In the modern cable TV era, nothing is — or perhaps was — bigger than “Yellowstone.” Created by mega-producer Taylor Sheridan, the Western centered on the Dutton family had somewhat humble beginnings as a drama produced for Paramount Network before it exploded in popularity. Recently, with the “Yellowstone” season 5 finale in the books, the show is over. What comes next? We’ll have to see but looking back, what was the best episode of the show? There is a definitive answer, at least according to IMDB.
According to the tallied ratings by IMDB, no episode ranked higher than “Half the Money.” The episode served as the “Yellowstone” season 4 premiere, first airing on November 7, 2021. By this time, audiences had caught up to the show and it was firmly in “biggest show on cable” territory. Written personally by Sheridan and directed by Stephen Kay, it kicked off the show’s fourth season with an absolute bang.
The episode sees a coordinated attack on the Duttons continue, as everyone searches for who is responsible. The episode truly puts the Dutton family on their heels, with John nearly killed and Beth having to look after him once he’s out of the hospital. An awful lot happens, a lot is set up for the future, and it’s one heck of a way to kick off a season of television. It probably didn’t hurt matters that viewers were rewarded for their patience after the season 3 finale.
“Everybody’s got a gun in their hands and everybody has somebody that they’re about to kill right off the bat,” Ryan Bingham, who plays Walker in the show, explained in a featurette breaking down the episode. “This is another level.”
The Yellowstone season 4 premiere was the peak for the show
Another big thing this episode did was introduce Tim McGraw as J.D. Dutton, who would later go on to appear in the prequel series “1883.” This provided an important bit of additional history for longtime viewers, in addition to all of the present-day action. In that same featurette, Sheridan discussed getting to look into the past in the episode, viewing it as a unique opportunity not just for “Yellowstone,” but TV in general.
“There is a unique opportunity that we haven’t seen before. We can explore a family generationally … It’s an opportunity to see the seed of this ranch and give as accurate a representation of what life was like for both the Duttons and the Native Americans in that region. It was fascinating for me to show how far we’ve come, and how far we haven’t come.”
Many viewers would probably tell you that “Yellowstone” lost its way a bit in season 5. Be it Costner’s unceremonious exit which forced some pretty crazy creative decisions, or just a show going a little past its prime, it just never got better after this episode. But every show has a peak and this was a pretty high peak, so far as fans are concerned.