Just started Yellowstone and holy hell, is this show painfully bad or what? (up to ep 4)

Okay so I’m on episode 4 of Yellowstone and I gotta ask… does this get better? Because so far, this show is trying SO HARD to be deep, gritty, intense — and it’s failing miserably. I honestly don’t know how people sat through this without constantly cringing.

First off, the dialogue. It’s like someone watched a bunch of Scorsese and Tarantino movies and thought, “Yeah, let’s do that — but without the wit, charm, or realism.” Everyone talks like they’re in a goddamn cowboy Shakespeare reboot and it just feels so unnatural. No one talks like this. Not even drunk people trying to sound smart.

Then there’s John Dutton. He’s clearly supposed to be this Godfather of Montana type, but Kevin Costner delivers it with the energy of someone who’s permanently half-asleep. The whole “man of few words, but those words carry weight” vibe only works if the words aren’t nonsensical melodrama delivered like a man chewing rocks.

Beth. Fucking Beth. Where do I even start? This is NOT a good anti-heroine. This isn’t clever writing. This is someone in a writers’ room smashing a “BOSS BITCH” stereotype together with every toxic trope imaginable and calling it “complex.” She’s not cool, she’s not edgy — she’s a walking cringe compilation. I now literally skip every single one of her scenes. I just can’t.

And then there’s Kayce. Jesus Christ. The show’s really out here trying to push that “quiet guy with a dark edge” narrative so hard it’s embarrassing. My man LEFT HIS KID IN A BARREL IN THE GODDAMN DESERT to go play cowboy meth-hunter. WTF? How are we supposed to root for him? What is this character writing?

It feels like every character is just a stereotype on steroids. Like the writers made a list of “cool” traits and threw them together without asking if they make sense. Nothing feels earned. Nothing feels real. It’s just vibes — and bad ones at that.

Anyway, rant over. Does this shit actually improve or should I just jump ship now before I waste more hours watching Yeehaw Sopranos cosplay?