It's a lot like a western. Since it's all set on the old homestead it's kind of like Bonanza, The Virginian, the Big Valley or The Big Country rather than the John Wayne, James Stewart, Randolph Scott style, man on his own oater. There's a bit of a difference in that the Cartwrights, whoever was running Shiloh ranch at any particular time, Barbara Stanwyck, and even Charlton Heston didn't go around murdering people for no more reason than that they were inconvenient.
In the good old days you had good guys and bad guys. But things are more nuanced now. So you can admire John Dutton's love of the land, his devotion to his family, or, at least, what he sees as his dynasty, his cod wisdom, and more or less give him a pass on being a serial killer.
So. So far so good. Up to the end of series 2. I'm mid way through series 4 right now and it's like a repeat, of the first two series but with a different set of adversaries.
However, there is a problem.
I'm guessing that Costner's obvious devotion to all things cowboy is part of it. But I can't help wondering whether sponsorship might also be a factor in the way that I am now constantly having to watch (actual) rodeo riders displaying their skills in long scenes that have nothing to do with the plot. I like Netflix because, so far, it's ad free, but really , scenes of riders stopping their horses (why is that even a skill) or making them pirouette, make me want to go and get a cup of tea. Jimmy's journey to cowboy land is also looking a bit like a documentary now that he's signed up with a real life Texas ranch. In between that though the story is still engrossing enough to keep me going.
