Yellowstone: Season 4

“Who shot John Dutton (Academy Award winner Kevin Costner)? That’s the burning question that left fans reeling in the explosive season 3 finale. Following the brutal attacks on Kayce, Beth, and John Dutton, and with their fates unknown, Rip and the other wranglers wield their own brand of justice to take revenge and defend the Dutton legacy. This season digs deeper than ever into the rich Yellowstone history, with flashbacks featuring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (stars of the Yellowstone prequel 1883). Includes all 10 hour-long episodes of Emmy nominated series plus behind-the-scenes featurettes, an extended making-of piece, and never-before-seen interviews with cast and crew.”

Paramount’s hit show, Yellowstone, continues on with another explosive and dramatic season following the Dutton family, their internal struggles, as well as fending off an ever-encroaching progressive world that threatens the solemn and simple nature of their lives. While previous seasons focused on power struggles between the Dutton family and whatever new corporation or entity has moved in, that’s not so much the focus here. After the horrific events of the previous season finale, there is a long road to recovery for all involved, each dealing with the events in their own way.

When I try and describe Yellowstone to those who haven’t seen it, the closest I can compare it to is The Godfather, with a family dynamic between a father and his children that sets the stage for the entire series. Some of the methods John Dutton uses in order to keep his way of life secured for himself and for his children go way too far, legally and morally, but he has a certain code of honor to him that makes him an endearing character. No rules for enemies of their family is what he lives by, and this is demonstrated time and again when he or those closest to him do whatever is necessary to ensure this. Those are the themes of the show, the style and look of the show are all its own, thanks primarily to Taylor Sheridan who has written films and shows in a very similar vein as you see here: Hell or High Water, Wind River, each exploring the setting of some of the last frontiers of the country in lonesome and isolated areas, a primary theme that he surrounds Yellowstone with. If you’re familiar with any of his work, you’ll likely be a big fan of Yellowstone. For me, the major draw was collaboration between him and Kevin Costner, who I’ve always been a fan of, especially the Western genre, and this is as close to a modern-day Western as you can get.

What I enjoy so much about the series is the characters. The conflicts that they deal with and the war they are raging against the outside world is what is so appealing and make the show so interesting. Seeing the characters change, adapt, and learn from their experiences, or lack thereof, is what makes this show so successful. The first season was absolute perfection, but one change I noticed that continued as the popularity of the series grew was gravitating away from an all-character-driven show, to what appeared to me to be giving more of the kinds of things their growing demographic wanted: more random sequences of horses doing tricks, cattle roping, and other rodeo-type stuff that have as much country music overlapped as possible. These sequences serve absolutely no purpose, and contrast enormously with the superb instrumental score that accompanies 90% of the rest of the show. Additionally, Paramount has come to a multi-series deal with Taylor Sheridan. While 1883 has already begun, there are talks of a new show based on the 6666 Ranch which is not only featured prominently this season, but was also just purchased in real life by Sheridan and a group of investors. Whatever possible conflicts of interest aside, this spin-off series which will feature, in my opinion, one of the most un-interesting characters: Jimmy, who honestly can’t act that well. Being force-fed hours of him down in Texas was the absolute worst part of Season 4, and unless they add some power-house names to the cast, will most likely not have the draw that Yellowstone does. Along with this, we’re also subjected to many opening sequence flashbacks of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill that have nothing to do with this show. It’s an obvious and poor attempt to get people to watch their other properties, and although I’d like nothing more to see more Yellowstone, the need to create a ‘universe’ for every intellectual property that becomes popular isn’t always the right move. Time will tell, but I for one want more focus on this show, the show that’s established, and has a lot more story to tell.

Here’s an episode breakdown of Season 4:

Disc One:

1. Half the Money
2. Phantom Pain
3. All I See is You

Disc Two:

4. Winning or Learning
5. Under a Blanket of Red
6. I Want to Be Him

Disc Three:

7. Keep the Wolves Close
8. No Kindness for the Coward
9. No Such Thing as Fair

Disc Four:

10. Grass on the Streets

Video

Yellowstone Season 4 is presented in 1080p High-Definition Widescreen 2.00:1. This show, for me, has two things that are undeniably great: the characters and the setting. The Montana ranch, which the majority of is actually filmed in Utah, has some of the most breathtaking visuals of any show I’ve seen in a long time. The landscape is perfectly captured in this HD transfer, with vivid and bright colors that accentuate every inch of the surrounding nature. This is the biggest difference you’ll see streaming vs. physical. You’ll never see these consistent visuals you get from Blu-ray. This is a show that deserves to be seen the best way possible, and that’s on this set.

Audio

The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby TrueHD. The tracks on these episodes are exceptional, providing high-quality sound, with a good balance between the surrounds and center channel. With the wide variety of sequences in this show: serene and peaceful nature, action and gunfights, and intensely dialogue-driven, they all sound excellent on this uncompressed track.

Special Features

Another plus for the physical copy is the large amount of extras on the set. It’s great to see Paramount adding this when a lot of releases seem to skip out on the featurettes these days. With over 4 hours of extras, you’ll see:

• Opening Pandora’s Box: Making Yellowstone: Season 4
• Bloodline: Yellowstone Origins
• Season 4: Back to the Bunkhouse
• Working the Yellowstone: Making it All Happen
• Inside Yellowstone: Season 4
• Behind the Story
• Stories from the Bunkhouse

With Season 5 already announced for this year with a mid-season break bringing the total to 14 episodes instead of the normal 10, and other spinoffs sprouting up, Yellowstone doesn’t show any signs of stopping. While I’ve not been a fan of the spinoff introductions taking place this season, everything else about it was so easy to consume as fast as possible, because it’s that good. If you haven’t seen the show yet, pick them all up, because you won’t regret it. Season 4 releases on 3/8/22 on Blu-ray & DVD.