Taylor Sheridan openly calls Yellowstone a “horse opera”—messy, dramatic, and not meant to make sense… and that’s exactly why it works.

Taylor Sheridan and the Western genre go together like peanut butter and jelly, with one only lifting the other up. Whether he is exploring blood-soaked justice in Hell or High Water or crafting a modern frontier in Wind River, digging into the soil of the American West is his forte. He proved this by making Yellowstone.

While Yellowstone did not have a great start, receiving mixed reviews from critics, things were only uphill for it from the next season. However, even though he had no doubt that the show would go on to become the television industry’s next big hit, he was also aware that it wasn’t a show that was trying to make sense.

Taylor Sheridan on Yellowstone being a “horse opera”

Taylor Sheridan in Yellowstone (2018-2024) | Credit: Paramount Network

In a recent interview, Taylor Sheridan sat down with director Peter Berg for Gold Derby, where they discussed something they had in common – a Western series. Directed by Berg and created by Mark L. Smith, American Primeval is a television miniseries set in 1857 during the Utah War.

During the conversation, Sheridan admitted that the controversial show may be “nonsensical” at times, but that is exactly how it is supposed to be. From plot holes that leave you confused to elements that are just inaccurate, Yellowstone doesn’t pride itself on being a perfectly polished drama grounded in reality.

Instead, it thrives on chaos, contradictions, and larger-than-life storytelling. Sheridan’s goal was not to mimic real ranch life, it was to create a heightened version of it where legacy, loyalty, and land are all tangled up with each other.

Which is probably why he isn’t ashamed to admit that his show is “nonsensical.” In fact, he knows that Yellowstone wasn’t trying to make sense in the first place. Talking to Berg, Sheridan stated,

With Yellowstone, which is nonsensical — there’s a great writer named Gretel Ehrlich, who calls it my horse opera because it makes no sense and it’s not trying to. And yet it’s a window into a world.

Despite some of the show’s aspects not making sense and really being out there at times, viewers flocked to their screens week after week to tune in to the adventures of the Dutton family. That’s the Sheridan magic!

There was no stopping Yellowstone from being a hit

Yellowstone Season 03 | Credits: Paramount Network

When the show was first released, it received an average score of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus stating that it was “too melodramatic to be taken seriously,” despite the incredible cast and “beautiful backdrops.”

However, it was as if Sheridan took this criticism to heart because the next season is rated 89%. Seasons 3, 4, and 5 are rated 100%, 91%, and 79%, respectively. So, while Yellowstone may have had a rocky start with the critics, that didn’t stop the series from becoming the hit it was meant to be.

Sheridan, though, was fully confident that his show was destined for greatness. During the conversation for Gold Derby, Berg asked him, “What was the moment when you realized it was working at the level that it was working?”

He replied, “I knew it was going to be a hit.” When asked how, Sheridan simply stated,

I just knew it. I knew there was such a thirst, that a Western done well is a universally loved genre. It captures everything American, this sense of freedom and vastness and independence. And there’s a romance to it.

You might believe that the Western genre is dead, but Sheridan wholeheartedly disagrees. As far as he is concerned, there is a lot more to accomplish in the genre, but there is one thing he will admit:

“The sh*tty Western genre where you try to merge it with f*cking aliens is dead.” It’s dead, and he does not think it should ever be revived in the future either.