The Madison Is Different From Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone In One Major Way

This article contains spoilers for "The Madison" episode 1.

Don't go into "The Madison" expecting another Taylor Sheridan "Yellowstone" spin-off. The Dutton family? Nowhere to be seen. Land disputes? What land disputes? Gun violence? Nope. "The Madison" and "Yellowstone" are similar in that they are both tragic, family-focused dramas set in Montana. However, "The Madison" is a sentimental affair, and "Yellowstone" is full of wild moments. What's more, "The Madison" doesn't portray city slickers as evil forces out to rob Montana of its natural beauty, which is a refreshing change of pace.

"The Madison" tells the story of a New York City-based family who visit Montana to mourn the death of their beloved husband and father, Preston Clyburn (Kurt Russell). Preston died while visiting his brother in Montana, forcing his loved ones to fly down and identify his body. The Clyburns then decide to stick around for a while, beginning a fish-out-of-water story about healing.

The Cylburns are useless when it comes to living the Montana lifestyle. They aren't used to seeing snakes or pooping in cabins, so don't expect them to become cowboys overnight. That said, they are good people (unlike the city folks we meet in the "Yellowstone" franchise), and this is an interesting angle for a Sheridan neo-Western.

"Yellowstone" sees the Dutton family doing terrible things to protect their land from all manner of threats, but metropolitan capitalists seeking to gentrify Montana are the most common. From the Beck brothers to Market Equities, these wealthy out-of-towners are only driven by profit, and they will stop at nothing to overthrow the Duttons and build businesses in Montana. A similar storyline informs the "1923" spin-off, with the sleazy Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) out to try and modernize the state at the expense of the locals.

The Clyburns are wealthy like the city slickers on "Yellowstone," but they don't harbor any cutthroat, capitalistic ambitions. In fact, most of them don't even want to be in Montana at all, as it means giving up the comforts they are used to. Unless "The Madison" drastically changes its story, it's hard to imagine these folks hiring assassins to eliminate ranchers so they can build holiday resorts on their land.

That said, "The Madison" does have an anti-metropolitan streak at times. New York City is depicted as a place where people get mugged and the cops don't do anything about it, so Taylor Sheridan hasn't completely abandoned his ideas regarding cities breeding wrongdoers. Still, a Montana-based story where some rich people from the city pose no harm to nature? That's different from "Yellowstone."

The Madison is available to stream on Paramount+.