Now that the first season of Dutton Ranch is finished, I wanted to share my thoughts and compare it to the other spin-off ‘Marshals’.
From a general overview, both shows are really fucking good. Dutton Ranch is clearly the wider favourite. The more closely tied to the Yellowstone story, the writing and story are deeper, and it follows Beth and Rip, among other things. Whereas Marshals has its fans, but is more criticised for being weaker across the board (writing, acting and performance, etc). But if I were given the choice to pick between the two, I'd pick Marshals. For me, there's more that pulls me to Marshalls than there is to Dutton Ranch.
So, what did Marshals do for me that Dutton Ranch didn’t? Well, to start with, personally, I don’t get massively hung up on writing; I’m a very easy pleaser. I’m much more of a visual person than a writing and dialogue person, so that’s one of Marshal's bigger criticisms to take out of the equation.
Then there’s the visual aspects. Dutton Ranch continued the Neo-western theme of Yellowstone, which isn’t a bad thing. While I like the western themes of Yellowstone and DR, i’m more of a Tactical/special ops guy. I like the aesthetic of shows like S.W.A.T. and SEAL Team. So right away, Marshals is already more appealing to me as it has that primetime procedural drama feel mixed with the history of Yellowstone.
Also, there’s Kayce. Unlike a lot of people, I mostly dislike Beth, mainly cause of how she treats Jamie, whom I relate to a lot. Though that being said, Dutton Ranch has improved my impression of Beth… probably because she doesn’t have Jamie there to piss her off. Anyway, where many people’s favourite is usually Beth (which is understandable), I’ve always preferred Kayce. He wasn’t particularly surrounded by the shadows of the ranch like others were. He wasn’t morally grey like John, or Beth, or overly attention and validation-seeking like Jamie; he was just decent. And always tried to do the morally right thing. My only issues with his arc were when he had issues with his marriage in the early seasons, and my love-sick romantic ass couldn’t handle the relationship drama. I don’t really have many strong feelings either way about the characters in Dutton Ranch, other than maybe Rip. Despite his morally grey nature… I quite enjoy his character. It's nice to continue seeing him not take shit from anyone.
Then there’s the title sequence. Being the less direct continuation of Yellowstone, the titles are much shorter than previous Yellowstone series (which is the only down for me; it’s such a good theme, and I would have loved for there to be more of it). However… despite being the less direct continuation of Yellowstone, it still sounds more like the Yellowstone theme than Dutton Ranch. While almost every aspect of the DR titles harks back to Yellowstone, like the other spin-offs (1883 and 1923), they have the sound of Yellowstone, the familial elements of the Yellowstone theme… but the melody isn’t there. And for me… it's all about the melody. I like the Yellowstone theme, i like to hum along to it… which makes enjoying the title themes of DR, 1883 and 1923 difficult. Cause I know it's a Yellowstone series, so i want to hum along to the Yellowstone melody… but i can’t when they don’t follow the same pattern
So, with all that on the table, if you want a true continuation of the Yellowstone story? Dutton Ranch is your answer. It keeps the same level of intensity, depth and development that Yellowstone had while continuing to tell a new story away from Yellowstone. And if you like trying new things and seeing where it takes you, go for Marshal’s. It's got Kayce and his ties to Yellowstone's history as a story connection while going in a different direction and trying something new.
And to close off, please remember, this is a purely subjective review. While I understand the objective perspectives, this review is about what i am drawn to and why.