“They’re anti-heroes at best, if not outright villains”: Taylor Sheridan’s Planned Spin-Off Can Reveal What Went Wrong With The Duttons in Yellowstone

Of all the projects he has tamed to date, those from the Yellowstone universe, in particular, seem to be regarded as some of Taylor Sheridan’s best works of all time. But while his Western storyline surrounding the Dutton family throughout the ages and the struggles they face trying to protect their ranch from land encroachers has won a lot of fans over, there is a huge plothole yet to be resolved.

This plothole is how different and much less violent this very cowboy family’s behavior is in the prequel series as compared to the Kevin Costner-led one, which has fans wondering whatever happened to this family. That said, Sheridan’s planned spin-off 1944 could just end up revealing what exactly went wrong with the ranchers that they became more gruesome than ever before.

Taylor Sheridan’s 1944 Could Solve a Glaring Yellowstone Plothole

As those who have already seen the Kevin Costner-led series, along with the prequels 1883 and 1923, must have noticed in the saga, there is a considerable difference in the behavior of these three generations of the Dutton family. If anything, it sounds like, by the time the story came to John Dutton’s family, things got a lot more brutal for them to turn so violent.

For instance, in these prequel series, the family members are depicted in a lot more positive light and are shown to be “morally righteous, upstanding, hardworking folk that place family first,” as r/FloridaInExile shared on Reddit in their opinion blog post on the same. To put it simply, it shows those ancient Duttons as being morally good yet dangerous.

However, in comparison, the Kelly Reilly-starrer suddenly changed this very feature to a major extent as these modern ranchers have transformed into much more ferocious beings. If anything, this modern-day storyline of this generation of cowboy ranchers has shown them transforming into utterly despicable beings when a push comes to a shove.

Dutton Family
byu/FloridaInExile inYellowstonePN

As the Redditor continued to share their respective opinion on these modern Duttons on Reddit:

Then I started watching Yellowstone and yikes… divided, despondent, entitled and conniving. My love affair with the Dutton family has been interrupted by [this modern series]. They’re anti-heroes at best, if not outright villains. WTF happened to this family?

Needless to say, their perspective is only understandable when watching the series that way.

That being said, these behavioral traits in how different generations of the Dutton family work toward achieving their respective goals have truly turned out to be a glaring plothole for the saga, with fans unable to figure out what exactly went so wrong between the events of the Harrison Ford-starrer and the Costner-led drama that this modern generation has become so brutal.

All of this being said, showrunner Taylor Sheridan could possibly clear out this very doubt of fans through his planned third prequel for the series, 1944. Although little is known about this particular series as of yet, this spin-off show might likely shed some light on what happened to the family that they transformed into outright killers.

And, as it turns out, some fans seem to share the same opinion.

Fans Are Hoping 1944 Clears Off All of These Doubts

Joining in the conversation, fans seem to have quite a lot of opinions on this matter. While some are blaming it all on time and the way Costner’s John Dutton must have been treated as a child that left a lasting impact on him which led to consequences that have become the current circumstances, others are simply hoping 1944 becomes the bridge answering these questions.

All in all, taking to the comment section of the Reddit post, here’s what a majority of those other Redditors have to say on this matter:

Comment
byu/FloridaInExile from discussion
inYellowstonePN

Comment
byu/FloridaInExile from discussion
inYellowstonePN

Comment
byu/FloridaInExile from discussion
inYellowstonePN

Comment
byu/FloridaInExile from discussion
inYellowstonePN

Comment
byu/FloridaInExile from discussion
inYellowstonePN

While Sheridan’s next planned spin-off for this universe could explain what exactly went wrong with the Dutton family in this modern saga, the upcoming part 2 of season 5 of the latter ongoing series could also turn out to be a major plot twist answering all of these fan questions.

But since nothing can be said for sure now, fans will just have to wait and see how things turn out for this particular Western universe of Sheridan.

In the meantime, you can stream Yellowstone on Peacock, and both the prequel series on Prime Video.