“Yellowstone” fans can agree that the first 15 minutes of the Season 4 premiere on Nov. 7 was one of the best episode openings on television.
The excitement and adrenaline overflowed as the opening cut between John Dutton bleeding out on the side of the road, Kayce getting into a gunfight, and Beth zombie-walking out of a burned Schwartz & Meyer building. By the time John finally gets airlifted to the hospital, Kayce’s still battling it out with the guys who shot his dad.
Garry Elmendorf, the special effects supervisor for “Yellowstone,” broke down how the show made that scene happen. The show’s official Twitter account posted a behind-the-scenes interview with Elmendorf to explain the mechanics of the scene.
“This is our getaway van,” Elmendorf explains. “They couldn’t find a spare. So definitely means we had to get it right the first time.”
If fans will remember, John wrote down a description of the van containing the men who shot him in the first episode. It’s a blue two-tone van. And Kayce quickly tracks it down. The “Yellowstone” video cuts to Kayce ramming the truck in the side, right in the middle of a busy intersection.
“This is a one-er. That’s what we call it,” Elmendorf said. Meaning, they have one take to get the perfect shot. There’s no fixing up that van to ram into it again, and no spare, like Elmendorf said.
Luckily, Luke Grimes (Kayce) and the rest of the cast perfected the scene, making Elmendorf’s job that much easier. The car chase scene was exciting and believable, helped along by the special effects crew.
Check out more behind-the-scenes special effects knowledge in the video below.
Has Season 4 of ‘Yellowstone’ Gone Downhill Since the Premiere?
Several fans agree that the first 15 minutes of “Yellowstone” Season 4 have been the best content we’ve seen so far. Many fans on Reddit worry that the new season is focusing too much on building up the storylines for Taylor Sheridan’s new spin-off shows and not enough on the core “Yellowstone” story.
One Redditor started a discussion with other fans by saying, “Focus seems to be on introducing the other shows. Seems like this season so far has been 25% show horse riding, 25% storyline, 50% introducing the new spin-off shows.”
Many people agreed, saying that they’ve seen enough of Tayor Sheridan riding around on horses and focusing on Jimmy’s story as he gets introduced to the Four Sixes Ranch in Texas. Someone else also mentioned, “Honestly I think Paramount is banking on Yellowstone spinoffs keeping Paramount+ afloat.”
“Yellowstone” became the number one cable drama for a reason. People want to watch it. But in trying to lure fans to Paramount+ with more kinda–“Yellowstone” content, are they losing the original heart of the story? Tell us what you think, Outsiders.
