or just dropped into oblivion. Another thing common for most long-running series is introducing storylines and character details that are later forgotten or contradict previous information. For example, season 2 introduced the discovery of fossil bones on the ranch, but nothing ever came of that. That could’ve been a throwback to some of the show’s prequels, but it seems Taylor Sheridan preferred to just make the sequels, not tease them. This one, like many other inconsistencies, becomes harder to ignore when you watch everything again.

1. The “Sheridan-isms” Can Feel Repetitive

Including the Glorification of Rugged Individualism

Taylor Sheridan has a distinctive writing style, and nothing’s wrong with that. Plenty of our favorite writers have a signature they use for their movies and shows, like Aaron Sorkin‘s fast-paced and quick-witted dialogues or Quentin Tarantino‘s storytelling character focus. Sheridan often uses intense, philosophical dialogue for his characters and writes specific character archetypes: the stoic cowboy, the fierce protector, and the conflicted politician. These can apply to almost every main character in Yellowstone. These things become more obvious with each rewatch and can begin to feel predictable the second time around. If you’re rewatching Yellowstone with someone who’s just getting into the lore, you’ll appreciate the performances and the cinematography and catch nuances you missed the first time, or it can annoy you that they’re very typical and even a bit unlikable.

Another Sheridan-ism in the series is the introduction of the rugged individual, which we can also see in 1923 and Spencer Dutton, for example. Since Yellowstone was created as an ode to the modern cowboy ethic that includes self-reliance, pride, and insistence on leaving a legacy, that helps define the show’s tone. Still, toughness at all costs is often used to mask destructive behavior and justify morally gray decisions, which is something people notice upon rewatching. Sheridan frequently tells us that a man must do what it takes to protect, serve, and remain honorable, which, as mentioned before, aligns with the “goal justifies the means” mentality. True diplomacy is out the window, and problems are handled with violence or coercion, leaving the show’s conflict resolution somewhat one-dimensional when it has the opportunity to be brilliant.