Yellowstone fans explain why they “hate watch” the show

Yellowstone might be one of the most popular TV shows on the circuit, but it turns out a lot of fans “hate watch” the series – here’s why. 

A lot has happened since Yellowstone Season 5 Part 1 aired last November. There’s been rumors of off-screen drama between creator Taylor Sheridan and lead star Kevin Costner, who is currently busy working on his own western project, Horizon. 

Amid the tumult, Paramount Plus announced the show would be coming to an end with Season 5. But despite being nearly a year since fans were treated to new episodes, the writers’ and actors’ strikes have meant filming is yet to commence for Season 5 Part 2. 

Right now, Yellowstone has been drawing in new audiences thanks to a deal struck with CBS. And it’s led to the established fans telling newbies about why they “hate watch” the series.

Yellowstone fans explain why they “hate watch” the show

With Yellowstone airing from the beginning over on CBS, Reddit u/Vagabond_Tea started a new thread explaining why they’re not too impressed with what they’ve seen so far. 

“I’m through most of Season 1. Does it get better? Does it change at all?” they asked, saying that the series “grinds my gears,” as it’s about “a rich white family that uses violence and other means to maintain their grip of power over the poor native Americans on the rez and everyone else that opposes them.”

They added: “Honestly, idk why I don’t like them compared to other shows. Obviously, other shows have families/groups using violence to further their ends (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Peaky Blinders, Dallas, etc) but for some reason, the Duttons are mostly insufferable (especially the daughter and father).”

Dozens of people have responded to the thread, many of them suggesting that the Redditor should quit now, arguing that the quality declines as the seasons progress. “No worse, definitely,” wrote one. “I’m hate watching it at this point.”

This isn’t the first time this term has been used in regard to Yellowstone. Taking to X/Twitter last December when Season 5 Part 1 was airing, one person wrote: “Time to hate watch Yellowstone.” More recently, a second admitted: “I think I hate watch Yellowstone lol.”

Going into more detail about why they feel this way, one of the Reddit responses reads: “The increase of montages with country music playing as filler for episodes in Season 4 and 5 shows really how poor the writing is when they are literally just trying to kill time.

“Also, as someone has mentioned before, everything looks like a f*cking truck commercial now and the character motivations are all over the place, not making sense. It sucks, because it really could have been a great show had the writing quality kept up with the first few seasons.”

“It’s just soapy. If you aren’t liking it after one season it’s probably not for you. It doesn’t really get better imo,” commented another, while a third suggested: “It makes more sense when you view it as John being a narcissist parent who has severely damaged his children.”

A number of Redditors offered up solutions to the issues raised: stick to the spin-offs. “If you don’t like Season 1 you wont like the rest,” said one. “Watch the prequel 1883. Their ancestors are far more likeable (good people trying to survive), it’s shorter (only 10 episodes), to the point and a far more compelling story.”

For more on Yellowstone and its various spin-offs, hit the links below:

Shows if you love Yellowstone | Why Kevin Costner’s leaving Yellowstone | Is Yellowstone on tonight? | Yellowstone Season 5 episodes | 1883 Season 2 | 6666 Yellowstone | 1923 cast | 1923 Season 2 | Yellowstone cast | Yellowstone Season 6 | Will Kevin Costner be in S5P2? | Matthew McConaughey teases role | First look at Bass Reeves spinoff | Taylor Sheridan shows & movies | Beth Dutton star teases ending | Yellowstone star expects “crazy bloodbath” | Yellowstone’s CBS premiere | Matthew McConaughey’s Yellowstone series | Yellowstone CBS changes explained | Yellowstone spinoffs timeline explained | Lawmen: Bass Reeves trailer