Originally Posted by John McClane (Post 2358939)
I watched a lot of soap operas as a kid, and I can't think of anything in
Yellowstone that made me say "this reminds me of a soap opera". So could you be more specific?
@
Sedai
Maybe I am being a little harsh, but I was thinking of stuff like early/mid 90s DooL, where bad things would just keep randomly happening to characters in rapid succession.
Case in point with Yellowstone:
In the pilot, the escalation of the cattle dispute was believable and made sense. So when Lee got shot by a hothead ex-military native with a chip on his shoulder, it made sense, as did Casey's response, as he is ex-mil also. Now let's look at the chain of events surrounding Casey in the days that follow:
A medical examiner determines that Lee couldn't have fired in self defense, and that there must have been a third shooter. Because of Casey's ex-mil status, he is the first guy the Res Police target as a possible shooter. This makes sense, but isn't water tight, as the area is populated by ranchers and cowboys who are armed to the teeth, with I am sure plenty of firearm skill. Still, it makes sense he would come up and be a person of interest. What follows borders on the absurd.
Casey and his wife and driving in his pickup. They drive by a trailer that just at that very moment, happens to explode. Turns out it was a meth lab, so Casey jumps out of the truck to investigate, and soon finds a horribly burnt meth cook on the ground about 50 feet away. His wife runs over, and after a short convo about the ambulance not arriving for 45 minutes, they decide it's best to put the guy out of his misery by shooting him in the head. I would think at this point they would have got the hell out of dodge, but no, they wait around for the Tribal police.
When the police arrive, they assess the situation and then state that shooting the guy was probably for the best (!!!), and that it would probably be best if Casey takes the slide off his Glock and exchanges it with one of the police officers so the shooting can't get traced back to Casey, you know, by the police. The only reason I could think of that they would do this is to gain possession of the gun slide in an effort to do a ballistics match on the bullets they pulled out of the first shooting victim so they could pin the shooting on Casey, even though Casey had just admitted to shooting someone else, and the police offered to conspire to cover it up instead. This is a bizarre and contrived chain of events. But that's not all re: Casey.
Soon after, Casey is now driving along with his son in the truck after taking him out for target practice (even though they live on remote property where it is apparently OK to detonate explosives but not practice shooting jugs of water), when they just so happen to spot a suspicious white van parked a bit off the road. Casey says that because the van is parked on the reservation, it must be criminals, and he has to stop to intervene. He gets out of the truck and approaches the van when suddenly a man in a gas mask and white coveralls bursts out of the back of the van. Casey immediately puts two rounds in him, killing him. This guy can't go a day without shooting someone, apparently, and not once during any of these instances does it seem like a big deal to him. Suddenly, he decides it's time to
take his son out of his vehicle, and stuff him in a drain pipe in a culvert next to the road. My wife and I looked at each other and started laughing when this happened. What the?? No parent would do this. Ever. Your kid is in a vehicle with doors that can lock, but you stuff your kid into a drain pipe in the scrublands?
Casey then gives chase and whoops! There is a rattlesnake in the drain pipe...because of course there is. The van driver gets in a car accident, flops out of the van and starts running while wildly firing a pistol behind him. Casey catches him and shoots him dead, but not before lassoing him and making him fall and hit his head on a rock. He opens the van. saves a kidnapping victim, who instantly states they need to cover up the crime and never tell anyone about it (???), and please take me home. They go back to the truck, picking up the 8 year old from the drain pipe, who has of course killed the 5 ft prairie rattler with his bare hands or a rock or something, Casey drops of his kid, takes the girl home, and is greeted by a very large man who, although he is a complete stranger, immediately hatches a plan with Casey to dispose of the bodies. When it gets dark, they go out into the middle of nowhere to burn and then bury the bodies. Well at least no one will ever find the bodies...
Until the very next day when a construction crew go out to the exact location in the middle of nowhere to go quantity surveying, and happen across the burial site immediately.
I am trying to think how this episode could be any more contrived... maybe have the crazy angry girl in the show suddenly strip nude while arguing with her brother (ewww), and then climb into a horse trough with two bottles of champagne? That works! ;)
(Don't forget the medical examiner I mentioned before being secretly addicted to smoking embalming fluid, and therefore making authorities wonder if he in fact committed suicide or was the victim of a murder/arson cover up.
Actually, you are right - nothing in 90s soaps was anywhere near this contrived! ;)
