Stephen Brooke

As westerns and origins story go 1883 is akin to comparing the Olive Garden to authentic Italian cooking. 1883 is a cheap rip off of Lonesome Dove, with Sam Elliott playing a grizzled, shoot first ask questions never, combination of Tommy Lee Jone’s Captain Call and Robert Duvall’s beloved Gus. Taylor Sheridan’s cast of brilliant white toothed characters underscore a poorly researched storyline. How a band of European immigrants trying to resettle in Oregon end up in Fort Worth is never explained. Perhaps if Sheridan completed a quick Google search of The Oregon Trail, he would’ve discovered it departed from Independence, MO and was heavily traveled since the 1840’s. It’s safe to assume immigrants arriving in 1883 would’ve known at least this important piece of information. The immigrants themselves in the series were referred to as German, however they were portrayed more as a vague European agglomeration of ignorant farmers who had difficulty boiling water. I focus on the immigrant story because a more true to life origin story for the Dutton clan would most likely come down to a wiry looking, scared and hungry Scandinavian immigrant wearing a funny hat, and not a former confederate officer. Perhaps the show’s popularity speaks to our current culture wars. In this sense, 1883 is not an origin story of Yellowstone, rather it serves as an idealized origin story of America itself. Is it a triumph of conservative propaganda, or just another binge worthy watch it now forget it later series: all looks with little substance?