Some critics argue that Yellowstone lost its way as the series progressed. Others believe in that creator Taylor Sheridan ruined Season 5 of Yellowstone. when he gave his character, Travis Wheatley, a more prominent role on screen and dated supermodels, why not? However, some people are of the opinion that Yellowstone was a bad show from the start, claiming that it lacked a focused story and plot. Sheridan addressed the naysayers in an interview with 2023 The Hollywood Reporter and explained his thinking regarding the series' storytelling.

"It doesn't really have a plot." (...) Don't take my country, I love your country. In that, I have a lot of opportunities to make fun of myself, but also to kind of point out different points of view, and I'm really studying a way of life and a world. There's a lot of defiance in the way I do that."

Sheridan added that "Yellowstone" is the type of series that is made for critics to dislike, noting that many of them were confused by its success. With the neo-western drama, he set out to make a show that shattered Hollywood conventions and always knew it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea.

While Yellowstone has been criticized for its lack of plot, Taylor Sheridan explained that the show was never meant to be sophisticated in that sense. In the aforementioned interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he revealed that he's more interested in exploring people, and thus doesn't want to take his projects to writers' rooms (which may be due to an attempt to make his work less polarizing). In your own words:

“My stories have a very simple character-driven plot as opposed to plot-driven characters—the antithesis of the way television is usually modeled. I'm really interested in the dirtiness of the relationships in literally every scene. But when you hire a room that maybe isn't motivated by those same qualities — and a writer always wants to take ownership of something they're writing — and I give this directive and they don't feel that, then they're going to come out with their own qualities."

Despite the criticism, the success of "Yellowstone" proves that there are many fans who believe in it ranks high among Sheridan's TV series. And with "1923" season 2, "Madison", "6666" and Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser's spin-off is on the wayhaters will have to accept that this franchise will be around for a long time.