What a great Christmas present for 2021. I watched the first episode today after getting to know this show has started.

I'm huge fan of Yellowstone and Beth Dutton in particular. I immediately liked Elisa Dutton (played by Isabel May from Run Hide Fight). We can see from whom Beth inherited her unconquerable soul from. Like Beth, Elisa too has a special bond with her father.

Tim McGraw playing James Dutton didn't come as a surprise since Yellowstone's season 4 flashbacks had him playing the role. I'm really excited to see how this story unfolds and what Sam Elliott's, LaMonica Garrett's and Faith Hill's characters bring in to the story. There's some serious star power there. Having said that, since this story is being told from great ancestor Dutton's (Elisa Dutton's) point of view, this will be a big role for Isabel May. No pressure, but I'm sure Isabel will make us all proud.

Another notable thing is how the writers have given different accents to other supporting characters, and in certain cases they can't speak English at all (the German immigrants). This is very rare in previous historical stories about pioneers. I think this type of authentic portrayal of American pioneers is a need of our time, and I'll leave it at that.

I should start by saying that not having watched any of Yellowstone yet, I entered this series from a strictly neutral position.

This series felt almost like an odd combination of a Greek tragedy and Agatha Christie’s novel Ten Little Indians (aka And Then There were None). I won’t even explain why as I want to steer as clear of spoilers as I can.

As with many cable series before it, in the tradition of Sopranos, Breaking bad and others, this story is dramatic enough to pull you along enthralled even as you may have qualms or doubts about aspects of it. Plus it has Sam Elliot, always worth a look, and great performant by two country singers, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. And let’s not forget the great ensemble cast.

The scenery is awesome, the soundtrack effective and the script is excellent for the most part. I must say I got really tired of the voiceover narration. Partly, I will admit, because I am not a big fan of voiceovers anyway, but also as if felt like teenager Elsa was passing along much more wisdom and historical perspective then someone her age would have access to. I mean, compare the girl’s antics at the beginning to the mini-lectures a few short weeks later.

But it was a minor irritant overall and only slightly repetitious, so it was easily passed over. The series was definitely worth seeing, and according to some information I have read, might provide some insight into the motivations and themes of the show Yellowstone if I also watch that someday.