These aren't the Barkleys

- Mitchell Co horses, 2017 -

The Dutton family is not benevolent. They have very little likeness to the Cartrights or the Barkleys of western yore. Fathers will not be kissing sons the way Lucas did Mark. There will be lots of horses and machine guns.

Yes, I have been sucked into the vortex of Yellowstone, an hour long per episode cowboy mafia soap opera. I didn't want to like it, but now I find myself wondering what Teeter's doing and babbling to strangers about how to mark a horse for war. It wasn't even a horse I was using as an example, it was a buffalo statue in front of the Arrowhead Motel in Ruidoso, but I couldn't be stopped.

There are unlikely things that happen, but with a good show, I'll suspend my belief after I complain about it. Such as, I was thinking that these business tycoons would keep a closer eye on local land sales, but they could have been too busy to look at them, what with all the attempts to kill their family and all.

Speaking of land sales, there was all kinds of speculation about Taylor Sheridan, co-creator of Yellowstone, buying the Four Sixes Ranch in Guthrie. I don't know why there was any wondering, because the information is right there in the TexasFile database, searching King County. Memorandum of sale last December, memorandum of exclusions in June. Sheridan Ranch Properties with Taylor Sheridan's signature, plain as day. I'm not always able to find what I'm looking for, but this took about five minutes. TexasFile and county appraisal websites are powerful tools for finding information.

Anyway, Yellowstone is not for the faint of heart, but the characters are vivid and there's never mundane action. The continuity of story is satisfying. Sometimes I'll ask a question (out loud or in my head), then it's immediately addressed. The downside is that I blew through three and a half seasons, not realizing I only have a handful of episodes available to watch before season five starts in November.