The season 3 finale of the hit Paramount Network series Yellowstone had 5.2 million viewers on the edge of their seats. The saga about the Dutton family and their sprawling Montana ranch has captivated viewers since the show's debut in 2018, but the intense finale reached an all-time high. According to Deadline, the Yellowstone season 3 finale drew in 5.2 million total viewers, one million more than another episode in the series history. The series is currently the No. 1 most-watched cable telecast of the year, according to Neilsen. Deadline reports that, with help from a CMT simulcast and encore showings, the season 3 finale hit 7.5 million viewers on premiere night. The series was quickly renewed for a fourth, set to premiere on November 7, 2021, with two new episodes.
The Taylor Sheridan series, starring Kevin Costner, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Wes Bentley, and Kelly Reilly, has quickly become one of the most talked-about dramas on television — a Dallas for the digital age. Even country stars, such as Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan, have weighed in on the series.
"Well, crap, Yellowstone. Y'all are gonna play us all like that?!," Underwood wrote on social media following the cliffhanger finale.
Bryan is a fan of both the show and the music featured on the series.
"I'm really into Yellowstone, and the music in Yellowstone, it's Texas music, cowboy music," Bryan says in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "I'm obviously not a cowboy, but it makes me wonder how I could do a really retro-sounding cowboy song that isn't just drums, bass, guitar and steel guitar."
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Series creator Taylor Sheridan, who drew inspiration for the show from his own upbringing on a Texas ranch, told Deadline he has an ending in mind for Yellowstone.
"I know how the series ends, and you have to move in a straight line toward that end. You can't walk in circles, waiting to get there, because the show will stagnate," Sheridan said. "So, you have to keep moving forward, and there have to be consequences in the world, and there has to be an evolution toward a conclusion. Can that be another two seasons beyond this? It could. I don't see this as a procedural show. So, it's not something that we could extend indefinitely. I don't think anyone would want to do that; you'd cheapen the product. I haven't had that conversation with the network or the studio yet. I'm sure it's coming, but I would think that you would want this to end on an upswing as opposed to a plateau or a descent."
