For Yellowstone fanatics, Paramount+’s prequel 1883 has been a dark delight, not only as a stand-in between seasons of the mothership series, but as an engaging and emotional series all on its own. With a stacked cast of stars that seem tailor-made for Taylor Sheridan’s storytelling, 1883 currently boasts the biggest debut yet for Paramount+, and its sneak preview episodes’ ratings on Paramount Network were no joke, either. Perhaps more importantly, though, is that the freshman drama has earned a rip-roaring seal of approval from one of Yellowstone’s elite, Kelly Reilly.
Like many others out there, Kelly Reilly has spent part of the new year getting current with her fictional family’s legacy via the first five 1883 episodes that have been released so far. And also like many within the traveling western’s growing fanbase, Reilly shared her thoughts on social media with an Instagram post that housed none of Beth Dutton’s inherently glorious vitriol. She wrote:
So I just caught up with @1883official. What a stunning piece of work by Taylor Sheridan and all the cast and crew! Love watching the ancestors of our modern day Duttons journey to Montana… what a humbling reminder of what it took. Can’t wait to see the rest of the season.
With Yellowstone having just wrapped up its fourth season during the first weekend of 2022, Kelly Reilly already gave a big thanks to the massive fandom for all the love and attention during the neo-western’s late-year run. And it looks like Season 5 won’t start up the filming process until May or so, depending on how quickly Taylor Sheridan is able to finish up the writing process, with episodes likely to hit in the fall. So what better time than now for Reilly to catch up with the Dutton family’s history as they make the treacherous journey across the country ahead of founding the Yellowstone ranch in Montana.
I wholeheartedly agree with Reilly’s sentiment regarding the humbling nature one can feel while watching 1883, since we’re obviously still watching a heightened and safer version of events than what would have actually transpired in the time. Which isn’t to disparage Sheridan’s historical accuracy, mind you, but rather to say that things will almost always be worse than how they’re depicted on TV. Even if it’s just the smells. You know that many sweaty men and horses in the same vicinity had to have smelled worse than Jamie Dutton’s fishy instincts.
We’re only through half of the season so far, and while I won’t get deep into spoilers here, Episode 5 delivered a pretty detrimental blow to some of the characters, though it was only permanent for one of them. But Kelly Reilly didn’t even speak to that with her glowing post, such is her professionalism.
While it remains to be seen if 1883 features any flash-forward cameos from Kevin Costner or others in the Yellowstone cast stable, the flagship drama featured two flashback sequences in Season 4 that gave viewers a look at what’s yet to come for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s James and Margaret Dutton, though interestingly not Isabel May’s Elsa, arguably the most optimistic person in the entire bloodline. So it should be interesting to see how important that distinction is as this and future seasons go on.
1883’s cameo game is already cranked up to 11, with Rita Wilson set to appear in the drama a handful of episodes after her hubby Tom Hanks briefly showed up for a poignant scene. Find out how it’ll all go down when new episodes debut on Paramount+ every Sunday, and be sure to check in on our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see when other new shows will be debuting in the coming months.
