Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone has been one of the most surprising hits on TV. The game of succession and

power struggle between the Montana-based Yellowstone Ranch owners, the Duttons, and the city lawyers

and corporations who want to urbanize the area has received praise and criticism in equal order.

With the second part of the final season being aired earlier this week, the series’ brand as a conservative-appealing show has come into question again. Sheridan has disagreed with this label and has maintained that it is a story of the history of America. Yellowstone star Wes Bentley also seems to echo the sentiment.

Wes Bentley Defends Yellowstone’s Political Leanings

With the recent USA elections giving a controversial result yet again, shows like Yellowstone have found themselves in the middle of the conversation. The neo-Western returned to screens with its final season, having lost its lead star Kevin Costner after a bitter feud between him and the studio.

The show’s setting and characterization have often resulted in critics labeling it a ‘red-state show’ or calling its storylines conservative-friendly. Though the series seems to have found a liking by both rural and urban audiences, some of the lines written by creator Taylor Sheridan seem to have led to its branding.

Much like Sheridan, however, actor Wes Bentley, who plays Jamie Dutton seems to disagree with that label. The actor mentioned how he was relieved that the series has been appealing to a wide range of audiences now and that it may lead to more such shows. He said to THR,

It’s actually a relief that it wasn’t cornered into being j ust called a red-state show. I do think it avoids a lot of the current stuff while speaking vaguely to us in general terms. So I think in some ways, people can escape. While it is something about us, it’s also a little bit not about us, and so we are allowed to escape into it and we can all do that together.

The ripple effect of Yellowstone’s success is already seen in Sheridan’s own spinoff and prequel series based on the flagship show, as well as the recently released Western Landman.

Taylor Sheridan Disagreed With The ‘Red State’ Label For Yellowstone

With the polarizing political divide in America, the lenses in which many of the shows and films are being seen have also increasingly become divisive. Many fans have constantly criticized huge studios like Disney for their alleged pandering to the ‘woke crowd’, with slogans of ‘go woke, go broke’ dominating the internet.

On the other hand, shows like Yellowstone have been criticized for appealing more to conservative political groups. It was labeled a ‘red state show’ for the longest time and seems to find fewer takers with prominent award shows like the Emmys. However, creator Taylor Sheridan reportedly disagreed with the label. He said to The Atlantic,

I just sit back laughing. I’m like, ‘Really?’ The show’s talking about the displacement of Native Americans and the way Native American women were treated and about corporate greed and the gentrification of the West, and land-grabbing. That’s a red-state show?

Yellowstone’s politics have always been mixed. While its use of guns, horses, and the general setting of Montana may portray it as a conservative-friendly series, sometimes its anti-modernist and anti-corporate stances have also managed to appeal to the ‘woke’ crowd.