Yellowstone Season 5 Premiere TV Review

Episode: “One Hundred Years is Nothing”

Plot: John Dutton is sworn in as Governor of Montana. As John settles into the power of his new office, he makes a bold move to protect the Yellowstone Ranch from his opponents.

Review: After the massive cliffhanger to the third season that left the fates of much of the Dutton clan up in the air, the fourth season of Yellowstone ended on a high note with Rip and Beth getting married and John Dutton declaring his candidacy for Governor of Montana. As the fifth season begins, the Dutton era begins as John takes the oath of office and the legacy of his ranch and his family is seemingly secured. But, now the question is whether or not John Dutton will make it through his four-year term unscathed. With a pulse-pounding two-hour premiere, Yellowstone is back with more wrangling, backstabbing, political machinations, and more. Everything you love about Taylor Sheridan’s flagship series is back even if it is not quite as flashy as last season’s debut. With a two-episode premiere, Yellowstone brings everything you love about the series back for more.

Yellowstone‘s fifth season begins right as John Dutton (Kevin Costner) learns that he has won the election for Governor of Montana. From that moment, the premiere slowly unfolds the character placement for this season’s chess match. How will Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) react to the likelihood that the planned airport and hotel will now be impossibilities with Dutton in the Governor’s Mansion? How will Market Equities CEO Caroline Warner (Jacki Weaver) respond with the most powerful family in the state now controlling the future of her financial interests? Most importantly, how will the death of Jamie’s father pull him closer or farther away from Beth (Kelly Reilly), his father, and the rest of the Dutton clan?

Rather than answer any of those questions directly, Taylor Sheridan instead takes his time and focuses on the inauguration and celebration of John becoming governor and teases out the general direction the rest of the season will take. It is an interesting choice considering Yellowstone’s history for putting the drama right out front for the audience. This more subtle approach does not mean that the series has lost any of its edge as there are several intense sequences in this first episode of the two-hour premiere but they are offset with flashbacks to the youthful days of Rip and Beth as young adults as well as time spent in the Bunkhouse with everyone’s favorite wranglers and cowboys. There is also time spent with Kayce (Luke Grimes) as he continues his role as Livestock Commissioner and awaits the birth of his second child with Monica (Kelsey Asbille).

The most noticeable thing this season of Yellowstone compared to the previous four is the difference in the plot. While only the premiere was made available for this review, there is definitely a lot going on in to start the fifth season but not nearly as much urgency as we have seen before. In many ways, what happens in this episode nullifies much of what has challenged the Dutton family and their ranch to this point which effectively resets the game clock. That is dangerous as now these characters all have massive targets on their backs and any skeletons in their closets or bodies buried (and we know there are a lot of those) could come back to haunt them and put any control they have at risk. This is the first season where John Dutton seems out of his element since he began facing his mortality back in the first season. It is also the first time since this series started that I don’t quite know where Yellowstone is going next.

Taylor Sheridan continues to write every episode of Yellowstone, something he has done for the entire series outside of the second season (not so coincidentally also the weakest season of the entire series). Directing duties on the first episode fall to Stephen Kay, a regular helmer on the show since 2019. Future episodes this year are directed by Christina Voros, also a veteran since the second season. That means the visual caliber of Yellowstone remains top-notch and continues to make astounding use of the Montana skyline. The majesty of Montana continues to serve as a breathtaking reminder of what John Dutton is trying to protect and also supports his steadfast political promises as governor, but it also could be a losing battle. Taylor Sheridan clearly knows where this story is headed and it is hard not to feel like this season may be a turning point in the saga of the Duttons.

The opening of the fifth season of Yellowstone may not be as nail-biting or shocking as the last few premieres, but that does not mean it doesn’t have some twists coming your way. Make no mistake, Yellowstone continues to be safe for no one, not even the main characters we have come to care about on a weekly basis. I am thankful that this story remains in a traditional weekly release format rather than a far more bingeable season drop. By teasing out each episode, even the chapters without shocking revelations become destination viewing. I almost wish Paramount had opted to only start with a single episode this season so that we might get one more week of watching the Duttons protect their family and their land. But, I also am happy to get as much Yellowstone as I can. No fans will be disappointed by this premiere as Taylor Sheridan’s family drama continues to deserve to be one of the most popular series on television.

Yellowstone‘s two-hour fifth season premiere debuts on November 13th on Paramount Network.