Yellowstone (2018)

“Yellowstone” is consistently engrossing, even when the material is extra pulpy and the multiple storylines become more than a bit confusing and muddled.

Fist-clenching may be a novel approach, also a self-negating one, and Yellowstone--good writing, solid cast, nice views aside--can also be a bummer at times. Nicely done series that can also, from a viewer perspective, be depleting.

This series is a visual feast, with stunning mountains, lovely vistas and spectacular camera work. "Yellowstone" will make the Montana Office of Tourism proud. .... While John Dutton is a bit of a mystery, I'm invested enough to see how the character and "Yellowstone" develop.

Though “Yellowstone,” at least in the early going, has its flaws--please make scenes of people having sex standing up against a wall go away forever--it’s a solid piece of work.

Yellowstone basically offers conflict for the sake of conflict, and character for the sake of character. TV's family epics run from the absurd to the serious; Sheridan's sits comfortably between them--it's elevated comfort food, well conceived and well prepared, but still, you know, hamburgers and hot dogs, fried chicken and waffles. People find that very satisfying.

It's jam-packed with the contents that have made Sheridan's previous stories so exciting to wide audiences, but it’s also more of a mess. And yet, “Yellowstone” still prevails as a compelling study of power, while it chews on what really makes a cowboy in 2018.

The two-hour “Yellowstone” pilot is both talky and somewhat predictable as it establishes the characters, their relationships and conflicts. But future episodes offer more surprises and deepen the characters--flashbacks help establish why Beth is the way she is--making “Yellowstone” an enticing summer diversion.

Sheridan’s movies are familiar but tight and thoughtful genre pieces. Expanding his stories out to eight hours gives them a more mechanical, wearying feeling as the characters keep cutting new heads off of the narrative hydra.