Yellowstone’s creator, Taylor Sheridan, says that a meeting with Paramount executives that was awkwardly funny killed chances for a second season of 1883.
Taylor Sheridan talks about how a funny meeting with Paramount executives about the prequel to Yellowstone, 1883, killed the show’s chances for a second season. In December of last year, 1883 came out on Paramount+.
It was a story about how the Dutton family came to own their Montana ranch. The show, which was a hit with both audiences and critics, is about James (Tim McGraw), Margaret (Faith Hill), and Elsa Dutton (Isabel May), who go on a trip across America with the tough Pinkerton agent Shea Brennan (Sam Elliot).
1883 was supposed to come back for a second season, but instead, 1923 was made. It’s about a new generation of Duttons, like Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Cara (Helen Mirren).
The end of 1883 is pretty definitive and doesn’t leave much room for the story to go on, but it was announced soon after that the show would be back for a second season.
Sheridan told Deadline in a recent interview that he had to tell Paramount that he didn’t plan to keep making the show because, as he put it, “Everyone Is Dead” by the end of 1883. Check out the full comment by Sheridan below:
“I know they read the scripts, but they don’t read scripts. When they read the last episode of 1883, I don’t think they understood what had just happened, even though I made it clear from the start.
I heard that Bob Bakish, the president of Paramount Global, saw it and said, “Wait a minute, she dies!” All of them die? What should we do in the second season? I said there won’t be a second season.
They’re like, “There better be a second season because we already bought the first one.” I’m just sitting here thinking, “Guys, everybody’s dead.”
“They wanted to talk about how Sam Elliott lived after he tried to kill himself. By definition, it’s not something that can be survived, and who would want to see that? So, I said, “I’ll try to look through the window again,” and I sat there and tried.
Also Read: Does Beth Dutton Wear A Wig in Yellowstone? Strange Things About Yellowstone That Fans Can’t Ignore!
Why The Cancellation of 1883 Season 2 Is A Good Thing?
1883 is about a family’s trip across the dangerous, harsh, but stunningly beautiful American frontier on their way west. On her journey, Elsa changes from a shy child into a full-fledged female cowboy and a real woman. In 1883, while they were traveling, Elsa defended her waggon from an attack, but a stray arrow hit her and killed her.
At the end of the series, James makes sure that Elsa gets to their piece of land in Montana, where she dies from her wounds. As the heart of the show and the main character, Elsa’s death is the perfect ending. James and Margaret decide to build their new home on the land where May’s character dies.
Elsa’s death is a good enough reason to stop the story on its own, but a number of other characters also have good endings. Shea from Elliot, for example, gets a group of German and Slavic immigrants from one side of the country to the other. Shea does this huge thing, but at the end of the 1883 story, he decides to kill himself rather than live without his family, who died of smallpox just before the story starts.
Also Read: Why Did Isabel May Leave Yellowstone ‘1883’ as Elsa Dutton?
Even Thomas, a supporting character played by LaMonica Garrett, has a happy ending. The Pinkerton agent settles down with one of the German immigrants, giving the show one of its most heartwarming endings.
Many fans would be happy if Sheridan chose to continue the story of 1883 in some way with the characters who were still alive, but it might have felt pointless and added on. It also probably wouldn’t have gone over well if Elliot’s character had survived the self-inflicted gunshot to the head.
This would have taken away from his powerful and tragic character arc. Even though 1883 isn’t coming back, the prequel world of Yellowstone continues in 1923. This is where the exciting, violent, and sometimes very sad story of the Dutton family continues.
